The Swiss Stand Up

The Swiss have been suffering from a huge case of Battered Woman Syndrome. Pilloried for years, for their refusal to participate in the two great slaughters of the last century, by "respectable" members of the international community, the Swiss lately have been seeking respectability by eroding many of their traditional liberties, including gun rights and financial privacy.

There are signs, though, that the sons of William Tell may have located their temporarily misplaced manhood. UBS is standing up to the Empire, telling D.C. that it is subject to Swiss, not American, law. Although UBS on Wednesday agreed to pay a $780 million fine and disclose the names of about 250 American clients, the bank is defying the Injustice Department's demand for the names of all the bank's American clients' -- a list which runs in the thousands.

Meanwhile, the Swiss People's Party is demanding that the government take punitive action against the U.S.

This is an encouraging trend.

The Empire Strikes Back

U.S. sues UBS seeking Swiss account customer names

Note the sanctimonious indignation of Acting Assistant Attorney General for Taxation John DiCicco, who plays the class warfare card (as any good commissar must) and tries to pretend that refusing to fund the government's aggressive wars and handouts to special interest groups is why, "millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes and their health care." Creeps like this make me want to puke!