Kent Conrad: “Mr. President, when you look on the Internet--this is my favorite one: Live tax free and worldwide on a luxury yacht.…”

“Mr. President, when you look on the Internet--this is my favorite one: Live tax free and worldwide on a luxury yacht. Moving offshore and living tax free just got easier. That is the kind of scam which is going on that is costing the Treasury of the United States, according to our own Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, over $100 billion a year. It doesn't stop there. This is a picture of a sewer system in Europe. What does a sewer system in Europe have to do with the budget of the United States? Well, as it turns out, it has a lot to do with it because this sewer system in Europe was actually purchased by wealthy U.S. investors, depreciated on their books for U.S. tax purposes, and then leased back to the European city in which it is actually located. It has no business purpose. There is only one purpose, and that purpose is to operate as a scam. This is the kind of thing which should be shut down. Nobody can justify this. Nobody can defend this. That is what is going on.”