Posted on 03/20/2013 9:57:20 AM PDT by IBD editorial writer
Rule Of Law: Markets tumbled after Cyprus and the EU said they might tax private bank accounts to pay for a bailout. Arbitrary property grabs are a new low and a bad precedent in this crisis. Worse still, it can happen here. As bad as tumbling markets around the world are, they seem to be the only signal strong enough to catch the attention of Europe's otherwise unaccountable bureaucrats who have long since learned to ignore street riots. As stocks fell from Tokyo to New York, Europe's leaders are scrambling to say they had nothing to do with the cause — the shutdown of all Cyprus banks and ATMs for at least three days and the expropriation of a large chunk of each now-captive account, as a "tax" to pay for Cyprus' $13 billion EU bailout, Europe's fifth. Cyprus Prime Minister Nicos Anastasiades bitterly asserted he had been "blackmailed" by the EU and the International Monetary Fund to go along with the idea on Saturday, or there'd be no bailout. Cyprus' central bank chief Panicos Demetriades said the same thing. Aside from the fact that no fiscally responsible country should need a bailout and the roots of Cyprus' financial crisis is based on long-term big-spending government and low-information voters, the bank shutdown nevertheless sets an ugly precedent rooted in the growing arrogance of EU power.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.investors.com ...
Not “can happen”. Will happen. You think the Republicans that are refusing to de-fund ObamaCare are going to defend us when it happens?
What is in question is, will we still own our guns (and ammo) when it happens? And will we be willing to do what is necessary to stop it?
I envision Obama declaring a national emergency over a budget fight or such and then EO an “emergency excise tax” on our bank accounts.
Dems get the House in 2014 and the sky’s the limit for asset confiscation.
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