The Totalitarian Notion of ‘Money Laundering’

Normal people like Philip Weiss are outraged and astounded to know that using your own cash, honestly gained and (dishonestly) taxed, can be a major-league federal felony. Spending $10,000 or more of your own cash without filling out a federal form is a crime. But get this: spending smaller amounts can be a crime too, if they add up to more than $10,000. We are told that this police-state measure is necessary to fight terrorism. But when the evil Reagan adminisration pushed all these laws through, the excuse was to fight the drug war. Of course, neither is true. Such surveillance is part of the federal effort to tax and control every dime you have and spend. Need I mention that only one public official, then and now, fights for our privacy and property rights in this area? Ron Paul battled Reagan, Bush I, Clinton I, and Bush II on the victimless crime of “money laundering.” As Ron says, freedom means governmental transparency and private opacity, not the reverse.

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8:36 am on March 12, 2008