Posted on 06/29/2013 10:07:14 AM PDT by John Semmens
The massive invasion of Americans' privacy by the federal government isn't the exclusive turf of the National Security Agency (NSA). Information released in response to a Freedom of Information Act filing indicates that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been conducting warrant-less surveillance of the financial transactions of five million consumers.
CFPB Director Richard Cordray defended what he insisted was “mere data mining of an anonymous nature. There is no intent at this time to single out any individual. We're only gathering statistics to help us craft the appropriate regulations to control how credit is used in our economy.”
“The accumulation of excessive debt for unnecessary consumption is a growing problem,” Cordray said. “It is the Bureau's responsibility to devise rules that will act to prevent consumers from taking on such debt. Every dollar we can divert from the frivolous accumulation of unneeded stuff can be conserved for deployment toward more essential uses.”
One of the “more essential uses” cited by Cordray will be “the payment for coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Most consumers are unaware of the additional amount they will have to pay for health care insurance starting in January of 2014. By secretly observing the wasteful and imprudent abuses of credit exhibited by consumers we can better construct regulations to avert this behavior and ensure a more uniform compliance.”
A report published in the Journal of Economic Growth cast doubt on the benefits of government regulations. The report's authors, John Dawson and John Seater say that over the last 60 years excessive regulation has significantly reduced Americans' standard of living. They estimate that had regulations stayed at the level they were in 1949, average household income would now be $330,000 per year instead of the $53,000 it is currently.
Cordray was unimpressed by these findings. “If household income were six times as high that would just mean six times as much would be spent on selfish, materialistic impulses,” Cordray argued. “I don't find it hard to believe that the benefits of the regulations added since 1949 are easily worth more than a quarter of a million dollars a year to each family in America.”
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/137224-2013-06-28-semi-news-a-satire-of-recent-news-june-30-2013.htm
ping
"Warrants? We ain't got no warrants. We don't need no warrants! I don't have to show you any stinkin' warrants!"
The report's authors, John Dawson and John Seater say that over the last 60 years excessive regulation has significantly reduced Americans' standard of living.
is probably more true than anyone realizes.
The study is real.
Regulations cost each household in America an estimated $280,000 per year in lost income.
It's like you are a prophet of the dystopian world that we are heading toward.
Thx.
Unfortunately we are already living through a significantly dystopian era.
Regulation’s negative impact on personal income is very real and very large. Without the addition of all the regulations added after WWII I estimate that the average American would now be a millionaire several times over.
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Sadly again not very far from the truth. Is Satire the new
“Multiple Government Agencies Are Keeping Records Of Your Credit Card Transactions”
http://www.zerohedge.com/node/475876
Meant to say “is satire the new prophecy?”
Forgot to get my weekly satire fix. Thank you once again for the ping. :)
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