I know that the following will probably nominate me for induction into the Tin Hat Society. If so, then so be it…
Events from the past couple of weeks concerning the European Union’s economy concerning Cyprus have left me uneasy at best. The Government of Cyprus has decided a one-time tax (i.e., legalized confiscation) of funds from any account over 100,000 Euros is necessary to raise funding to secure a 10-Billion Euro bailout package from the European Union. Cyprus is the latest country to have financial problems, joining Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Between you and me, this is only a temporary stopgap – I truly believe that the European Union experiment is imploding.
I look at the state of our economy, and that of the failure of our Congresscritters to pass budgets & responsibly spend our tax dollars, and find myself not only disgusted, but downright frightened. With the national debt approaching the $17 Trillion mark without a viable budget proposal being agreed upon, I wonder about the safety of our savings and pensions.
Of course, many of you will poo-poo the idea of our government seizing our assets to pay off the national debt like what Cyprus is doing. Folks, I will tell you right now that I believe that the groundwork is being laid to do just that. Consider the following:
The ObamaCare legislation authorizes the IRS to confiscate funds directly from your accounts if you do not have a health plan that meets the requirements of the ObamaCare mandate. This has been upheld by the Supreme Court because ObamaCare is now classified as a tax.
The Supreme Court has already heard cases concerning Eminent Domain which state that private property can be seized and used for the public use. I can fully see where these laws & decisions could be used and extended to bail the government out of the financial mess that generations of irresponsible Congresscritters have put us in. After all, the government is for the public good, right?
And what property would that be? Our 401Ks, Regular & Roth IRAs, and any investments that we would have. I have it on good authority that the politicians are salivating at the billions of dollars tied up in the tax-deferred savings accounts, and would love nothing more to get their hands on that money to fund whatever special project they have.
Oh, by the way, there is something called the Sixteenth Amendment, which give Congress (via the Internal Revenue Service) the ability to collect taxes. Congress will write the legislation to cover both the eminent domain and the tax angles.
Now at this point, people would start screaming bloody murder, stating that such confiscation would be illegal, and violate their Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment states:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Haven’t any of you been paying attention to what is happening to the Second Amendment? If the politicians are able to circumvent one of our Rights, what makes any of you think that they will stop at just that one, especially if there are huge sums of money involved? In addition, the Supreme Court won’t stop it – they didn’t with ObamaCare, and with the Court constantly looking across the world to “improve” their legal decisions, I wouldn’t count on them to uphold the rights of the People.
This is where it is important to let your respective Congresscritter know that:
- The Constitution and it’s Amendments are not to be circumvented by short-termed, self-serving legislation, which includes the Second and Fourth Amendments.
- A budget must be passed to address, eliminate, and prohibit deficit spending.
- A budget must be passed to address and eliminate the National Debt.
If any of your Congresscritters are unwilling to commit to the above, then it’s time to replace them with someone who respects and supports the People and the Constitution of the United States. Remember:
The purpose of the Constitution is to limit what the Government can do to the People, not to limit what the People can do to the Government.
It’s up to us, the PEOPLE, to keep our elected officials in line.
Tom's Place 