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Comment by crazygringo | Hacker News Reader

The three most important points to me:

1) Saverin doesn't live here any more. So why does Schumer care?? The guy already paid his exit taxes.

2) Saverin was never even originally a US citizen in the first place -- he's Brazilian.

3) "enforcing Schumer’s proposal might run up against the “perpetual problem of trying to figure out what’s in a person’s mind” when he or she give up U.S. citizenship." This is key -- using motivation to determine the punishment for a crime seems OK (i.e. degrees of murder). But using motivation to determine whether or not something is a crime, just feels ridiculous.

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"But using motivation to determine whether or not something is a crime, just feels ridiculous."

But there are crimes that are determined by intent. For example, providing incorrect information is not inherently criminal, but knowingly providing incorrect information with the intent of personal gain is considered fraud, which is a crime.

Point 3 is the most dangerous. The language you chose is telling, "crime". Schumer seems to want to use Saverin's motivation to determine that giving up citizenship to avoid paying taxes is a crime. Besides it being unconstitutional to legislate against a specific person, what kind of message is Schumer sending? Once you venture into the maw that is the United States tax code, you can't leave without heavy personal losses? That sends the message that your business is not welcome here at best, and is draconian at worse, setting a dangerous precedent for even more oppressive legislation later. But in an era of occupy, Schumer can use all the class warfare arguments he wants to get his proposed legislation passed easily. People will foam at the mouth in anger against this millionaire not paying his fair share, and they'll be completely oblivious of government infringing on civil rights until it's their own civil rights that are taken away, and by then it will be too late to do anything about it.

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