Michigan HB5026 would put severe restrictions on the government use of drones in the state. HB5026 must pass through the House Committee on Government Operations before the bill can receive a vote in the full House. PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS to support this important bill. 1. Call the House Committee on Government Operations Chair,…
"The Alternative Bank Schweiz (ABS) caused shockwaves with a letter sent to all clients informing them that it would begin imposing interest charges on deposits in 2016. For current accounts, the bank said it would impose a -0.125-percent rate, while slapping a -0.75-percent rate on client deposits higher than 100,000 Swiss francs. ABS, which grew out of the ideals the 1960's protest movement, justified the unprecedented development by saying it would provide manoeuvering room for financing 'meaningful projects'. The Swiss central bank introduced a negative deposit rate in January after it abruptly abandoned its three-year effort to hold down the franc's exchange rate to protect exports." Continue reading →
"Central planners around the world are waging a War on Cash. In just the last few years: Italy made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal; Switzerland proposed banning cash payments in excess of 100,000 francs; Russia banned cash transactions over $10,000; Spain banned cash transactions over €2,500; Mexico made cash payments of more than 200,000 pesos illegal; Uruguay banned cash transactions over $5,000; and France made cash transactions over €1,000 illegal, down from the previous limit of €3,000. An increasing number of government restrictions are encouraging Swedes to dump cash. The pretexts are familiar…fighting terrorism, money laundering, etc." Continue reading →
"Banknote and passport printer De La Rue is to cut about 300 jobs and halve its number of production lines to four as it battles a global decline in demand for cash. The company, which produces notes for the Bank of England, has set out a restructuring plan that will see almost 10pc of its workforce go as it consolidates its banknote printing operations at three centres. The introduction of plastic notes is causing a revolution in the industry, as printers struggle to deal with he challenges of printing on new materials. The banknote printing industry is facing the challenges of global overcapacity, with many of the printers state-backed." Continue reading →
"The safe deposit box, once a staple of any bank branch, has itself become an antique. Banks are reporting that safe deposit box use is on the decline, with occupancy rates dropping quickly as customers buy home safes, digitize and store documents electronically, and, in this era of conspicuous consumption, prefer to display their valuables rather than stash them away for special occasions. Jerry Pluard, the owner of Safe Deposit Box Insurance Coverage LLC, an Illinois company that insures the contents of the boxes, estimates that nearly half — 45 percent — of safe deposit boxes in the country are empty today." Continue reading →
"Many commentators have noted that mainstream economists are calling to do away with cash entirely. It would be easy to scoff at these proposals as completely insane if the Fed hadn’t published a paper back in 1999 suggesting the implementation of a 'carry tax' or taxing actual physical cash using an expiration date if depositors aren’t willing to spend the money. The author of this lunacy is a visiting scholar with the ECB, the Fed, the IMF, and the Swiss National Bank. The fact that two of those groups have already imposed negative interest rates (ECB and SNB) should give warning that these sorts of ideas are actually taken very seriously by Central Banks." Continue reading →
"Cash in hand is different. It is physical. Paper. You can do what you want with it. And you don’t pay a negative interest rate. Which is why the feds want to ban cash… They say it will make it easier for them to stimulate the economy. As long as you can hold physical cash, you have an easy way to escape negative interest rates: You just take the money out of the bank and put it in your home safe. But if physical cash is illegal, you have no choice. You have to keep 'your money' on deposit at the bank… and take whatever negative rate the bank imposes on you. Of course, the idea that taking away your money will stimulate economic growth is ridiculous." Continue reading →
The federal government spies on you. A lot. And it operates behind a veil of ignorance. Despite revelations by Edward Snowden and other whistleblowers, many Americans still apparently believe warrantless surveillance only happens to “bad guys,” and they have nothing to worry about because of the “I have nothing to hide” myth. Americans simply don’t…
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Dec. 3, 2015) – A bill prefiled in the Alabama Senate would essentially nullify the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, along with subsequent cases, and make most abortions in the state illegal. Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) recently prefiled Senate Bill 9 (SB9). The legislation would make it illegal for a doctor…
RICHMOND, Va. (Dec. 2, 2015) – A bill prefiled in the Virginia House of Delegates takes an interesting first step toward protecting the right to keep and bear arms from federal infringement by defining it in statute as an individual right unconnected with the militia. Delegates Mark L. Cole and (R) Charles D. Poindexter (R)…