-Caveat Lector-
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Date sent: Wed, 3 Nov 1999 00:24:17 -0700
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Release: taxing cash
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Libertarian Party announcements list)
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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.lp.org/
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For release: November 1, 1999
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For additional information:
George Getz, Press Secretary
Phone: (202) 333-0008 Ext. 222
E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
=======================================
Federal Reserve official proposes
plan to tax the cash in your pocket
WASHINGTON, DC -- A Federal Reserve official wants to add
"tracking devices" to U.S. currency so the government can tax your
cash -- a bizarre scheme that could cause your money to plummet in
value and tighten the government's noose around the economy, the
Libertarian Party warned today.
"If the politicians gain the power to track and tax currency,
then financial privacy will be dead, your money will grow more
worthless every day, and the government's power over the economy will
be virtually unlimited," said Steve Dasbach, the party's national
director. "This idea deserves a swift kick in the cash."
According to Wired.com -- the online version of Wired
magazine -- Marvin Goodfriend, a senior vice president at the Federal
Reserve Bank of Richmond, wants the government to tax private
possession of cash via a high-tech tracking device on currency notes.
In a 34-page paper presented at a Federal Reserve System
conference in Vermont, Goodfriend wrote: "[A] magnetic strip could
visibly record when a bill was last withdrawn from the banking system. A
carry tax could be deducted from each bill upon deposit according to how
long the bill was in circulation."
Or, banks could mark bills with a visible "date issued" stamp
when distributed via tellers or an ATM, he said. Either way, the longer you
hold currency without depositing it in a bank account, the less that cash
would be worth.
Such a cash tax could discourage people from "hoarding"
currency and deter black market and criminal activities, Goodfriend
argued.
Besides its longstanding opposition to any new tax, the
Libertarian Party rejects Goodfriend's scheme for several reasons, said
Dasbach.
"The intent of this plan is to drive all commercial
transactions through the banking system, so the government could snoop on
-- and tax -- every aspect of the economy," he charged. "In the guise of
monitoring cash, the government wants more power to monitor and control the
economy.
"But this plan wouldn't just punish businesses that operate in the
cash economy: It's also a huge burden on people who don't trust banks or
who prefer the security or convenience of cash. Every American would suffer
from this proposal, as the government nibbled away, termite-like, at the
value of their cash."
Besides, said Dasbach, the government already has a "carry tax"
that decreases the value of your money: It's called inflation.
"Thanks to politicians' fiscal irresponsibility and the Federal
Reserve's ability to print more money at will, the value of your cash
already decreases every day because of government-caused inflation. To add
another tax to the inflation that's already eroding the value of a dollar
bill would add insult to injury."
The Libertarian Party isn't sure if Goodfriend's proposal is a
"trial balloon" from the government or a fanciful scheme from one renegade
Federal Reserve official, said Dasbach -- but it doesn't matter.
"Here's our two cents (which would probably be worth a cent and a
half under this proposal): If this is a trial balloon, it deserves to be
shot down immediately. The government needs to be told, in no uncertain
terms, that Americans will not stand for such an intrusive, costly scheme,"
he said.
"If it isn't a trial balloon, then Mr. Goodfriend should be
fired immediately, because this kind of totalitarian scheme has no
place in a free country. Mr. Goodfriend may deserve a job in North
Korea or Cuba -- but the Federal Reserve shouldn't employ people who
advocate such un-American, constitutionally bankrupt proposals."
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The Libertarian Party
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--
Kathleen
There are 4 kinds of Homicide: felonious, excusable,
justifiable, and praiseworthy. -Ambrose Bierce
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