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Canada Isn't Alone in Using Debanking As a Weapon Against Political Opponents
Townhall.com ^ | February 23, 2022 | John R. Lott, Jr.

Posted on 02/23/2022 5:41:32 AM PST by Kaslin

Canada may be the future for many Americans. The Canadian government is freezing the bank accounts of truckers involved in the freedom protest. But on Thursday, they went even further, freezing the bank accounts and blocking credit cards and crypto wallets for people and institutions in Canada who donated to support the truckers. Without credit cards or checks and no access to financial institutions, people better hope that they have lots of cash at home.

This is being done even without court orders.

It is bad enough that financial institutions freeze donors’ accounts. Still, to get an idea of how extreme this is, they are punishing people who donated to the truckers even before the Trudeau government condemned the truckers’ actions.

But this isn’t just something that happens in our neighbor Canada. Indeed, Biden is using all the regulatory tools at his disposal to “debank” those industries he doesn’t like. Biden’s nominee to be the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision has repeatedly urged regulators to force banks to defund America’s domestic oil and gas industry. That position would give her the power to do just that.

At the end of January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it will use its regulatory authority to scrutinize how credit rating agencies compile “environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)” evaluations of companies. Right at the top of these regulators list of “socially” irresponsible companies are gun makers and sellers. A lower credit rating means companies have to pay higher interest rates and higher business costs. According to news reports from last week, the SEC is currently debating how far to push these regulations.

Late last fall, Biden’s then-nominee to head the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Saule Omarova, came out in favor of using the “debanking” of what she called “socially sub-optimal industries.” Omarova’s other controversial views caused her nomination to be withdrawn, but other parts of the Biden administration are moving forward.

Some credit rating agencies are pushing back. Kroll Bond Rating Agency has pushed back against the SEC regulations, saying that its credit ratings “does not deploy subjective value-based ESG scoring rubrics.” But even putting aside the possible civil and criminal charges, no financial institution wants extra audits or investigations from regulators.

These ESG ratings are also going to be used for Federal acquisition decisions. Last fall, the Biden Labor Department “may often require an evaluation of the economic effects of climate change and other ESG factors on the particular investment or investment course of action” for workplace retirement plans —401(k)s and 403(b)s. What that means is that Biden could force retirement accounts to trade-off goals they view as socially desirable in exchange for accepting a lower rate of return on investments.

Biden wants to revive Obama’s Operation Chokepoint. Obama had government agencies warn the financial institutions they regulated that the government considered certain types of their customers “high risk,” such as those in the fossil fuels and firearms industries. Trump killed the program, and in one of the last actions of his administration, he tried to implement rules that would prevent Obama’s Operation Chokepoint from being implemented again. He wanted to prevent the federal government from discriminating against law-abiding companies producing legal products, but Biden killed the reform.

One could debate whether we should have a natural gas or oil industry. But Biden can’t claim that he wants to reduce gas and heating oil prices at the same time he is working to destroy production in the U.S. One could debate whether Americans should be able to have guns for personal defense. But as he works hard to put gun makers and sellers out of business, Biden can’t claim that he supports the Second Amendment. We can’t ignore that the people who benefit the most from owning guns are the most likely victims of violent crime – poor blacks in high-crime urban areas.

So, the Democrats destroy the businesses that they don’t like. Instead of Republicans stopping this discrimination, should they start discriminating against the companies that Democrats like?

Of course, the Obama administration showed how the government could financially choke off his political opponents. His administration used the IRS against their political opponents, preventing them from being classified as non-profits, and thus preventing them from raising money.

Similarly, last Thursday, Canada’s Justice Minister David Lametti warned members of “a pro-Trump movement” should be particularly “worried” that the government is coming after them. Trump is not a Canadian politician. Trump didn’t have anything to do with the Freedom Convoy. To so explicitly target political opponents for destruction is scary.

As Biden continues to implement these policies and the prices of gas and guns rise, he can’t just blame it on these companies suddenly becoming greedy.


TOPICS: Canada; Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bidenvoters; canada; debanking; justintrudeau; vaccinemandate
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To: Bon of Babble

Reminds me of NCR in Waterloo, Ont.
Everything seemed fine but out of the blue everything moved to China.


21 posted on 02/23/2022 6:48:07 AM PST by kanawa ((Securing the 2022/2024 elections is of paramount importance.))
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To: Kaslin

Wouldn’t it be great if conservatives had enough money ey to open a whole large line of banks and could say to folks “unlike in liberal run banks, your money is your money, and we will never try to steal it from you like the left is attempting to do now in America. Your money is always safe In Our banks!”


22 posted on 02/23/2022 6:54:33 AM PST by Bob434
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To: realcleanguy

Like the poster above you said, this woild,cause a massive run on banks, with people canceling gmtheir credit cards and such as well, and closing their accounts, it woild cause a crisis...

Greece tried this with their citizens, and the citzens revolted and did massive countrywide shutdowns of major throughways, and forced their government to stop the practice/theft years ago. Same thing would happen here as well. People all over the country would refuse to even goto work since the government is stealing their money anyways, and the nation would be crippled


23 posted on 02/23/2022 6:58:42 AM PST by Bob434
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To: Kaslin
As Biden continues to implement these policies and the prices of gas and guns rise, he can’t just blame it on these companies
suddenly becoming greedy.

Sure he can. Who will dispute the ethics of such a move, the press?

24 posted on 02/23/2022 7:05:05 AM PST by Thommas
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To: Kaslin

The RCMP are rushing to unfreeze accounts ,someone must have finally talked to a lawyer and found out YOU CAN’T DO THAT


25 posted on 02/23/2022 7:06:11 AM PST by butlerweave
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To: realcleanguy

If they do it to me, I will go hunting.


26 posted on 02/23/2022 7:18:14 AM PST by GingisK
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To: Kaslin

I highly recommend that as part of prepping, patriots learn to barter, prepare to barter and have a basic understanding of crypto currencies. You dont need to invest if you dont want to, but knowing how to use them might come in handy in a few years.


27 posted on 02/23/2022 7:19:50 AM PST by taxcontrol (The choice is clear - either live as a slave on your knees or die as a free citizen on your feet.)
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To: Kaslin

Fascism is a partnership of government and corporations.

It differs from communism in that the government does not own industry.

A fascist government punishes or rewards companies based on their participation in the fascist system.


28 posted on 02/23/2022 7:25:17 AM PST by UnwashedPeasant (The pandemic we suffer from is not COVID. It is Marxist Democrat Leftism.)
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To: Kaslin

There is no way to freeze a “crypto” wallet. By design, they are decentralized networks that nobody is in charge of.


29 posted on 02/23/2022 8:24:59 AM PST by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power )
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To: McGavin999

It is easier and probably safer to bury your money in the back yard.


30 posted on 02/23/2022 8:42:29 AM PST by bgill (Which came first, the vax or the virus?)
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To: ClearCase_guy

I can see the Democrats doing this


31 posted on 02/23/2022 9:42:57 AM PST by realcleanguy (quickly things are falling apart, now that the )
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To: Bob434

The question is, would the WH cripple the nation as they are about to go to war against Russia? Which would be the worst disaster.


32 posted on 02/23/2022 9:43:48 AM PST by realcleanguy (quickly things are falling apart, now that the )
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To: GingisK

I’m with you, but how long will the game hold up?


33 posted on 02/23/2022 9:44:13 AM PST by realcleanguy (quickly things are falling apart, now that the )
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To: MrKatykelly
With virtually no exceptions, state chartered banks are regulated by either the Fed or the FDIC. State banks are by and large subject to the same regulations as national banks. Most proposed regulations are issued jointly by the OCC (national banks), the Fed (state banks that are Fed members) and the FDIC (state banks that are not Fed members).

While the largest U.S. banks are largely National charters, there are several banks with more than $100 billion in assets that have state charters. In some states, e.g. New York, the state banking department is more aggressive and anti-business than their Federal counterparts.

SEC regulations affect publicly traded banks only.

34 posted on 02/23/2022 10:02:15 AM PST by Wallace T.
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To: realcleanguy

Not long. It will help in whatever small measure.


35 posted on 02/23/2022 10:03:45 AM PST by GingisK
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To: LLBeet

Canada Isn't Alone in Using Debanking As a Weapon Against Political Opponents

THEFT!!!


36 posted on 02/23/2022 2:18:48 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: rednesss
By design, they are decentralized networks that nobody is in charge of.

Yeah... Sure...

37 posted on 02/23/2022 2:20:16 PM PST by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Wallace T.

Agreed. Still prefer State Banks.


38 posted on 02/23/2022 6:51:03 PM PST by MrKatykelly
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