Sponsored by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley and co-sponsored by Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democrat Senators Dianne Feinstein and Sheldon Whitehouse S.1241 has been read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. This bill appears to make it a crime, punishable by 10 years in prison and forfeiture of any money that you might have outside of a bank without filing federal forms telling the federal government how much you have, where you have it, and why you don't have it in a bank. This includes cash, Bitcoin, prepaid mobile phones, retail gift vouchers, and electronic coupons. It's not clear to me whether it includes gold and silver, but I expect so. For the crime of having money under your mattress, you can not only go to prison for ten years, but they can take your money, even if you have come by it legally. According to the bill, they can not only take any money you didn't report, but they can take all of your assets and bank accounts. At this point, it covers amounts in excess of $10,000 but that was the amount used in a previous law, covering notification of withdrawals, and they have since lowered it. These are Republicans and Democrats working against the American people. Source: S.1241
Not really a surprise as this has been an issue for years. Granted the amounts are being adjusted, the fines increased and the alphabet of agencies brought in is enlarged. The target is the underground economy, black market, gray market, shadow economy, informal economy, system D and a host of other names that are outside the taxing authorities. https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2013/03/18/the-new-underground-economy It is estimated that federal taxes of about $300B are missed by these activities. I thought about posting about this type of economy as it has become a big issue worldwide, since the recession. It is a much bigger issue than in the U.S. where it is comparatively small in relative size to GDP, than a large number of other countries. If they can tax it... it is legal. If they can't tax it, if not already illegal... then it will become illegal. A couple more articles from the past few years... https://www.forbes.com/sites/benzin...nd-largest-economy-in-the-world/#2a28fe1d4a0e http://voxeu.org/article/shadow-economies-around-world-model-based-estimates http://www.oecd.org/std/na/Statistics Brief 18.pdf
@Harry Havens " ......The target is the underground economy....." Given the horribly red ink present in general in almost all municipalities, I have concluded that the target is any possible cache, of whatever extent, private or public, which might reasonably (?) be confiscated without contest by it's rightful ownership. Reports support this. Frank
When I was still in Texas, I was acting as an expert witness in a malpractice suit. While waiting around for something to begin, the lawyer handling the case told us about one of his clients. He had come by a large sum of money in a inheritance, and took $10,000 of it out in cash. This was before the government mandated banks to report withdrawals. He had the cash hidden somewhere in an old car that was parked on his property. Meanwhile, he broke up with his girlfriend. His girlfriend got angry with him and reported that he was dealing drugs. The feds came in with a warrant, and found no drugs whatsoever. They did find his cash however, and seized it. He was never charged with anything but they kept the money. He was suing to get his cash back, and could prove that he had come by it honestly, through the inheritance and that amount of cash withdrawn from the bank. Yet, the attorney told us that the federal government has an endless supply of money to fight it, and he is unlikely to see any of that money back until he had at least spent that amount of money in attorney fees and, since when you sue the government, you can't sue for your legal costs, he will lose the money. He may well have intended to use that money in a drug deal, but we don't know that. If so, he hadn't done the drug deal yet, and hadn't committed a crime. Maybe he was just afraid of banks and wanted to make sure to keep some of the money outside of a bank. Frank is right. Whatever the stated purpose of the laws or of the elected officials who pass the laws, it will be used to target whoever can be targeted.
@Ken Anderson Obviously, it's gone a number of steps too far, way beyond the RICO law's original stated intent. Now, it's based on the supposition that the "money supply" is "Property of the U. S. Government". Now I take it a step further: what if a guy hoards large quantities of everyday things, but those in reasonable high demand, perhaps preserved foodstuffs, antiques, maybe even ammunition: will the Feds consider that illegal? Frank
Maybe. Do as your attorney suggest. They are the one having right knowledge about the federal laws and regulations. Finding an attorney that has a great combination of experience, references, and positivity will get you the best results possible.
I have little doubt that anyone who prepares for a disaster by stocking up the things that he needs will have it confiscated by local authorities for distribution to those who have not prepared, probably under the premise that the person who was prepared is hoarding. Most people realize that they need to keep information about their preparation from people who may later, out of desperation, seek to steal it, but I suspect that, in such a situation, the thieves will be from your local police department, and they'll be stealing it by order of your city council or county commission.
@Ken Anderson My good friend in NM, Greg Sanchez, with whom I worked while employed by Sears in District Maintenance, told me of the things his folks experienced on their small farm outside of Farmington, during the Depression. They had become largely self-sufficient, raising stock for food, and produce as well. One day, agents showed up from Albuquerque, demanded they be allowed to inspect the farm, and confiscated several animals to be used to feed the unemployed in the big city. Do not know if this activity was repeated again, but clearly understand those peoples' (and Greg's) deep-seated hatred for government. Frank
I believe we have discussed before that Agenda 21 has something like this written into it which basically says the Government in time of emergency (whatever they choose to call one) can take anything from anyone...for the good of everyone. And our former Presidents signed off on this Agenda. I don't think I will have to worry about this...since the only thing I have been stockpiling is Bibles.
They want to know everything about you how much money you have. The internet is set up to spy on you even the TV now have cameras watching you. 1984 the noose is slowly closing
@Martin Alonzo What will the result be just before the noose squeezes off the breath, and millions realize suddenly immediate and previously-unheard of reaction has become a necessity? Second Civil War? No. Civil War was people against people. This next one is People against Oppression. Oppression being government. Frank