Anyone who thought the US election-year attacks on Bermuda would go away has been proven sadly mistaken in the last few days.

On Friday night, Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry said in the second presidential debate that he would close “the Bermuda tax loophole” which he claimed was costing the US Government $40 billion.

And on Saturday, the House of Representatives approved new funding for the US Homeland Security department which banned companies that have their headquarters in Bermuda but who operate in the US from qualifying for homeland security contracts.

It is not clear where Sen. Kerry got his $40 billion sum from - indeed, recent US tax studies on the effects of companies redomiciling offshore and/or not declaring overseas income are tantalisingly vague on how they determine their numbers - but merely mention Bermuda and $40 billion before a TV audience of tens of millions is bad news . But the vote in the House of Representatives was quite clear - it was passed without a single dissenting vote. That's because this was the last vote Congressmen took before returning to their districts to campaign for re-election.

And not one wanted to be accused of being weak on homeland security or of assisting so-called “Benedict Arnold” companies. There is no question that most of the attacks are political, just as it is clear that the whole tax question is far more complex than the Democrats in particular would have the American electorate believe.

But the visit by Premier Alex Scott and Finance Minister Paula Cox in the spring to Washington sadly did not do enough to turn the tide, which is now rolling back in with a vengeance.

Any lobbying in the US by Bermuda now would probably backfire. But the Government should be planning now for a renewed diplomatic offensive after the election to put Bermuda's case and to get the Island out of the firing line, regardless of who wins the November elections.