Free Republic

The book, "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich," could nevertheless mark the second major political headache for Clinton's budding campaign. Weeks before she announced her candidacy, reports surfaced that she exclusively used a personal email account, and server, while secretary of state. Under pressure, Clinton held a press conference to explain her actions, but transparency questions continue to loom over her bid after she announced it a week ago. Critics have long questioned, as well, the family foundation's history of foreign donations and whether donors got any...

The central banks don’t like that cash makes it hard to cut rates to below zero. 0% is pretty much as far as they can go (though there are exceptions such as in Denmark.) Bloomberg reports;

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-10/citi-economist-says-it-might-be-time-to-abolish-cash

The move to a cashless society won’t happen overnight. Instead, it is being implemented very slowly and systematically in a series of incremental steps. All over the planet, governments are starting to place restrictions on the use of cash for security reasons. As citizens, we are being told that this is being done to thwart criminals, terrorists, drug runners, money launderers and tax evaders. Other forms of payment are much easier for governments to track, and so they very much prefer them. But we are rapidly getting to the point where the use of cash is considered to be a...

SACRAMENTO (CN) - A California law prohibiting a swipe fee surcharge for credit card purchases is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Court Morrison England found that the law "is an unconstitutional restriction on plaintiffs' freedom of speech and is void for vagueness."

Where to stash your cash? Some Americans are sleeping on it-literally. While banks are still the go-to solution for most consumers, 29 percent say they're keeping at least some savings in cash bills and coins, according to a new survey of 1,820 adults from American Express (AXP). Of those holding cash savings, 53 percent are hiding it in a secret location. Millennials are even more apt than other generations to go the mattress or freezer route, with 67 percent of those saving cash saying that they hide it outside a bank account. "We've long asked people about how they've planned...

**SNIP** Hong Kong police have asked anyone who grabbed the money to return it authorities as soon as possible. “Otherwise, they may have committed the crime of theft,” Wan Siu-hong, a district police officer, told reporters, according to Radio Television Hong Kong. There was an estimated 35 million Hong Kong dollars --- $4.5 million US -- in the van. About $2.5 million has been recovered. Nearly $2 million is missing, according to the police. The van belongs to G4S, a British security company. According to the South China Morning Post, the company said it was liable for the multimillion-dollar loss...

"A group describing itself as a 'Militant Resistance' to a 'corrupt police state' has offered $5000 for details of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson's whereabouts, MailOnline can reveal. Officer Wilson, 28, has been in hiding on paid leave ever since he gunned down unarmed teenager Michael Brown, 18, on 9 August. Now, in one of a series of incendiary tweets the RbG Black Rebels have stated, 'We are paying $5k cash for location of Ofc. Darren Wilson. Real $, no joke, no crime we just wana get his photo an ask him a few questions.' And though the RbG Black...

My friend’s succinct reaction to the amazing headline was, “How do you lose $6.6 billion?” How indeed! Despite a full decade of audits and investigations, Pentagon officials still cannot say what happened to $6.6 billion in cash that was intended for the Development Fund for Iraq. Apparently, it just “disappeared.” Was it just misplaced in an accounting error, or was it “stolen”? Who knows? Apparently, the Pentagon has no idea. Ah, the perils of the fog of war that covers up all sorts of foul play. It’s little wonder the money disappeared. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the...

Amnesty will kill us. It will cripple our ability to get out of debt. Since Barack Obama took office we have watched helplessly while he ran up our debt using our future earnings as collateral. As ordinary Americans we are limited in our ability to visualize and actually get a true understanding of the magnitude of our debt. We hear numbers that start in the hundreds of billions and run to the trillions. These numbers lose their meaning and their impact because of their enormity. The current best guess is that we owe nearly 18 trillion dollars. That much money...

I got a part time job in a Des office as a receptionist, but I may be able to use my phlebotomy skills to. Thanks for all your prayers. :)

Police confiscating Americans’ hard earned cash, as well as a wide variety of other valuables, without an arrest or conviction is a disturbing and growing practice throughput these United States. Since cops get to keep the seized funds and use the money on pretty much anything they want, the practice is becoming endemic in certain parts of the nation. The theft is often referred to simply as civil forfeiture, or civil asset forfeiture. Incredibly, under civil forfeiture laws your property is “guilty until you prove it innocent.”The extent of the problem came to my attention last summer after reading an...

The Canadian government has had to warn its citizens not to carry cash to the USA because the USA does not presume innocence but guilt when it comes to money. Over $2.5 billion has been confiscated from Canadians traveling to the USA, funding the police who grab it. If you are bringing cash to the land of the free, you will find that that saying really means they are FREE to seize all your money under the pretense you are engaged in drugs with no evidence or other charges. It costs more money in legal fees to try to get...

The one-day GreenStorm campaign blitz raised more than $250,000 for Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado, along with Senate hopefuls Bruce Braley of Iowa and Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan. ... The GreenStorm fundraiser was also supported by ProgressivesUnited PAC, the Voices for Progress PAC, the National Resources Defense Fund PAC, and the Population Connection Action Fund..

The fashion police descended in droves on the Los Angeles Fashion District last week, confiscating $100 million (mostly in cash), seizing three homes and arresting nine people. The raids on some 75 businesses are related to “Black Market Peso Exchange” (BMPE) schemes to launder drug money controlled by international drug cartels.

I've been getting a lot of email from Democratic fundraisers lately. They seem very worried about November's elections. First came the highly publicized "Impeachment Red Alert" campaign, in which the Democratic congressional committee warned that Republicans will impeach President Obama if they win control of the House and Senate. Though much ridiculed, the Impeachment Red Alert effort was a big winner, pulling in $2.1 million in small donations in a single weekend. Despite that success, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's mood seemed to blacken in subsequent days as she asked for more and more money. The subject line of Pelosi's...

With roughly two weeks left in the open enrollment period for health insurance, some groups are trying to sell Obamacare to young people in terms they might actually understand: music, comedy, and cash. Young Invincibles, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that is focused on the economic issues affecting young adults, launched a sweepstakes last week where it is awarding a cash prize of $1,200 — enough to potentially cover a year's worth of health insurance premiums for a young adult — to people who download their health care app or submit a card in the mail. The contest...

Some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it, the BBC has learnt. Listeners have told Radio 4's Money Box they were stopped from withdrawing amounts ranging from £5,000 to £10,000. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November. The bank says it has now changed its guidance to staff. New rules Stephen Cotton went to his local HSBC branch this month to withdraw £7,000 from his instant access savings account to pay back a loan from...

HSBC is imposing restrictions on large cash withdrawals raising a number of red flags. The BBC reports that some HSBC customers have been prevented from withdrawing large amounts of cash because they could not provide evidence of why they wanted it. HSBC admitted it has not informed customers of the change in policy, which was implemented in November for their own good: “We ask our customers about the purpose of large cash withdrawals when they are unusual… the reason being we have an obligation to protect our customers, and to minimise the opportunity for financial crime.” As one customer responded:...

The vice president went to pick up sandwiches Thursday for himself and President Obama but didn’t have enough money to pay the bill. Luckily, the veep doesn’t travel alone — he called on an aide, who reached into his pocket for a 10-spot so that Biden and his boss wouldn’t go hungry.