Source: Obama Plays Peacemaker in French-Chinese Smackdown Over Tax Havens

[Turborama]

Source: ABC

April 02, 2009 11:15 AM

According to a source inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China.

Sarkozy and Hu were having a heated disagreement about tax havens. France and other European nations have been pushing for rules and regulations to apply to various tax havens; Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has said "these tax havens are also places where unregulated financial market deals are made."

But Chinese leaders fear a crackdown would hurt banking centers in Macao and Hong Kong.

The exchange between Sarkozy and Hu got so heated, the source says, it was threatening the unity of the G-20 leaders' meeting.

But Mr. Obama, according to this account, stepped between the two men, urging them to try to find consensus, and giving them a "pep talk" about the importance of working together.

We don't know yet what, if anything, the G-20 leaders have agreed upon, but British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced Thursday afternoon that "we have agreed to tough standards for those (tax shelters) who don't come into line in the future."

Read more: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/04/source-obama-pl.html

[iandhr]

1. Our guy is good

[PA Democrat]

2. Pure freeper gold in the comments section.

You hate conservatives, just wait, we will pull our money out of things, and watch you fail, big time. We working out it, we're not not just organizied yet. We did it to mortgages, we did to the automobile industry, we are working on food stables next. Your going to pay soon.

Posted by: heavenislikethis | Apr 2, 2009 12:37:15 PM

[medeak]

3. it needs to be du'd

no shit..there's some real hating going on

[PA Democrat]

5. Some real stupidity as well.

"food stables"?

[Matariki]

6. yeah, I'm sure this guy is in a real position of power - has billions to withhold from the market

:rofl:

[PA Democrat]

8. Yep, just as soon as he masters spell check, he's going to

figure out how to bring down the entire US economy:

"We working out it, we're not not just organizied yet."


:rofl:

[leveymg]

4. Macao and Hong Kong - Guess where all those Vegas bucks went?

Last year, Sheldon Adelson -- owner of the Sands Corporation -- lost 95 percent of his $30 billion estimated worth.

Sheldon and his partners were building the world's largest casino in Macao. Seems they got caught a little short, and the Chinese banks foreclosed. Sheldon had some interesting business associates, but not so interesting that Beijing backed down.

[arikara]

9. Being left with a measly billion or so is real tough

Poor guy.

[glitch]

7. "we have agreed to tough standards for those (tax shelters) who don't come into line in the future."

come into line in the future? How about a little retro-action?

[BlueIdaho]

10. The smartest guy in the room...

I Love our President...

[LiberalFighter]

11. WWBD? (What would Bush Do?) How about try leaving the room thru a door that is locked.

So he could avoid the confrontation.