The following comment from ConfederateH is noteworthy:
I agree, it is far worse than just bumbling; there is a coordinated assault against US persons with any remaining wealth. Check out this new one from Mark Steyn.
I flew in to Montreal from an overseas trip the other day and was met by a lady from my office, who had kindly greed to drive me back home to New Hampshire. At the airport she seemed a little rattled, and it emerged that on her journey from the Granite State she had encountered a “security check” on the Vermont–Quebec border. U.S. officials had decided to impose temporary exit controls on I-91 and had backed up northbound traffic so that agents could ascertain from each driver whether he or she was carrying “monetary instruments” in excess of $10,000. My assistant was quizzed by an agent dressed in the full Robocop and carrying an automatic weapon, while another with a sniffer dog examined the vehicle.
Or this one from Jim Willie (Firestorms & Currency Twisters; ConfederateH’s emphasis):
3) The attack on money market funds is moving apace, in a stealth capital control concept. Systemic risk is posed by a run on money market funds. Oddly, money market funds are no longer the staid boring type sitting on an inert shelf. They are suddenly not cash, by official declaration. The Powerz cannot afford to see that liquidity removed. An attack on the $2.7 trillion in money market funds has come in response. The money market funds serve as scarce capital, a liquidity source that holds together the insolvent banking system. Given how money market funds are the last pool of liquidity that holds together the entire Western banking system, it is under attack to stay put. New rules could force a maintenance of a minimum amount in each account. The new rule concept is called Minimum Balance at Risk (MBR) and is direct capital control applied domestically within the United States. The MBR would be a small fraction (like 5 percent) of each shareholder’s recent balances that could be redeemed but with a delay.
Capital controls are coming and the homelanders are going to get a much needed lesson about the true intents of their government.
@geeez, The article you cited is incorrect: They were carrying US$ 56,000 in cash in a briefcase even though they had declared to US customs to have only US$ 10,000 with them, which is the maximum value in cash foreigners are allowed to bring into the United States.
Two mistakes. First, the $10,000 is not a limit on foreigners, it’s on everyone. Second, it’s not a maximum value of cash that people are allowed to bring, people can bring as much cash as they want, legally. The only requirement is that the value has to be reported if it’s more than $10,000. Also, the requirement is not just when bringing money into the US, it’s when leaving the US too.
In 2003, a Chinese man was arrested in Brazil for trying to leave the country with more than BRL 10,000 in cash and not reporting it. Apparently the money was legal, he just didn’t fill in the form at the airport. The man was killed during brutal interrogations by the Brazilian police.
*@geeez, Shadow raider is correct. You can bring in our take out as much cash as you want from or into the US, as long as you declare it. Likewise, if you deposit or withdraw $10,000 or more in cash into or out of a US bank account you are required to fill out a similar declaration even though it does not leave the country.
Pingback: theCL Report: The Illusion of Choice