Posted on 06/23/2008 10:04:04 AM PDT by STARWISE
Broad, invasive provision touches nearly every aspect of American commerce.
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Hidden deep in Senator Christopher Dodd's 630-page Senate housing legislation is a sweeping provision that affects the privacy and operation of nearly all of America’s small businesses.
The provision, which was added by the bill's managers without debate this week, would require the nation's payment systems to track, aggregate, and report information on nearly every electronic transaction to the federal government.
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Call Congress and Tell Them to Oppose The eBay Reporting Provision in the Housing Bill: 1-866-928-3035
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FreedomWorks Chairman Dick Armey commented:
"This is a provision with astonishing reach, and it was slipped into the bill just this week.
Not only does it affect nearly every credit card transaction in America, such as Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express, but the bill specifically targets payment systems like eBay's PayPal, Amazon, and Google Checkout that are used by many small online businesses.
The privacy implications for America's small businesses are breathtaking."
"Privacy groups like the Center for Democracy and Technology and small business organizations like the NFIB sharply criticized this idea when it first appeared earlier this year.
What is the federal government's purpose with this kind of detailed data? How will this database be secured, and who will have access?
Many small proprietors use their Social Security number as their tax ID.
How will their privacy be protected? What compliance costs will this impose on businesses?
Why is Sen. Chris Dodd putting this provision in a housing bailout bill? The bill also includes the creation of a new national fingerprint registry for mortgage brokers.
"At a time when concerns about both identity theft and government spying are paramount, Congress wants to create a new honey pot of private data that includes Social Security numbers.
This bill reduces privacy across America's payment processing systems and treats every American small business or eBay power seller like a criminal on parole by requiring an unprecedented level of reporting to the federal government.
This outrageous idea is another reason to delay the housing bailout legislation so that Senators and the public at large have time to examine its full implications."
From the Senate Bill Summary:
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Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting.
The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions.
Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee.
Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction.
Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions.
A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions.
Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations.
The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011.
This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.
And yet these are the self-appointed privacy freaks who complain against domestic spying of terrorists.
Amazing.
Where’s the ACLU in all of this?
If they ever actually stopped to wonder they might realize what’s actually going on. Until then, they will continue to spend and meddle and tell us how much we need them to save us from the mess they’re making.
That’s a sneaky piece of crap.
Taxpayer Groups Sign Coalition Letter Opposing Dodd-Countrywide Mortgage Bailout Bill
http://www.freedomworks.org/newsroom/press_template.php?press_id=2570
The coalition letter stated:
“The Dodd plan creates a new housing trust fund that will collect more than $530 million a year through a new levy on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The trust fund in turn makes these funds available to politically active community groups like ACORN outside the normal appropriations oversight.
In addition, the Dodd plan creates a new $300 billion facility that allows mortgage lenders to cherry-pick their worst performing loans and roll them into the FHA, shifting 100 percent of the loan liability to the taxpayer.”
The letter was supported by findings released earlier this week by the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) scoring of the Dodd-Frank legislation. The CBO predicts that banks will offload their “highest-risk loans” to the taxpayer, the reports also projects that a shocking 35 percent of the loans refinanced through the program will eventually default anyway at a loss to the taxpayer.
To view the coalition letter, please visit:
http://www.freedomworks.org/uploads/dodd-frank-coalition.pdf
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Call Congress and Tell Them to Oppose The eBay Reporting Provision in the Housing Bill:
1-866-928-3035
Unless "privacy" means having the right to kill an unborn baby. That "privacy" is somewhere in the Constitution, though I'm not sure where.
He doesn’t do credit cards in his other sports related activities either.
BINGO! IMHO this is the first step towards putting sales tax both national and state upon each credit card transaction.
“The White House said using public money to buy up foreclosed homes would unfairly benefit lenders who made bad loans. Supporters of the provision say a tidewave of foreclosures could destroy some neighborhood, especially in big cities.
“The federal government must not prolong necessary corrections in the housing market, bail out lenders, or subsidize irresponsible borrowing and lending, at the expense of hard-working people who have played by the rules,” the White House said.
The administration also objected to a temporary tax credit for home buyers, and to a funding mechanism that would tap revenues from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to subsidize FHA loan guarantees.
The Senate began debate Thursday on the bill, which is backed by a bipartisan group, including the leaders of the Senate Banking Committee, Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.,
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and Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
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The Banking Committee approved the bill 19-2.
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Sen. Shelby:
Washington Office:
110 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Telephone: (202) 224-5744
Fax: (202) 224-3416
Email: senator@shelby.senate.gov
That was one credit card company and they're getting in trouble for it.
However, it does look like it is time to use the credit cards less and use cash more.
That information is not in your credit report and has no bearing on your FICO score.
However, your individual card issuers do know where you are spending your money, and it is plausible that they would be able to act on this information as you have described.
Also, the issuing banks do check your credit report every so often, and if they see that other lenders are lowering your credit lines or not getting paid, they are likely to take appropriate actions to mitigate their own risk.
heck I bet they make Dodds house payments for him
NO...and you can't say that..!!
/S
“However, it does look like it is time to use the credit cards less and use cash mo”
its always time to use credit cards less
Yep...The same senator who might not be making payments on his mortgage and was in effect, given a house.
Pay with CURRENCY! Small bills. Or, use GOLD.
It "emanates" from a "penumbra"; if you can't see it, it must be because of the secondhand smoke.
YES - one and the same DUDD....LOL...just like his gun-controlling DUDD father.
Congress can’t take a sh*t without messing in other people’s business!
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