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Comment by kfprt | Hacker News Reader

>But if you respond to the one I deleted, you should respond to the one I didn't.

I had already written my reply and felt it more expedient.

>you wanted to bomb Israel, in the 21st century

Of course it is not possible to right all old wrongs. I think we can agree in principle that the correct move on the US's part would have been to bomb Israeli military targets in 1967 though.

I am far more concerned with the present. I think all lobbying on behalf of foreign powers should be subject to FARA, paid or unpaid, as long as there is a proven link to that foreign power. For example dual citizenship should automatically trigger FARA reporting. The American people deserve to know who is working on behalf of foreign powers and may have interests that do not align with their own.

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>For example dual citizenship should automatically trigger FARA reporting.

I have read periodic stories in the news, sob stories about how hard it is to renounce US citizenship. Including via HN quite recently.

My impression is that because the US tends to regard giving up citizenship as tax evasion, means that dual citizenship is a lot more common than in many countries who may not even allow it.

So, practically speaking, I wonder if the change you want might arouse opposition among other people than the ones you want to target.

Group 1 being people who are dual citizens with other countries than Israel, and their allies.

Group 2 being any entity that doesn't want to incentivize people to give up US citizenship and stop paying taxes.

Tactically, you might portray dual citizenship as being an Israeli/Jewish thing, but strategically it seems important to be clear on whether it's true. I don't know.

>how hard it is to renounce US citizenship

You would not find many objectors to the cause of making bureaucracy more efficient.

My ideal model is something like what exists on twitter and youtube where there is a disclaimer if the account belongs to media funded by a foreign government. They are allowed but there is disclosure. For example if there is a dual citizen arguing in the US for policies that would impact the country of their other citizenship I would like that to be disclosed as well. If for example an Israeli/US citizen is arguing on a US website for policies that would be beneficial to Israel then I would like it to be disclosed to me that they may be speaking in their capacity as an Israeli citizen and not an American one so I can understand their position more fully. Just like ads are disclosed so should lobbying be.

Something like "As a citizen of X I may be arguing in that capacity".

It should also be noted that if you write a blog post exposing say a fraud in Nikola Motors you are obliged to disclose your short position.

>You would not find many objectors to the cause of making bureaucracy more efficient.

How do you define efficiency? If you expand the definition of a foreign agent under FARA dramatically, then wouldn't it probably mean expanding the bureaucracy a lot too?

But then, since most of them aren't agents of the foreign government, they would probably be much more likely to renounce citizenship.

Efficiency by some standards would be hindered by going to a lot of expense to decrease tax revenue.

Do you want people with dual US/Israeli citizenship to register under a revised FARA, or do you want them to choose between the two?

It's kind of like taxing cigarettes, do you want to reduce smoking, or fund things with the tax money?

Also, do you have any statistics on the proportions of dual citizens by country? As I said, it's a practical problem if you want to target Israel and the policy you want wouldn't in fact do so. But I don't know.

Ostensibly, I think for security clearances, they already take dual citizenship into account. So the conventional wisdom appears to be that is enough.

>wouldn't it probably mean expanding the bureaucracy a lot too?

Not really. Like with most laws we rely on peoples willingness to follow them.

>But then, since most of them aren't agents of the foreign government

Those that take actions on behalf of a foreign government and have a connection to that government are by definition foreign agents.

>expense to decrease tax revenue.

What good is tax revenue without a stable government to spend it?

>Do you want people with dual US/Israeli citizenship to register under a revised FARA, or do you want them to choose between the two?

That's up to them. All I'm asking for is disclosure. Merely a disclaimer.

>problem if you want to target

I don't want to target anyone. I just want it disclosed if their actions are on behalf of a foreign power.

>Ostensibly, I think for security clearances, they already take dual citizenship into account.

If it is worth disclosing in that case I don't see the harm in having some more honesty generally.

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