Out of Ideas, Governments Try a Bank Heist

John Ransom

During the Great Depression criminals like Bonnie and Clyde, Willie Sutton, Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson robbed banks. They attained some degree of folk hero status by sticking it to banks that some felt were responsible for the Depression era misery.

 

With liberal ideas firmly in the saddle, civilizing us, so to speak, we have come a long way from those dreary days. No longer would we applaud such criminals.

Instead, today, we send them to Congress, or parliament, or the legislature, where governments try to achieve folk hero status by robbing banks and depositors alike.

In the 1930s the robbers justified their acts by saying no real people were hurt, just the banks and the insurance plan that covered the depositors ("real people", by the way).

Governments today have no need of that kind of logic. They get to hurt whomever they wish because, well… they’re the government.

Stick ‘em, up.   

May these governments all meet the same fate of the bank robbers of the 1930s. 

The current heist under way, disguised as a public service measure, proposes to “tax”- steal would be a better word- cash deposits in banks in order to raise about $6 billion euros to bailout...the government (and ..., oh, by the way, the banks, where these cash deposits are being held!) in Cyprus. It’s kind of a reverse TARP, which penalizes people who have saved in proportion to how responsible they have been. The money is needed in order to save the governments of Cyprus and the European Union.

And the more you have saved, the worse off you’ll be.

As of now, no deposits, no matter how small, will be free from confiscation if the measure passes; no one will be Too-Small-to-Tax.          

And make no mistake about it: The bank “tax” that the European Union is imposing on Cyprus isn’t a tax at all. It’s seizure of property without due process in order for politicians to save a system for which someone should go to jail.

This ladies and gentlemen is what Hope and Change! gets you eventually.

Just at a time when the European political and banking system is unraveling, Obama is proposing that we closely model Europe.

Tax the rich, certainly. But make sure you tax everyone else too.    

“On Sunday, a source close to the consultations,” reports Reuters, say that “authorities were hoping to cut the tax to 3.0 percent from 6.7 percent for deposits under 100,000 euros. The rate for deposits above that would then be jacked up to 12.5 percent from 9.9 percent.”

But all is well says the EU.

It’s just a tiny theft in comparison. No big deal.

“Brussels has emphasized that the measure is a one-off for a country that accounts for just 0.2 percent of European output,” Reuters continues.

Hurray for the 0.2 Percent! We can make THEM pay.

With Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and other financial systems teetering, however, confidence in the European banking system- really the world banking system- could be and should be shaken to the core. 

If this goes through it will give food for thought to other governments that seem to be ambivalent about the 0.2 Percent.

And yes, that’s Obama that I’m looking at.

Even New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman is saying that there is no better way to shake confidence in the banking system.

“It's as if the Europeans are holding up a neon sign, written in Greek and Italian, saying 'Time to stage a run on your banks!'" Krugman wrote in his column at the Times.

When they write a history of the times we live in, I’m guessing the working title will be: The Age of the Bad Ideas. Politicians, policy-makers and the public have struggled to squarely address the fact that no matter how hard you try, you can not make 2+2= $4 trillion.  

And someone has to pay the difference.

In Cyprus, they’ve come up with a great idea of who that “someone” is.

“Investors were responding to the unprecedented decision by eurozone leaders,” writes Euronews.com “to partly fund a bank bailout for Cyprus with money from savers’ accounts.

Account holders in Cyprus have been appalled and many tried throughout the weekend to withdraw as much money as possible from their banks. There are fears that similar panic could spread to other eurozone countries.”

Maybe not just the Eurozone either.

With tussles over the debt, social spending, deficits and taxes turning into a revolutionary struggle over what government should and should not do, it’s just a matter of time before some Democrat begins to advocate in earnest a Cypriot solution to our spending troubles.

Do you really think Obama won’t consider it?

Why bank deposits?

Because the Democrats say we need more money.

And in the words of Depression-era bank robber Willie Sutton: “That’s where the money is.”

John Ransom is the Finance Editor for Townhall Finance. You can follow him on twitter @bamransom and on Facebook: bamransom.

Note: certain DEMOCRATIC (!!!) members of Congress have already introduced legislation - HR-4646, the Debt Free America Act - which contained a provision to impose a tax on all financial transactions, including simple deposits into and withdrawals out of individual private bank accounts.  The concept is one that has been pushed by leftist radicals in the Obama Administration for decades. 

h/t to Randy from AMOJ YAHOO LIST.