Good points. Eliminating the 500 and 1000 Dollar bills, as well as all the financial regulations imposed to track the movement of cash over the years were in general justified as part of the so-called ”war on drugs”. But none of those measures have worked to curtail drug trafficking. America is as awash with dangerous illegal drugs, AND illegal drug money, as it ever was. More so even given our porous border with Mexico! Most of these regulations and restrictions on moving cash have just served to incriminate ordinary, if slightly paranoid, citizens who were innocent of drug dealing (including a Speaker of the House of Representatives). Certainly those measures cannot be said to have enabled the government to snare a great many king-pins in the illicit drug trade, either domestic or foreign. Furthermore, given current events, it is no longer paranoid to fear that the government might size your bank account. It has already happened in other counties like Greece and Cyprus. Swiss banks will no longer take Americans as clients, due to reporting requests placed on them by the U.S. Government. Time to stop treating American citizens as if THEY are the threat to law and order.
When I graduated high school, in 1969, a $20 bill had about as much value as a $100 bill today. Inflation has taken a toll. In 1969, $500 and $1,000 bills were still in reasonably common circulation. They had been issued up until 1945. With the turn toward ever increasing government snooping and tracking of financial transactions, the bills were taken out of circulation with an executive order by President Richard Nixon.
It is long past due to bring the $500 bill back into common use. The European Union issues 500 Euro bills. Cash is useful for preserving privacy and transportation of value to those who wish to avoid the electronic trail that follows digital transactions everywhere. All it took to remove the bills from circulation was a simple executive order.
That is all it would take to bring them back.
But more should be done. The insane tracking of every one's financial transactions should be scaled back. The forfeiture laws that allow legal theft of property need to be revised or repealed. Stealing cash amounts under $50,000 does nothing to hinder the drug trade or terrorists. But it harms a lot of innocent people who want to pay cash for a car, who do not trust the banks, or who consider Cypress when thinking about contingencies.
The reforms could look like this. Raise the reporting amount for banks to $50,000 from the effective $5,000 that it is today. Raise the amount to be declared when travelling overseas to $50,000. If repeal of the forfeiture laws proves too high a goal, reform them to make forfeiture of anything of less value than $50,000 a crime.
It doesn't matter if a President Trump or a President Cruz accomplishes this much needed reform. It will be a highly visible signal to the people that the government no longer views them as a threat, and a refreshing return of some small measure of liberty.
Of course, a new run of $500 bills would be needed at some point. May I suggest that they have the picture of President Ronald Reagan on them?
The issue of $500 bills is a small but powerfully symbolic action that appears to be within a President's executive power.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/
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