Free Republic

Hoarding Euros Withdrawing large sums in cash is no longer possible in Spain without the government’s approval. Those withdrawing €3,000 or more must notify Spain’s tax agency, Agencia Tributaria, in advance. Withdrawals at or exceeding €100,000 require a 72-hour approval process, and the tax agency is requesting a 24-hour mandatory notification for any amount over €3,000. A few news outlets are reporting that the Spanish government will impose a €150,000 fine on those who fail to report, but Project Veritas found that to be false. Article 4 of Order EHA/98/2010 states that these new measures are safeguarding institutions against money...

On the to-do list of the progressives setting out the steps needed to perfect the world, right at the top we find “Get Rid of Cash.” That makes total sense. Use of cash for financial transactions is the source and enabler of human sin and failing almost without limit. Our free exchange (aka “capitalist”) system gives rise to endless varieties of undesirable activities, ranging from the criminal to the sketchy to the non-virtuous to the icky. If only we had a world without cash, all transactions could be forced onto electronic payment systems where they could be continuously monitored by...

They came into some sleazy money. Bags full of cash fell off a Brinks Home Security Company truck as it drove through a Chicago suburb last week — leaving over $300,000 in cash in the hands of sticky-fingered locals, according to a report. The moolah hauler’s back door became ajar by “unknown means” as it rolled through the Oak Park neighborhood of the Second City on Tuesday — dropping three cash-filled bags onto Austin Boulevard, according to NBC. Brinks claims that between 50 and 100 Chicagoans capitalized on the money mishap — making a mad cash-grabbing dash and fleeing the...

A delegation from a Chinese Communist Party-run think tank identified by the U.S. government as carrying out “undercover intelligence gathering” operations and seeking to coerce foreign actors into backing the Chinese Communist Party’s “preferred policies” met with Hillary Clinton and a host of high-level military leaders during the Obama-Biden administration, The National Pulse can reveal.The exchange with the controversial group – China Association for International Friendly Contact (CAIFC) – occurred in October of 2009, while Clinton was serving as Secretary of State. The CAIFC delegation, composed of China’s former top military leaders, visited Clinton after stopping in Hawaii to meet...

WARSAW, Poland (AP) – Finland on Thursday announced a new arms package for Ukraine amounting to around 200 million euros ($217 million) and pledged more defense cooperation with Kyiv. The aid package for Ukraine involves artillery ammunition, “which is in great need right now,” said Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen as he signed a memorandum of understanding alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov. Finland’s Defense Ministry said other contents of the aid package would not be divulged at this time. Häkkänen said that Finland remains committed to supporting Ukraine and shares Kyiv’s “view of the Russian threat in light of...

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, currently one of the 10 richest men in the world, discussed the mistakes he's made during six decades in charge of his company and his outlook on the economy in the coming years as part of his annual letter to shareholders. Why It Matters Buffett, who is 94 years old and has a net worth of just over $160 billion, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when the company primarily focused on textiles and was a sinking ship of an investment. The now-famous "Wizard of Omaha" spent years reversing those fortunes and turned the...

Barely two weeks into his tenure, Hogg has been leveraging DNC contact lists to blast out messages soliciting donations to his own political action committee — from which he draws more than $100,000 in compensation a year, according to Federal Election Commission records. .. “It’s especially important for all Democratic national officials to focus on raising support for the party and not using their position to raise money for themselves or their personal political PACS,” groused a second senior Democratic Party official. “It’s a stunning lack of judgment that is concerning to many people.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s Defense Ministry is offering new financial and other benefits that it hopes will attract men between ages 18 and 24 to military service, as its short-handed armed forces toil on the front line against Russia’s bigger army in the almost three-year war. Men in that age group are currently exempt from the country’s draft, which covers men between 25 and 60 years old. Last spring, Ukraine lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, but that has failed to replenish ranks or replace battlefield losses. Also, some draft-age men have moved abroad, while desertions have...

A new report from CNN has revealed that the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, told a Pennsylvania judge during his arraignment on weapons charges that $8,000 in USD and $2,000 in foreign currency was planted on him. While standing before a judge at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, the judge read the entire criminal complaint against Mangione after he noted that no one had read the complaint to him since he was arrested. While arguing why Mangione should be denied bail, prosecutors stated that police found $8,000 in US cash and $2,000 in foreign...

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie will have to tackle the city’s nearly $1 billion budget deficit when he takes office on January 8, and he may be forced to cut staff and services to overcome a shortfall of the city’s own creation. San Francisco imposed draconian lockdown policies during the coronavirus pandemic, while also adopting lax policing policies that allowed crime and homelessness to skyrocket. Many of the city’s residents — including tech employees, now able to work from home — moved elsewhere. As a result, San Francisco has recovered from the pandemic more slowly than any other major city...

Vice President Harris is still pumping Democratic donors for cash weeks after her blowout election loss — but its leaving supporters spent, critics said. “With Trump nominating MAGA loyalists left and right, there is nothing more important than making sure we can fight back and hold him accountable,” read an email from Kamala HQ which The Post received nearly three weeks after election day. “That’s why we need you to step up today. Yes, today.” “Our records show that you haven’t pitched in to support our Harris Fight Fund program yet,” the missive scolded. “We know the election didn’t turn...

Vice President Harris is still pumping Democratic donors for cash weeks after her blowout election loss — but its leaving supporters spent, critics said. “With Trump nominating MAGA loyalists left and right, there is nothing more important than making sure we can fight back and hold him accountable,” read an email from Kamala HQ which The Post received nearly three weeks after election day. “That’s why we need you to step up today. Yes, today.” “Our records show that you haven’t pitched in to support our Harris Fight Fund program yet,” the missive scolded. “We know the election didn’t turn...

The Justice Department has ordered the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to suspend most searches of passengers at airports and other mass transit hubs after an independent investigation found DEA task forces weren't documenting searches and weren't properly trained, creating a significant risk of constitutional violations and lawsuits. The deputy attorney general directed the DEA on November 12 to halt what are known as "consensual encounter" searches at airports—unless they're part of an existing investigation into a criminal network—after seeing the draft of a Justice Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) memorandum that outlined a decade's worth of "significant concerns" about...

A driver was struck and killed while getting out of his car to cross a Rhode Island highway where people were seen scrambling to pick up loose cash, according to reports. Kevin Elliot McCourt stopped his car on I-95 in Providence around 5:40 a.m. Wednesday and had already walked across the southbound lanes when he was fatally struck by a Volkswagen SUV on the northbound side, WJAR reported. The deadly accident came as civilians and cops were filmed chasing down dollar bills that were flying around on the same highway, NBC News said. However, police have not yet confirmed if...

Scottsdale police said the three suspects arrested over the last few days came into the country on the Visa Waiver Program.. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Three people from South America arrested in Scottsdale have been accused of breaking into homes in the East Valley as part of a professional crime ring based in Chile. "These are professionals," Scottsdale Police Chief Jeff Walther said during a news conference Tuesday. "These are Chilean burglary crews that are coming into the country on a Visa Waiver Program." The department used helicopters and drones to search neighborhoods near Pima and Jomax roads after it was...

Cracks in the Democrats’ blue wall are only part of the story as last-minute campaign reallocation of advertising dollars spell out a shift to defense. “I’ve never seen such panic.” Well before early voting began or nominees were even official for the major parties, it remained clear that seven battleground states were pivotal to securing the White House. Now, with a week remaining in the race, reports show Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign is pulling money from “TWO key swing states,” to shore up a third as well as a less-considered commonwealth. Daily Signal columnist Tony Kinnett reacted to the...

Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire for accepting campaign contributions — originally sent to President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign before he backed out — from a Chinese auto executive with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Officials with Driving Force Action PAC wrote to Harris on October 11: We are deeply concerned about the reported $50,000 in political contributions your campaign received from Stella Ke Li, a Chinese national and senior executive at BYD, a Chinese electric vehicle company with close ties to the CCP and a company identified as a national security threat on par with Huawei....

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed Monday that the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror organization has hidden $500 million in cash and gold in a bunker underneath the Al-Sahel Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon. “Iran sends suitcases of cash and gold to the Iranian embassy in Beirut, and then directly it goes to Hezbollah,” said IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, detailing Hezbollah’s other economic resources in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Turkey. Hagari also said that Iran sent Hezbollah money earned by selling Iranian oil in Syria. (A recent U.S. government report indicated that after being choked by sanctions under President Donald Trump,...

Company documents indicate BYD Americas president Ke Li is a Chinese national with 'right of abode' in US.. Vice President Kamala Harris's billion-dollar Clean School Bus program provided funding to Chinese EV manufacturer BYD Company's subsidiary in the United States, according to federal filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Months later, the subsidiary's top executive, a Chinese national, wired $50,000 in support of what is now Harris's presidential campaign. BYD Americas was selected in late 2022 to receive $395,000 under the administration's Clean School Bus program, which was spearheaded by Harris and EPA administrator Michael Regan, EPA documents show....

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Next week marks one year since Illinois outlawed cash bail, and advocates and critics of the change have been waiting patiently to see it if has been successful — or as some predicted, a disaster. A panel of stakeholders, including Cook County Chief Public Defender Sharone R. Mitchell Jr., spoke Wednesday about the largely positive outcomes of ending cash bail. "There were a lot of predictions about things that did not happen," said Mitchell.