Many US citizens do not fully understand the politics, economics, and ethics of our Government’s foreign and domestic policies, including our current efforts in the Middle East, yet they are aware of the workings of our elected government when it comes to foreign affairs, campaign finance, terrorism, and trade. Many citizens are also aware of the political finance regulations and election laws that govern both parties but do not understand how the laws themselves actually work. IRS Debt Relief Campaign finance is an area of great importance and political corruption is a significant problem.
Campaign finance has come under fire recently with charges that prominent politicians have accepted money for their “services” from foreign clients and even associates of foreign interests. Federal investigators are probing the activities of numerous prominent US politicians as part of an ongoing probe into political corruption in China. Emails have surfaced that show John Kerry and Senator John McCain receive secret payments from a company tied to China’s leadership. The Wall Street Journal reported that a close associate of McCain’s was secretly working as a foreign agent for a firm owned by China’s top political official. McCain’s close associate, Joe Barton, is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. It is illegal for US citizens to become foreign agents under the law, yet both of these politicians continue to hold office.
Campaign finance is closely associated with trade policy. The current dispute between the European Union and the United States over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, or the TiPA, is linked in part to political campaign finance. Lawmakers in both parties are battling over which party is more willing to increase the amount of free trade internationally. The US is pushing for increased tariffs on imported goods from certain countries such as China and India, and the European Union is charging high tariffs on US products. These campaigns are funded by corporations that would benefit from increased tariffs, thus, are against the prevailing of fair trade and globalization.
Foreign direct investment is a controversial area of US foreign policy. This policy allows multinational companies to purchase businesses in another country with the hopes that the profit they make will more than offset the taxes and subsidies the government provides to create jobs in the host country. These policies have led to a surge of new businesses in the US and offshore outsourcing companies in particular. The regulations and rules regulating this investment are extremely complex and complicated. They are being challenged by political officials at all levels of government.
The Food Safety and Security Act are another important example of regulations and rules that have been challenged by US political entities at the national, state, and local level. The FSSA authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to protect consumers regarding the food supply. The Act also establishes the National Institute for Food Safety and Protection, or FDA, as the single federal entity responsible for the implementation of the Act. The FDA is currently being challenged by a lawsuit initiated by the Center for Food Safety and Protection, or CFSP, challenging the mandate of mandatory inspections of importing and exporting food.
Finance laws and regulations have become complex and difficult to navigate for many international business owners. They are also being affected by changes in tax law at the federal level and overseas taxation systems. In addition, there are efforts by international regulatory bodies to amend the Treaties. If these efforts prove successful, the regulations will become more cumbersome to govern. However, the number of challenges to these regulations is minimal compared to the number of regulations already in existence. All of this means that the benefits, if any, will likely be few and far between.