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October 22, 2007

Comments

I wonder why Prince and Blackwater never noticed, or had pointed out to them by their lawyers, the Microsoft contractor case. It's extremely relevant here.

Didn't I hear Erik Prince testifying that he has huge expenses for the work Blackwater does in Iraq like supplying equipment, vehicles, and on and on? Wouldn't a private contractor be using their own vehicle, tools, etc?

as I recall, the Small Business Administration isn't the final determining body as far as the IRS is concerned

blackwater is entitled to attempt any tax dodge it wants to try

but the IRS don't give a shit what the SBA says

for cases like this, we generally use the United States Tax Code

if Eric Prince is wrong in his faith in a SBA ruling, then mr prince can go serve his time just like other famous tax cheaters

Al Capone comes to mind ...

ew -

My question for you or the lawyers out there:

What happens to this guy who signed the non-disclosure form if Mr. Henry slaps a subpoena on him and puts him under oath?

Nothing like being between Iraq and a hard place. ;-)

Waccamaw - A non-disclosure agreement between private individuals or corporations such as Blackwater and its employee/independent contractor cannot provide a reasonable excuse to refuse to comply with a subpoena, although Blackwater could try and sue the employee/independent contractor if s/he provided more information than was expressly sought in the subpoena. And the employee/independent contractor could assert a 5th Amendment privilege if the questions asked by Congress could incriminate him. I suspect that given Blackwater's line of business and the type of people it employs, this particular employee/independent contractor would be extremely loathe to be forthcoming about anything to the Committee, regardless of the wording of any non-disclosure agreement.

To expand on Ishmael just a bit; such a provision would be declared void and unenforceable as a matter of public policy. There is actually quite a bit of law out there on stuff like this; so much so, in fact, that it is somewhat amazing that a supposed high dollar operation like Blackwater would attempt this crap. It can't work if challenged, and is per se evidence of obstruction and deceit.

Blackwater defrauds US citizens - social security and medicare - of tax revenue. How patriotic.

You don't have to be in business for more than two minutes to know the difference between a contractor and an employee under federal law. It may be that Blackwater was more interested in avoiding corporate liability for the actions of its armed employees rather actually defrauding SS and medicare for a mere $48 million. Nonetheless, without Waxman Prince Erik would be $48 million richer in ill begotten gains.

Ishmael & bmaz -

Thanks much for the feedback!

Looking forward to a follow-up from ew if anything further comes of Mr. Henry's letter. Likely passing close to Moyock in the next several weeks but don't think I'll make an effort to see what the exterior of bw looks like. *g*

bmaz:
Those "agreements" are common in 3rd world countries like Florida (a "right to work state"). You wouldn't believe the crap you have to sign just to get a job.

Erik Prince in jail as a tax cheat - how very Republican of him. Just think of all the others we'll get this way.

He's just the kind of guy who needs to learn how to clean a latrine with his tongue.

How ironic that Eric Prince,family values guy,solid upstanding citizen,should try and use laws to keep from paying taxes. Love that trickle down economics it has worked so well for those no bid contractors,trickling down from the taxpayer to the Government to the corporations to the government officals...must have run out of money before it got to us peons. No tax money for those hard working parents with KIDS.

darn, the small business administration says mr prince is wrong

that didn't take long

so we got eric prince and al capone

good patriotic amurikans there

But guys, think how much more they would have charged if they had to pay taxes!

Again, the Progressives are trying to find someone to hang for Iraq, and they are going after American Businessmen.

Again, the Progressives are assuming they are going to prevail even in some kind of tortured (deliberate choice of words) IRS/Legal swamp.

Again, ..., I predict failure.

21st century schizoid SS

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