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Congress Is Trying To Expand The Patriot Act (rare.us)
An anonymous reader writes: The house is scheduled to vote in an hour or so on expanding provisions of the patriot act, allowing massive financial information sharing to include dozens of new offenses ("specified unlawful activities"), including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The house bill is H.R. 5606. My quick read is that this essentially lets FEDGOV expand massive semi-secret databases of financial transactions without a warrant while protecting banks from liability for helping them. In 5 years from 2002-2007, for example, with a smaller ability this led to 35,000 suspects but there were only 21 search warrants. Call your representative. Rare.us reports: "The proposed bill, H.R. 5606, expands Section 314 of the Patriot Act to cover non-terrorism or money laundering related investigations. Critics claim that the bill is a threat to the privacy of innocent Americans and is being rammed through Congress without debate. Section 314 encourages law enforcement to share information with financial institutions on money laundering and terrorism. It also encourages financial institutions to share information with each other." The report says the House Liberty Caucus, led by Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.), opposes the bill, claiming that Treasury Department regulations will compromise the privacy of Americans as it will all but mandate financial institutions to share information with the government. The caucus also opposes the bill because it is being brought to the floor under a suspension of the rules, and is not being considered under "regular order." The bill's sponsor, Congressman Robert Pittenger (R-NC) described HR 5606 as an attempt "to stop the flow of illicit dollars to criminals and terror organizations."
I just fracking love how they offer us "share information with financial institutions on money laundering and terrorism" as if the two are of equal value in the good and evil matrix.
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
If you haven't already done so, move as much economic activity as possible underground ASAP.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
"The House Liberty Caucus, led by Congressman Justin Amash (R-Mich.), has come out in opposition to the bill ..."
"Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA) is the main co-sponsor of the legislation."
Unfortunately, in this case, Republicans and Democrats wear the same stripes.
What they're doing is called 'overcriminalization' - an effect of people NOT breaking the current laws enough to continue making a profit incarcerating law-abiding people.
More at the (I know... I know..) Heritage Foundation:
http://www.heritage.org/issues...
http://www.heritage.org/issues/legal/overcriminalization
No sig for you! Come back one year!
"The bill's sponsor, Congressman Robert Pittenger (R-NC)..."
It's a bipartisan thing. You should be happy!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
What is FEDGOV? I mean, I think it doesn't take too many brain cells to assume it means the US Federal Government, but why is the submitter putting it in all caps as if it was some kind of acronym, or a secret code phrase? Apparently FEDGOV is something that maintains "semi-secret databases of financial transactions" (what does that mean)? This all sounds like conspiracy-theory gobbledigook to me.
Breakfast served all day!
While now is a dubious time to load up on bitcoin (markets are shakey, looks like a price drop is incoming), it may be a good idea to start factoring it into your portfolio for future semi-anonymous payments.
Regardless what people say, you can have some form of anonyminity with bitcoin. It will require the use of a tumbler, but if you don't mind spending $100 on EC2 instances you can create your own very easily or use a decentralized mixing service like coinjoin.
I'm not saying move your life savings to bitcoin, that would be beyond stupid. But having 5% in bitcoin holdings may prove to be helpful if a modified version of this bill is passed in the future
How do you turn bitcoin back into cash or gold without a paper trail?
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
That's right, it did not pass, but have you seen HR5607, which did pass?
www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/5607/text
Particularly:
SEC. 5. Improving anti-terror finance monitoring of funds transfers.
SEC. 6. Sense of Congress
SEC. 7. Unified electronic stream.
SEC. 8. Adding the Secretary of the Treasury to the National Security Council
Not nearly as bad, but you can clearly see the direction they (congress) are intending to go. It will be the same as HR 5606, but it will, as is their usual M.O., implemented as a series of regulations requiring reporting to uncle Sam on various "suspicious" actions by you and me. Ultimately they will add regs to requires freezing bank accounts, credit lines, etc on any activity they wish. All of this will be the same result, but congress get to say they did not do any of it, as it will be done through regulations implemented by various fed. and state agencies like the SEC, the Treasury, the IRS, etc.
We will all be just as screwed and this way it will never make the 6 o'clock news
Will apple pullout if forced to unlock phones?
I can see under trump laws like that being passed.
Hillary is more of a "stay the course" candidate than Trump.
If you are betting the odds then Hillary is more likely to pass those types of laws than Trump.
Trump realizes that we have to fix things, and he wouldn't push businesses out of the US over something as ineffective as this.
Say what you want about Trump, but he knows business and isn't easily swayed by political spin.
And this won't be the main issue in the election anyway. Stability in ones lifestyle (meaning: the ability to make a living) is the big issue, which in practical terms means the economy and job availability.
That's what everyone's worried about: whether they'll have a job next year.
Other considerations are secondary to this one issue.
"civil judgment under this subsection" Civil judgment means the case has been adjudicated in criminal or civil court proceedings before any penalties as imposed. This allows an individual to contest the charges in court. However, this new bill is part of the Patriot Act. The government has tried to use provisions in the Patriot Act twice to prosecute a defendant. In both cases the judge threw out the governments case on constitutional grounds. The government has never attempted to use the Patriot Act since then because of fear that the entire Patriot Act could be declared unconstitutional. There's a reason the government is fighting so hard to keep the residents of Gitmo out of the US court system. Congress can pass any law they want using in-house council to vet the legality of the proposed law which is mostly a rubber stamp process. To challenge the law requires someone to actually be charged under the law and then the law can be challenged in court. Then the process of vetting the law can be moved up the judicial ladder usually ending up in the Supreme Court when constitutional issues are involved. If the government passes an unconstitutional law but never uses it against anyone it becomes meaningless. If you want to complain about something that actually matters try wrapping your head around the powers that the IRS has had for a long time. The government can access the IRS databases anytime they want without a warrant of any type. The IRS also has the ability to seize assets, levy fines, and even put people in jail for tax fraud.
Buy British Pounds. It could use a little propping up...
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
"Quick everyone's distracted with Pokemon Go, let's see what we can get away with!"
We're all full up on Crazy here...
The bill failed to pass. It required a 2/3 vote and didn't get close: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/201...
Want to bet? I've lived in Costa Rica and Panama for the past 30 years. I have no illusions that the US has its finger in EVERY pie. If a foreign bank wants to do business in or with the US, it is going to be forced to play by the rules. PERIOD. It's how the US operates. Do as we say, or we pull your aid package, we cancel our trade agreement, we withhold those millions we were going to give you to help fight the "war on drugs" etc, etc etc. Only major players like Russia or China are tough enough to keep the Americans out of their financial data - but then they're mining it themselves. Hell even Switzerland, Cyprus or the Caymans aren't sacred anymore.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
The insurance companies WERE the death panels. What do you think happens when you have a critical medical problem and your "care" is a visit to the ER instead of the appropriate regimen of drugs and/or therapy and/or surgery?
I'll tell you what happens: they bill you, you can't pay, they turn you over to debt collection, they destroy your financial reputation (assuming you have one), and you go on being sicker and sicker. And then you DIE.
Single payer is the sane answer for the average person. For rich people, no, it's not needed. Rich people, however, are a tiny minority. But they do comprise congress -- every seat. The average worth of a congressperson is seven figures. And we wonder why the poor people constantly get the shaft. Christ on a crutch. This nation is insane.
From rare.com: "UPDATE: The bill failed to get the 2/3rds vote needed for passage. It failed with only 229 votes."
Meta-data, gotta catch 'em all!
Table-ized A.I.
"establishment" Republicans and Democrats agreeing on something is always bad.
People who hate this garbage have a VERY easy solution within grasp. Slap down all the politicians in DC with a real frightening act. Scare the crap out of them all, no matter how entrenched, in both parties.
How?
Support House Speaker Paul Ryan's opponent, Paul Nehlen, in the Wisconsin congressional primary. They guy is not a politician and is way out-gunned on the cash front as every corrupt interest in DC will stuff cash into Speaker Ryan. Very little about Nehlen matters other than that he opposes Ryan generally and on a couple of major issues most of us hate. The point is to send a message and do it with only one congress member's seat. I do not know the guy and have no connection to him, it's not important. It's the upset apple cart that matters.
If the public, and most-particularly his own party in his own district, knocks-out the Speaker of the House, consultants and career politicians in DC will go into full-panic mode. When Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated in his primary, his fellow party members in DC began to panic, but then the leadership quieted that down by convincing them it was a very unique situation, and they appeared to be right as the voters quieted-down after that election. The Speaker, however, is a very important position in government. The Speaker is #2 in line to the Presidency, behind only the Vice President in the line-of-succession and nobody in DC ever expects a House Speaker to lose his own base at home -- it's just inconceivable to the political class that the people would toss-out a person in such a powerful position, who can use that position to squeeze perks from lobbyists.
The GOP will certainly be in control of the House after November, their majority is too large to be realistically vulnerable, so there's no reason for anybody of any party not to back Ryan's primary opponent. No matter who wins the Ryan seat, the balance of power in DC will not change. Ryan losing however might finally frighten the rest of the morons in congress into thinking maybe they should spend a little more time on what the people want and less on what the lobbyists who fund the incumbents of both parties want.
If you love TPP and H1-B visas, then do nothing. Paul Ryan is a huge supporter of both and is clearly your guy. He will either help Hillary pass TPP and any related offal or try to stop Donald from opposing/limiting them. If you are sick of H1-B visa abuses and oppose TPP and all the other multi-national corporate garbage, you can get a lot of bang for your campaign buck by helping just one candidate (Nehlen) spank one particular incumbent (Ryan). Replacing a guy of one party with a guy from the same party is a very easy lift compared to flipping a seat from DEM-to-REP or from REP-to-DEM. Replacing Ryan is the violence-free and gunpowder-free political equivalent of a rifle shot as opposed to a political shotgun blast - a narrowly-targeted high-reward play.
They do. Here is an example. This family is under suspicion - note SUSPICION - of money laundering. There has been no trial. Nothing has been proven. Their name simply turned up in the "Panama papers" a few months ago, and the US Treasury department must have already had their eye on them so they simply issued a statement. Due to that statement, all the credit card companies immediately dropped their services to businesses owned by this family.
The result is a large, successful shopping mall is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy because they owned both the mall and half the stores in it. The mall cannot collect payment from its customers. The stores can no longer accept credit cards. Oh they still accept cash, but I doubt stores the likes of Gucci, Prada and Luis Vuitton are going to walk to the mall and pay their rent in cash. It is a very high end shopping mall.
Since the mall almost went bankrupt, the US Treasury department struck a deal to allow the suspected family to "wind down" operations in an orderly fashion, so the mall now accepts credit cards again. So do pay attention to this. The UNITED STATES TREASURY is applying US law in Panama, telling Panamanian banks what to do, giving authorizations and citing US law, etc. And again I repeat this is merely "suspicion" on the part of the US government. There has been no trial, no sentencing. I'm not saying the Waked family are nice guys or 100% legit. What I AM saying is due process is out the window. Make no mistake, you cannot run and hide from US law even in another country.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Tax evasion is illegal. Tax avoidance is not. Although if you have been paying attention in the past few years there is a huge and growing movement to criminalize tax avoidance, too, ever since the Cyprus problem. It's because politicians have had a look at the huge pile of money out of their reach, and they feel they are entitled to a slice of that, too.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
She has never met a government power she doesn't like, just like all 'progressives'.
It's adorable you think conservatives aren't the same way. The only real difference between them is how they prefer to fund their government expansions and which social programs they favor. Liberals prefer taxes and conservatives prefer to borrow the money. Neither one of them has the slightest real interest in reducing government in general. There hasn't been a single instance where the overall size and reach of the government has been reduced outside of draw downs from major wars in the last 150 years. Doesn't matter which party is in power, the result is the same. If you think conservatives "never met a government power they didn't like" then you aren't paying any attention. They like power first and foremost no matter what spin they try to put on it.
I'm sure Republicans just love having big government all up in their bank accounts, blah blah blah[sic].
The bIll's original sponsor is Maxine Waters, a Democrat. The bill currently has a total of 11 cosponsors, 6 of which are Democrats, and 5 of which are Republicans.
Both parties are out to screw you. Blaming one for all of your perceived evils is nonsensical.
What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
Well this is what happens when you elect a Republican congress to try to overturn Obamacare, you get all the duplicitous shit that comes along with it.. Your fault American people! Next time vote differently if you don't like having the American dream turned into a police state!
So you're saying they should have voted for Kang instead of Kodos?
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
I guess you didn't know (or care) that the Liberty Caucus and Justin Amash are Republicans and they are trying to stop the bill. If you're for less government spying then there are many Republicans to root for.
If you're scared of your govt then you need to further restrict its powers
Vote 3rd Party in 2016 and beyond
My local paper recently ran an article on these abuses.
“We the Prisoners”: The Demise of the Fourth Amendment
It's not just politicians. It's citizens. The hardworking citizens are sick and tired of having to pay more taxes so you can avoid paying yours.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *