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Uncle Sam wants you... to explain this $50 cash deposit
arstechnica.com ^ | 4/27/2005 | Hannibal

Posted on 04/27/2005 7:59:32 AM PDT by PreciousLiberty

In 2006, it'll be a whole lot harder to cheat on your taxes, even accidentally. In fact, you'll also have to field calls from the government over odd deposits that you make, e.g. a deposit at an odd time of the month, or a cash deposit, or a deposit made from a foreign bank, etc. That's because, thanks to the PATRIOT act, banks are spending billions on highly sophisticated, government-mandated anti-money laundering (AML) software that will track every last transaction of every last customer in order to build up individual customer profiles and look for "suspicious" activity. And when they find some suspicious activity, they're going to want an explanation out of you, regardless of whether or not you fit any sort of terrorist profile.

(Excerpt) Read more at arstechnica.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Front Page News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bigbrother; biggovernment; constitution; invasive; irs; libertarians; paranoia; patriotact; patriotactworks; privacy; taxes; wodlist
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To: superiorslots
The patriot act is only used as a guise to fighting terrorist. If you actually read it in detail the average inoncent american has lost tons of rights, privacy and freedoms.

Citations, please. From the text of the Act, preferably.

161 posted on 04/27/2005 10:16:24 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback ("Slippery slope? Try cliffdiving."--Freeper Crazieman comments on the post-Terri world.)
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To: Wiseghy

"Guess what, freedom has a cost. That cost is the risk that government MIGHT abuse their privileges."

That is no excuse to allow a vast, unnecessary expansion of surveillance powers. Whither the Fourth Amendment?

A quote worth remembering:

"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." -- Thomas Paine

I agree with other posters that many of the steps taken in the name of the PATRIOT Act have been unnecessary and counterproductive, while many obvious steps which could have produced results have been left undone.

It's a shame.


162 posted on 04/27/2005 10:16:49 AM PDT by PreciousLiberty
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To: PreciousLiberty
In 2006, it'll be a whole lot harder to cheat on your taxes, even accidentally.

Yeah. We'll see.

163 posted on 04/27/2005 10:18:40 AM PDT by k2blader (Immorality bites.)
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To: superiorslots
You mean the 85 year old grandmother who is searched at the airport did not lose freedoms??

Not a PATRIOT Act provision. That was stupidity of application by screeners. Blaming the patriot Act for that is like blaming the Kennedy Assassination on the 2nd Amendment.

164 posted on 04/27/2005 10:20:23 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback ("Slippery slope? Try cliffdiving."--Freeper Crazieman comments on the post-Terri world.)
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To: Leatherneck_MT

...I'm going to find some 3rd world hell hole to go live in...


That won't work. The plan is to merge us all into one big happy third world hell hole. All the disease poverty and misery of the third world, with first world police power and first world controls.

For the good of all, you see.

Your only way out is to become a diplomat of sorts at the UN.


165 posted on 04/27/2005 10:20:35 AM PDT by the gillman@blacklagoon.com (Impeach them all!)
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To: ECM
since I'm self-employed

Nothing new for you. The IRS already has a woody for the self-employed.

They DO NOT want people working for themselves. They are convinced that all of us that do so are cheating the government of it's "rightful" due.

166 posted on 04/27/2005 10:21:45 AM PDT by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60s......you weren't really there.)
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Comment #167 Removed by Moderator

To: TheRightGuy
Hmmm, I don't charge my church for the graphics work I do.

It's not my church. They approached me as a professional service and I'm doing it at a cut rate. My church gets it free.

168 posted on 04/27/2005 10:29:15 AM PDT by SlowBoat407 (I'm not nearklym drunk enough tom deal with it. - FReeper Wormwood, 4/18/05)
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Comment #169 Removed by Moderator

To: PreciousLiberty
FEDS: Explain this $50.00 cash deposit.

CITIZEN: I found it.

FEDS: 10th time this month?

CITIZEN: Call me lucky.
170 posted on 04/27/2005 10:36:35 AM PDT by Mike Darancette (Mesocons for Rice '08)
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To: SedVictaCatoni

I only know what I read on the web site and have done with those few coins I got more for collecting value than use ...I did talk to the teller before I "tried to get her fired" about the coins.....she got the bank manager and he said it was legal tinder.....that was a few years back.

Do ya have more info to back up your claim of bogus instrument of cash or are ya just talkin for the sake of ?

I'd like to know if ya have time.


171 posted on 04/27/2005 10:40:56 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: <1/1,000,000th%
The Feds can't even find time to patrol our borders. I doubt they'll be able to ccheck on a couple of billions of transactions.

Exactly

This is the same IRS which blew 6 billion (with a B) dollars on a new computer network and they have decided to scrap it because it won't work.

172 posted on 04/27/2005 10:41:37 AM PDT by hattend (Alaska....in a time warp all it's own!)
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To: macaroona
Don't know - possibly.

Wait a bloody minute here: You said that the Patriot Act "does nothing to stop terrorism." Now you say you don't know. So, you have no idea what the heck you're talking about, or what?

I mean, take the fact that one of the Patriot Act provisions is to take down the wall between intel agencies that helped 9/11 happen. No Patriot Act, no "connecting the dots."

Five Al-Qaeda cells on U.S, soil have been busted up using Patriot Act provisions (as cited by Ashcroft in his Senate testimony last fall, IIRC). Do you think they were just here to grab a snack?

Can you give me a reason that methods used to prosecute Jon Gotti can't be used against Osama's minions? Jon Gotti sure didn't kill 3,000 people, and he sure wasn't interested in sneaking a nuke into Chicago or parking a car bomb next to an elementary school.

The point should be keeping these foreigners (by and large) OUT of this country or deporting them.

Most of the 9/11 hijackers had valid visas. All entered the country legally. Jose Padilla and Jihad Johnny Lindh were both American citizens. Yes, immigration is a problem, but any immigration scheme other than "throw all the Muslims out" would have prevented 9/11.

Here's a list from the Justice Department. Unless it's the most spun document in government history (heck, unless most of it is just plain lies) the Patriot Act has been a disaster for terrorsts. Notice the 515 deportations...

WAGING THE WAR ON TERROR

For decades, terrorists have waged war against U.S. interests. Now America is waging war against terrorists. As President Bush has said, "Free people will set the course of history." We have promoted freedom over the past two years while protecting civil liberties and protecting people here and around the world from further terrorist attacks.

HOW WE ARE WAGING THE WAR ON TERRORISM:

First, we are disrupting terrorist threats, and capturing the terrorists that would carry them out. Since 9/11:

Second, we are gathering and cultivating detailed knowledge on terrorism in the United States:

Third, we are gathering information by leveraging criminal charges and long prison sentences. When individuals realize that they face a long prison term, they often try to lessen their prison time by pleading guilty and cooperating with the government.

Fourth, we are dismantling the terrorist financial network. Already the United States Government has:

Fifth, we are using new legal tools to detect, disrupt, and prevent potential terrorist plots. Congress has provided better tools to make sure we are doing all we can, legally and within the bounds of the Constitution, to detect, disrupt, and prevent acts of terror. The PATRIOT Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, in the Senate by 98-1, and in the House of Representatives by 357-66.

Sixth, the Department of Justice is building its long-term counter-terrorism capacity since September 11th:


Privacy Policy
173 posted on 04/27/2005 10:42:30 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback ("Slippery slope? Try cliffdiving."--Freeper Crazieman comments on the post-Terri world.)
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To: gregwest
- Zbigniew Brzezinski - (Co-founder, Trilateral Commission)

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Stop, you're killing me!

If you really believe in the Trilateral Commission, I advise you to stop posting on FR and to hide in your basement, Don't attract their attention.

174 posted on 04/27/2005 10:45:41 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback ("Slippery slope? Try cliffdiving."--Freeper Crazieman comments on the post-Terri world.)
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To: PreciousLiberty
Whoa, whoa, whoa!

First, let's talk headline: A story headlined "Uncle Sam wants you... to explain this $50 cash deposit" is paranoid in and of itself, and is even more pathetically paranoid after reading the Wired article. It's like citing a story about federal money for more cops on the street and titling your blog entry, "Uncle Sam wants you...to get a plunger up the anus at the precinct house."

Second anybody who really thinks bankers are jumping at the chance to report multiple customers to the feds each day has never run a business. Banks would eventually have numbers of customers in inverse proportion to the number of reports they did. Also, anyone who thinks that this software will turn up multiple innocent customers per day has no understanding of how it would have to work. Money laundering software that red flags Joe Blough would be like calling up Google and searching on the letter "Q" while trying to find info on Al-Qaeda. Even the most totalitarian state would not have the time or resources to do anything that stupid.

Third, every Freeper should think twice about believing anyone who says "Look, they're stealing your freedom with the PATRIOT Act." 99% of the time, when I ask someone, even a normally well-informed person, to tell me what's in the act that's so bad, their answer is "homiah, hominah, hominah" or the "they can look at your library books" hysteria. Occasioanlly one of them will bring up the jumping phone taps or the search provisions, but they usually have no idea those provisions have been used for years and that they require a federal bench warrant.

Running in circles and screaming and shouting every time somebody says "PATRIOT Act" is exactly what the Left wants. As for the real world realities of economics, enforcement and computer power, I'd invite readers of this thread to review posts 11, 14, 16, 23, 27, 29, 36, 53, 56, 58, 59, 60, 88, 92 and on, and on...

In the fight against government expansion, we need to keep our eye on the ball. hysteria like this is every bit as silly as if the threads ran the terror threat level to orange every time an Arab got on a plane.

175 posted on 04/27/2005 10:46:47 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback ("Slippery slope? Try cliffdiving."--Freeper Crazieman comments on the post-Terri world.)
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Comment #176 Removed by Moderator

To: Squantos
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. This post does not constitute legal advice. If you wish legal representation, contact an attorney admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.

What this company has done is, in the case of paper notes, create what amounts to a promissory note. It's basically a little contract that says "I, the person who wrote this, agree to pay whoever possesses this piece of paper the amount of $X if they show up and ask for it."

A hundred and fifty years ago, these were reasonably common. If you had showed up at the bank with one of these, they would assess the creditworthiness of the person who had written it, and pay out cash according to some discount.

Usually, these were issued by banks as banknotes; so, if you went to the Bank of Minneapolis with a $50 note from the Bank of St. Paul, they would say "We've heard of the Bank of St. Paul, they seem to be solvent, we'll give you $48 in cash for this." If you went to the Bank of San Francisco with a $50 note from the Bank of St. Paul, they'd look it up in a book, and say "Well, this bank does exist, but we don't know if they're still in business, solvent, etc., so we'll give you $27 in cash for it."

If you went to the bank with a $50 note from John Smith, they would either say "we have no idea who this guy is; we're not taking that", or maybe "I've heard of him, but I don't know if he can pay on it, so we'll give you $5."

In modern times, essentially all banknotes are issued by the Federal Reserve Bank, which centralized the job (and eliminated all the confusion, risk, etc., in having to guess which banks might be good and which not). What the Liberty Dollars outfit is doing is issuing private notes - essentially writing promissory notes which they promise to repay if asked. They are also asking you to trust them that they will repay. If a private bank issued notes, you would at least know that the bank is not likely to fail; when the Federal Reserve Bank issues notes, you know that if the United States Government fails, we're all in a lot of trouble anyway.

However, banks are not really supposed to accept somebody-or-other's private notes if brought to their counter, any more than they are supposed to accept the value of your car for deposit if you drive it up to the front door. They may or may not be prohibited by law, depending on the state, etc., but it is difficult to imagine a reputable bank agreeing to exchange U. S. currency for some private firm's note.

As for privately minted coins, that just gets even weirder. AFAIK, nobody is allowed to mint coins, especially out of precious metal, and assert that they can be used in place of money. I'm not a lawyer, but 18 USC §486 imposes a penalty of five years in prison for making silver coins, even of an original design, intended for use as money. The penalty is the same for attempting to spend them.

177 posted on 04/27/2005 11:04:14 AM PDT by SedVictaCatoni (I am not a lawyer. This post is not legal advice.)
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To: SedVictaCatoni

Cool........Thank you I learned something. Why do ya think the banks are taking them ? Just an opinion will be Ok.... Weird deal then with the liberty dollar.

Thanks again for your time.

Stay Safe !


178 posted on 04/27/2005 11:11:06 AM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: PreciousLiberty
This whole article is a load of cr@p... Banks have had software in place to track money laundering attempts and "suspicious currency transactions" for years. The banks' systems look for transactions over a certain dollar amount on accounts not listed as exempted (an example of an exempted account would be an account for a large grocery store - they would naturally be depositing in excess of $10,000 on a regular basis.) For the article to say "banks are spending billions" is the big tipoff. The existing software parameters would only require a change in the "threshold" amounts - for instance, adjusting them downward to detect the "$50.00 deposit" as opposed to keeping them at the current level used to detect possible money laundering.

The author is someone that is looking to stir the "anti-Patriot Act" pot... Banks have had to track suspicious currency transactions since the 80's, using a form 4789 / Currency Transaction Register.

There is no way that a $50 deposit is going to be tracked other than to track it though the teller window and through the proof department in order to make sure it gets into your account. It would be fiscally impossible to track and investigate each and every "odd ball" deposit that goes into peoples accounts, and I can tell you first hand that no legal directive has been issued to force banks to do this.

Put the article around you outdoor plants - it will make them grow better...

179 posted on 04/27/2005 11:12:09 AM PDT by Raven6 (“The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. ")
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To: macaroona

HRC has already publicly called pro-life demonstrators "terrorists."


180 posted on 04/27/2005 12:01:07 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, TomasTorquemadaGentlemen'sClub)
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