by John Galt
February 26, 2013 20:00 ET
Way, way, way, way, back in U.S. history, a lesson was learned in 1933 with the issuance of Executive Order 6102 by Obama’s model, Franklin Delano Roosevelt:
The President used his powers and disputes of the historical account about “seizing” safety deposit box contents have ensued to this day. The rumors of such confiscatory actions by the I.R.S. led some citizens to voluntarily comply and pull their gold from their bank safety deposit boxes and turn the metal in for fiat funny money rather than face the risk of criminal charges.
Fast forward to 2008, where states began to analyze the idea of closing budget gaps and using their police powers to seize so-called inactive or “unclaimed” boxes from legitimate owners to sell off the assets and add to their state’s treasuries. ABC News highlighted this story on March 12, 2008 when they actually cared to report a little actual news:
Not-So-Safe-Deposit Boxes: States Seize Citizens’ Property to Balance Their Budgets
This excerpt from the story by Elisabeth Leamy gives one a hint as to how devious these actions were, especially in California:
The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they’re supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a “Good Morning America” investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn’t really unclaimed and then use the money — your money — to balance their budgets.
Unclaimed property consists of things like forgotten apartment security deposits, uncashed dividend checks and safe-deposit boxes abandoned when an elderly relative dies.
Banks and other businesses are required to turn that property over to the state for safekeeping. The problem is that the states return less than a quarter of unclaimed property to the rightful owners.
San Francisco resident Carla Ruff’s safe-deposit box was drilled, seized, and turned over to the state of California, marked “owner unknown.”
“I was appalled,” Ruff said. “I felt violated.”
Unknown? Carla’s name was right on documents in the box at the Noe Valley Bank of America location. So was her address — a house about six blocks from the bank. Carla had a checking account at the bank, too — still does — and receives regular statements. Plus, she has receipts showing she’s the kind of person who paid her box rental fee. And yet, she says nobody ever notified her.
“They are zealously uncovering accounts that are not unclaimed,” Ruff said.
To make matters worse, Ruff discovered the loss when she went to her box to retrieve important paperwork she needed because her husband was dying. Those papers had been shredded.
Thankfully Carla’s last name was not “Buffett” or “Gates” so nobody in the masses gave a crap.
Now that the Federal Reserve has initiated their latest program titled “Professionally Anally Raping Taxpayers” or “PART” in deference to the old TARP program where it was more honest and open, the sheeple have gone back to sleep thinking goldbugs are fools again and that there is just gee-whillickers no shucky darn way that the government or our central bank would never, ever, ever, lie to the citizenry or take advantage of us again.
Sadly, these scumbags read the Australian news also. From the Australian Broadcasting Company earlier today:
Banks warn Government set to take inactive accounts
From the article:
Legislation amended late last year means any account that has not seen activity within three years can be transferred into the Commonwealth’s hands – previously the rule was seven years.
The money will be able to be reclaimed from the Government through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
The new law comes into effect at the end of May and banks are advising customers to make transactions as small as a dollar to ensure they are not transferred to ASIC.
Australian Bankers Association chief executive Steven Munchenburg says many accounts will be affected.
“If you’ve put some money away to save for the future and you’re not adding any more deposits to that, and if you’ve got trust accounts where money is being held for some reason in the future, if you’ve got bond money for example where you’re a landlord and the tenant’s bond money is sitting in an account for more than three years, any of those sorts of those accounts, and the banks are obliged to move the money to the Government,” he said.
The banking industry believes the Government’s changes to inactive bank accounts legislation is just revenue raising.
I wish I could believe the banking industry representative down under, but sadly, there is another reality taking shape. One chart from the United States economic dilemma explains why:
My readers may think they are crazy but their eyes are not deceiving them; monetary velocity as measured not by some crack pot blogger, but the Federal Reserve itself is at the lowes level in measured history despite TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS printed and created to bail out the very banks which own the central bank of the U.S. The Australian central bankers are extremely nervous also, because the velocity of their currency, while higher than the U.S,. is artificially strengthening and threatening a bout of deflation as the world’s investor’s pile into a perceived safe haven:
Thus the need to force saver and the non-investing public out of hard assets, savings accounts, and uncontrollable personally liquid but not institutionally liquid assets into the mainstream of investing be it in government bonds or better yet, speculation on equities and new business prospects. This same problem exists in the United States and the Australian model might be a measuring stick for a future program within our nation. If anyone doubts the ability or willingness of the government and central bankers wishing to manipulate currencies to penalize the populous with massive devaluation and eventual inflation, simply remember that our dollar, the almighty reserve currency, has been devalued by over 90% since the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913. The program to finish the job is now underway and force a reset of historic proportions on an unsuspecting American public.
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