Destiny Central |
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FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin
Suprynowicz One way or another, they're gonna get you, they're gonna
get you Freedom-loving
Americans can rightfully celebrate the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision (handed
down June 22) in the case of Airport on Packed into his luggage, Mr. Bajakajian was carrying $357,144 in cash --the profits from years of hard work and sacrifice in the filling station business -- which he proposed to split among his Syrian benefactors. He has since been able to prove in court that is indeed where the money came from. Hosep K. Bajakajian is not an organized crime boss or a drug dealer. But he fell afoul of a law Congress passed in 1970, supposedly to nab folks in precisely those "cash-intensive" businesses. Although departing passengers are rarely informed of this, federal law now requires that anyone moving more than $10,000 in currency in or out of the country file a declaration of transfer. (Note this has no effect on multinational corporations, major drug dealers, or real organized crime bosses -- to the extent those are differentiable categories, any more -- with the sophistication and wherewithal to move their wealth via "wire transfer" through Switzerland, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, or wherever. Only us Joe Schmoes with our limited wealth hidden away in a mattress or a suitcase are supposed to fill out this self-incriminating tax document. As to where the Congress found any Constitutional authority to restrict where an American may carry his own cash ... ye may search, but ye shall not find.) At any rate, Mr. Bajakajian had not filled out the required currency transfer form, out of fear the less scrupulous customs inspectors in his former homeland would spot the declaration and seize his money. He needn't have worried. He never got that far. Cash-sniffing dogs at LAX discovered his trove, and U.S. Customs officials seized it, instead. The Clinton administration -- always struggling to make ends meet, and with their own pet theories about to whom all our earnings truly belong -- argued it should be allowed to keep all the money. But the highest court in the land has now weighed in with all its majesty, on the side of the little guy with the filling station. The high court this week agreed with every lesser court that a $5,000 fine and a $15,000 "forfeiture" is the most the government can assess against Mr. Bajakajian -- it must give the rest of his money back. Teaming with the four most "liberal" members of the bench (thus demonstrating he may actually tend more toward constitutional libertarianism than the troglodyte "conservatism" of which it is so often thoughtlessly accused), the estimable Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the court: "Full forfeiture of (Bajakajian's cash) would be grossly disproportional to the gravity of his offense," and therefore violates the 8th Amendment to the Constitution. "This is
great news," said Mr. Bajakajian, when told of
the U.S. Supreme Court's decision at his service station Monday morning.
"It makes my eyes fill up. I believe in God, in justice and the So -- even though it can take four years and a lot of legal fees – it turns out justice can still triumph in this great country of ours, right? Like a breath of fresh air, the tale has a happy ending, right? Perhaps you weren't paying close enough attention. Look again. Mr. Bajakajian's opponent in court was (start ital)the federal government(end ital), a clutch of weasels for which fair play, good sportsmanship, even adherence to due process, court rulings, and the law of the land are increasingly foreign concepts. Are you ready? Can you see this coming? Shortly after his case was argued in the Supreme Court -- at which time government attorneys could tell from the questioning they might be in trouble -- Hosep K. Bajakajian received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service, saying he owed $334,000 in back taxes and penalties for 1994. Former assistant "He didn't get any notice of an audit. Nothing," the attorney told the Los Angeles Times this week. "They say they just did a survey of service stations and concluded he underreported his income." The fact that the sum sought is almost precisely the amount involved in the government's failed forfeiture case is "unbelievably coincidental," the attorney says. Yeah, that must be it. A coincidence. Vin Suprynowicz is the assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Readers may contact him via e-mail at vin@lvrj.com. The web site for the Suprynowicz column is at ttp://www.nguworld.com/vindex/. The column is syndicated in the *** Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com "The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and when the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction." -- Henry St. George Tucker, in Blackstone's 1768 "Commentaries on the Laws of Comment: This article is a bit out of date, but it
shows how out of control the system was 6 years ago. With the passage of the so called “Patriot
Act,” things have gone from bad to worse.
Now, there are even MORE restrictions on what you can do with “your
own money.” And, offshore
banking is bending ever more to the will of global Big Brother all the time. The bottom line is
that your money is not safe hardly anywhere anymore, so you need to spread
your risk around. You need to
consider exchange rate risks, so you need to diversify your holdings between
dollars, Euros, Swiss Francs, gold, etc.
This will protect you somewhat from the manipulations intended to
leave you penniless for life and a slave to the system. You also need to
open as many offshore bank accounts as you reasonably can. Here, you need to protect yourself against
bank failures, reporting of your account to your home government, and just
plain old confiscation. The traditional
banking system is becoming ever more the spy bureau for Big Brother. So what to do? You need to educate
yourself NOW about the use of e-currencies.
This is one way you can still protect some of your privacy. Please see our report on e-currency use
elsewhere on the Offshore Page at this website. |
