Rand Paul, Constant Blockhead

It wouldn't be a week without my duly elected US Senator Rand Paul making an ass out of himself by pitching a tantrum and blocking President Obama from carrying out something Congress already approved.

When a bipartisan Senate panel last week lambasted Swiss bank Credit Suisse for helping rich Americans evade billions in taxes, some watching the high-profile hearing couldn’t help but notice an elephant in the room.

That is, Sen. Rand Paul.

The connection? Paul for years has single-handedly blocked an obscure U.S.-Swiss tax treaty that lawmakers, prosecutors, diplomats and banks say makes the difference between U.S. law enforcement rooting out the names of a few hundred fat-cat tax evaders — and many thousands more.

Kentucky’s tea party darling says the treaty infringes on privacy rights. But his critics say Paul’s hold just hamstrings the Justice Department’s tax evasion work.

“Credit Suisse is ready, at this moment, to provide the additional information about Swiss accounts requested by U.S. authorities but has been unable to do so because the U.S. Senate has not yet ratified the protocol,” said Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan at a hearing on the topic Wednesday — just after admitting his institution helped Americans evade taxes.

Just another reminder that Rand Paul has been blocking President Obama's ability to conduct foreign policy for years.  Harry Reid could force a vote to override Paul's block and hasn't.  But Republicans would have to block that override vote too, so what's the point?

“These are people that are alleged, not convicted of doing anything wrong,” Paul said a few weeks ago. “I don’t think you should have everybody’s information from their bank. There should be some process: accusations and proof that you’ve committed a crime.”

In other words, we can't go after tax evaders' financial information without definitive proof of tax evasion, which we would need financial information for.  The best part is that the Swiss want to help us because tax evasion is hurting them financially as well, but since Paul is blocking ratification of the agreement, they can't lift a finger.  Here's the real issue though:

Paul’s protest is also linked to his abhorrence of the soon-to-take-effect Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, which will force foreign banks to disclose U.S. account information to the IRS, and domestic banks to reciprocate to other nations’ revenue departments.

And of course Rand Paul wants to repeal that legislation entirely because the "privacy rights" of criminals hiding billions of US taxpayer dollars is more important.