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By ABDON M. PALLASCH AND LYNN SWEET Staff Reporters March 19, 2012 1:14PM

GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney at University of Chicago as Mitt Romney delivers speech on Economic Freedom Monday, March 19, 2012 . | John H. White~Sun-Times.

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GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney came to the University of Chicago the home of the late legendary conservative economist Milton Friedman to say that Friedman was right: the free market must not be chained.

Milton Friedman knew what President Obama still has not learned, even after three years and hundreds of billions of dollars in spending: The government does not create prosperity; free markets and free people do, Romney told a room full of students and fans.

Exactly two months ago in this same room, President Obamas senior Advisor David Axelrod launched his Institute of Politics that he will chair after he re-elects Obama, he has said. Obama taught law at the University of Chicago.

Romneys main pledges were the Republican staples of lower taxes and less regulation.

Instead of expanding the government, I will shrink it, he said. Instead of raising taxes, Im going to cut them. Instead of adding more regulations, I will reduce them.

He will cut government spending on good and bad programs alike, including Planned Parenthood, he said.

..Subsidies to Planned Parenthood: I an going to eliminate those subsidies and those programs are going to have to stand on their own, Romney said.

Originally posted here:
Mitt Romney in Chicago: ‘Regulations erode our freedom’

(Spencer Green/AP)Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general election fight against President Barack Obama, Mitt Romney accused the president of hampering the nation's "economic freedom" and slowing the nation's recovery by proposing tax increases and expanding government bureaucracy.

In a speech at the University of Chicago, where Obama once taught law, Romney insisted the nation's "status" and "standing" are at peril because of the Obama administration's policies.

"The Obama administration's assault on our economic freedom is the principal reason why the recovery has been so tepidwhy it couldn't meet their projections, let alone our expectations," Romney said. "If we don't change course now, this assault on freedom could damage our economy and the well-being of American families for decades to come."

[Related: Romney pulls ahead in Illinois, Santorum to spend primary night in Pennsylvania]

The speech, delivered just one day before Illinois' Republican presidential primary, made no direct mention of Rick Santorum, Romney's chief rival for the GOP nomination. But Romney used the moment to double down on his argument that he's the best-equipped candidate in the race to defeat Obama and lead the nation's economic recovery.

The former Massachusetts governor accused the Obama administration of standing in the way of Americans who are trying to build their businesses. He suggested that "pioneers" like Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs would have found it "much more difficult, if not impossible" to carry out their dreams under regulations enacted by the Obama administration and Congress.

'Some of America's greatest success stories are of people who started out with nothing but a good idea and a corner in their garage," said Romney. "Too often today, Americans look at what it takes to start a business and they don't see promise and opportunity. They see government standing in their way. The real cost isn't just the taxes paid and money spent complying with the rules. It's the businesses that are never started, the ideas that are never pursued, the dreams that are deferred."

In a question and answer session after his speech, Romney repeated a statement that he's made several times recentlyinsisting that he doesn't understand how young people could vote for a Democrat for president. Among other things, he attacked Obama and Congress for not proposing any concrete measures to make Social Security solvent for future generations.

"You may not like my ideas, but at least I put ideas out there," Romney said.

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Mitt Romney accuses President Obama of blocking ‘economic freedom’

Latin America is increasingly being considered an up-and-coming retirement hotspot for expats, with Mexico, Panama and Ecuador in particular all rated highly in recent polls

Favourable weather, low property prices and pensioner perks are a draw for Brits with a sense of adventure. While the cost of living has risen in recent years, the economies of the larger Latin countries are increasingly stable, making it more viable to put down long-term roots in a warmer climate.

In International Livings 2012 Global Retirement Index, Ecuador, Panama and Mexico occupied the top three slots in a report that rated 19 international expat hotspots. Ecuador was top choice in the cost of living category and was dubbed the "world's best retirement haven". The magazine team estimated that a couple watching their spending can live well on $800-$1,500 (about 510-956) a month, while property prices remain low.

Eight categories were assessed to come up with the retirement report: property prices, special retirement benefits, cost of living, ease of integration, entertainment and amenities, health care, retirement infrastructure and climate.

The Ecuadorian government guarantees senior citizens access to free health care and medication and exemption from notary and registration fees. For expats considering a move, embracing the laid-back culture is a must, says Gary Phillips, 65, who moved to Cotacachi in Ecuador in 2006 and runs the expat site Pro-Ecuador.com. "Ecuadorians say maana but maana doesn't mean 'tomorrow', it just means 'not today'," Mr Phillips told Reuters.

The International Living team also point out that many South American (Frankfurt: A0MLL6 - news) locations have discounts you can access as a retiree, in particular in Brazil, Chile (Berlin: G4R.BE - news) and Panama. Panama has an organised programme of discounts and perks called the pensionado , open to all foreigners. Expats simply apply for a visa that gives them discounts on everything from theatre tickets to public transport to eating out and medical services.

Mexico ranked third in this year's index but occupied the top spot in 2008. The country ranks highly in terms of property prices and entertainment and arts, with many retirement communities ideal for expats.

A Expat Forum poll earlier this year, sponsored by Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) Wealth International , asked Brits about their motivation for moving to Mexico. More than a quarter, 27 per cent, of respondents said that they moved there to retire. The cost of living was the main draw for 24 per cent of expats polled, while a further nine per cent quoted quality of living as their reason for moving to Mexico.

But expats who have already made the move say the cost of living is on the rise and the region may not represent good value for money for long.

Bob Sheth from the Expat Forum said: "Expat living costs in Mexico seemed to have increased by at least 10 per cent over the last quarter, according to members who are discussing the topic at Expatforum.com. The reason for the sharp hike seems to be the peso losing value against the US dollar. Expats in Mexico are reliant on US imports, resulting in some alarming increases in the cost of living."

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Growing financial incentives to retire in Latin America

January 20 verdict has the effect of legitimising routing of transactions through tax havens

The Supreme Court will take up on Tuesday the Union of India's petition seeking review of its January 20 judgment that the Income Tax Department did not have the jurisdiction to levy Rs. 11,000 crore as tax on the overseas deal between Vodafone International Holdings and Hutchison Group.

The hearing, by a Bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Swatanter Kumar, assumes importance in view of the proposed retrospective amendment to the Income Tax Act announced by the Finance Minister in the Union budget. For, any such amendment is likely to have an impact on Vodafone.

In its review petition, the Finance Ministry, through its Secretary and the Assistant Director of Income Tax, said the judgment suffered from an error apparent on the face of the record and the court had failed to consider the case submitted by them at least on 15 aspects. The finding that the offshore transaction, which gave the Vodafone holding company a 67 per cent stake in Hutch-Essar, was a bona fide, structured FDI [foreign direct investment] in India was a patent error.

The case did not involve any inflow of monies into India as would be clear from the characterisation of the transaction as an offshore deal and the incontrovertible fact that no investment or inflow into the country took place, the petition said. The FDI policy was in no way under challenge or scrutiny in that case and could not have been so as the FDI and interpretation of taxation statutes operated in two different realms. Justifying the imposition of capital gains tax, the petition said it was imposed on account of relinquishment of an asset and this was done by way of a specific amendment in the law which could be traced to a Bombay High Court decision.

Pointing out that the court had relied on the Direct Tax Code Bills of 2009 and 2010 while allowing the appeals in favour of Vodafone, the Centre said there was no judicial precedent to count on pending legislation to interpret the existing legislation. Further, these codes were not even presented as Bills in Parliament but were only under public discussion.

The judgment would undermine the existing legislative and regulatory framework that required approvals from competent authorities in India even for transactions routed outside the country through tax havens, the petition said. Such monies held in tax havens had the effect of compromising the state's ability to manage its affairs in consonance with what was required from a constitutional perspective. The January 20 judgment had the effect of legitimising the routing of transactions through tax havens and preventing the Income Tax department from looking at the substance of the transaction, it said.

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SC to hear today Centre's crucial review plea in Vodafone case

TOM PULLAR-STRECKER

The Government should be chasing down internet fraudsters overseas, as they do with drug runners, not just relying on consumer education, according to an Australian expert.

Government estimates suggest Kiwis may lose close to $450million a year to internet scams, though the figures are hard to be sure of, and may be inflated.

Kicking off Fraud Awareness Week yesterday, Commerce Minister Craig Foss said the Consumer Affairs Ministry had "always believed education was the key" to combating scams, partly because many were run from overseas.

But Alistair MacGibbon, director of Canberra University's Centre for Internet Safety, told a conference organised by the ministry and Trade Me in Wellington that while education was critical, it was "a really hard slog".

"I believe that along with consumer education there are systemic issues that governments around the world need to deal with," he said.

"Being overseas shouldn't be stopping investigations. If anyone has ever investigated complex drug matters they will know that they go offshore. New Zealand and Australia and other countries have been pretty good at posting police to drug hotspots overseas.

"That is exactly what needs to be done when it comes to internet-based crime."

Ministry spokesman Alistair Stewart believed most scams went unreported but acknowledged its claim that Kiwis were losing $448m to scams annually was based on extrapolating international data and "may be inflated".

There have been suspicions security software companies have overstated the scale of losses to generate more demand for their products.

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Government urged to hunt offshore scammers