Stop Making FinCENse

New at Reason: John Berlau sifts through the massive pile of data scooped up by the Bank Secrecy Act to try and make sense of the huge, steaming load of data being shoveled up by the USA PATRIOT Act.

Comments

[J.D. for Liberty]

911 was the Reichstag Fire the Republicans needed to pass the steaming pile of bills that otherwise were all defeated throughout the 1990's

They have been trying to pass this crap for years.

Here's a history lesson for those who think this Patriot Act b.s. is a new phenomena.

February 1999
http://www.lp.org/lpn/9902-FDIC.html

August 23, 2000 "It's back! Politicians try to pass sneaky spy-on-your-bank-account law"
http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=142

November 3, 2000 Cybersnooping Treaty
http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=164

Whole thing started back in 1996.
http://www.lp.org/lpn/9603-net.html

[Ruthless]

I'm cynical but not so cynical as to say politicians' motives are generally sinister. It's just that they get paid to do SOMETHING, and what, you tell me, can they DO that will NOT cause trouble and increase the heavy load on the people's back?
In that way they're helpless.
Don't you feel sorry for them now?

[nm156]

The simple solution, and perhaps the most fun, would be to bury them in data. Flood them with the minutiae that is the daily life of 300 million Americans. Send their hard-drives to AA.

[Larry]

We have the drug dealers. They're making so much money that after they pay their expenses, bribe everybody they can get their hands on, and buy all the huge mansions, fancy clothes, and fast cars they want they have suitcases of cash left over. The only thing they can think of to do with it is put it in a bank. So we have laws to make that inconvenient.

But all this money comes from the illegal sale of controlled substances. Connect the dots. The need for money laundering laws is clear evidence that the war on drugs is a complete failure.