"But...but...but...it is only supposed to be used against non-citizens."  HAHAHA!!!!

Ya and I have a truckload of NIW 30 round M16 mags for sale at $3 each.

Operation Enduring Freedom???? Try [b]OPERATION ERODING FREEDOM[/b]

----
New Federal Patriot Act Turns Retailers into Spies against Customers

By Scott Bernard Nelson, The Boston Globe
Nov 20, 2001 2:18 AM

Nov. 18--Ordinary businesses, from bicycle shops to
bookstores to bowling alleys, are being pressed into
service on the home front in the war on terrorism.

Under the USA Patriot Act, signed into law by
President Bush late last month, they soon will be
required to monitor their customers and report
"suspicious transactions" to the Treasury Department
-- though most businesses may not be aware of this.

Buried in the more than 300 pages of the new law is a
provision that "any person engaged in a trade or
business" has to file a government report if a
customer spends $10,000 or more in cash. The threshold
is cumulative and applies to multiple purchases if
they're somehow related -- three $4,000 pieces of
furniture, for example, might trigger a filing.

Until now, only banks, thrifts, and credit unions have
been required to report cash transactions to the
Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement
Network, under the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. A handful
of other businesses, including car dealers and
pawnbrokers, have to file similar reports with the
Internal Revenue Service.

"This is a big deal, and a big change, for the vast
majority of American businesses," said Joe Rubin,
chief lobbyist for the US Chamber of Commerce. "But I
don't think anybody realizes it's happened."

The impact is less clear for consumers, although
privacy advocates are uncomfortable with the thought
of a massive database that could bring government
scrutiny on innocent people. Immigrants and the
working poor are the most likely to find themselves in
the database, since they tend to use the traditional
banking system the least.

"The scope of this thing is huge," said Bert Ely, a
financial services consultant in Alexandria, Va. "It's
going to affect literally millions of people."

The filing of so-called suspicious activity reports,
though, is only the latest in a series of law
enforcement moves the government has made in response
to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and
Washington. And so far, the filing requirement has
been overshadowed by debate over the other changes.

The Patriot Act signed into law Oct. 26, for example,
gives the government a vast arsenal of surveillance
tools, easier access to personal information, and
increased authority to detain and deport noncitizens.
House and Senate negotiators came to terms Thursday on
a bill that would add 28,000 employees to the federal
payroll in an effort to bolster airport security, and
Attorney General John Ashcroft has said he is
reorganizing the Justice Department and the FBI to
focus on counterterrorism efforts.

(continued)

As for the business-filing requirement, specifics
about what companies have to do and when they have to
do it still need to be worked out. The Treasury
Department has until March 25 -- the date the Patriot
Act becomes law -- to issue regulations about how to
put the new rules into practice.

"The law itself doesn't go into any detail, because
you'd presume that's what the Treasury regulations are
for," said Victoria Fimea, senior counsel at the
American Council of Life Insurers. "And the devil, of
course, is in the details."

When he signed the legislation, President Bush said
the new rules were designed to "put an end to
financial counterfeiting, smuggling, and money
laundering." The problem, he and others have said, was
keeping tabs on the billions of dollars that flow
outside the traditional banking system and across
national borders each year.

Money launderers often disguise the source of their
money by using cash to buy pricey things. Later, they
can resell the products and move the money into a bank
account -- at which point it has been laundered, or
made to look legitimate, by the aboveboard sale.

Making a series of transactions just below the $10,000
filing threshold is also illegal under the new law if
it's done to keep a business from contacting the
government.

Financial services companies such as banks, insurers,
and stock brokerages face a higher standard under the
new law than other businesses. In addition to the
filing requirements, they have to take steps such as
naming a compliance officer and implementing a
comprehensive program to train employees about how to
spot money laundering.

Unlike other businesses, though, most financial
services companies already have a process in place to
deal with government regulation.

"Certainly for the bigger [insurance] companies, they
most likely are already tooled up for this," said
Fimea. "For other companies, this creates a whole new
landscape."

James Rockett, a San Francisco lawyer who represents
banks and insurance companies in disputes with
regulators, said he's skeptical the authorities will
get any useful information from reports filed by
nonfinancial companies.

"You're trying to turn an untrained populace into the
monitors of money laundering activity," Rockett said.
"If you want to stop this, it's got to be done with
police work, not tracking consumers' buying habits."

Voices opposing any of the new law-enforcement
measures appear to be in the minority, however. For
now, at least, few people and few companies want to be
perceived as being terrorist sympathizers.

"In a political sense, it would have been very hard
for us to go to Congress in this case and loudly argue
that the legislation shouldn't include
nonfinancial-services guys," said Rubin, of the US
Chamber of Commerce. "Everybody wants to help and to
stop money laundering right now."

Scott Bernard Nelson can be reached by e-mail at
[email protected].

To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to
the newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe

(c) 2001, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News.

 
Copyright © iSyndicate Inc  2001  

unbelievable!!![):)]

If you have ever bought a motorcycle or a car and used more than $10,000 in cash as a deposit or total purchase price you already have had this form filled out on you. This isnt really all that new, the new provision is the multiple transaction part. I have had to fill out this form less then 5 times in the 8 years I have been in the automotive business. This only applies to people who use cash. If you write a chech it is no big deal and nothing is different and nothing is reported. How many people really use $10,000 or more in a cash transaction? Almost none, because the check that they have weighs al hell of a lot less, and takes up less room in your wallet than $10,000 in cash. Also, it is illeagal for a business to tell a person they need to spend less then the $10k in cash so they dont have to fill out the form. So before everyone gets excited this only pertains to people who use CASH in their transactions. In reality it is a BS law but most people write checks so it doesnt matter. In fact when someone gives me more than $5k in cash it seems odd to me why they dont just write a check unless they are hiding something.

[beer]

If you really want to freak out the person who you spend the $10k with, ask them "So, you aren't going to fill out one of those Form 8300 for this deal are you?" and look nervous!!

Makes me want to go get a $10,000 loan and just go around buying expensive stuff and taking it back for a refund only to use the same money to go buy something else to take back.

HEY!!! This sounds like a great operation for the AR15.com Army! That should overload their system!

Michael

Hey Imbro,

Do you have any more of those NIW AR mags for sale? I'll take a couple.

Oh, and did you see Survivor last night?

I like being safe.

I always love hearing the rationalizations of new big brother laws.  

Throw in a few more laws like this and the national id card then the U.S. will become a cashless society where government can control what and how much you buy because then everyone will be afraid to use LEGAL TENDER.

In the near future:

"But...but...but...it only will affect people who buy more than 2 lbs. of smokeless powder (or the equivalent in ammunition) a year..."

Coming soon to a roadblock near you:

Your papers please!!!


Balming

Ya I was forced to watch 5 hours of CBS last night and saw my first ever episode of Survivor. It was just like they emptied out the clientele from a Starbucks, threw in a few people from a thrift store and put them in a zoo. I just am not interested in these yuppie type of (false) reality shows.

That is absolutely the most accurate and succinct description of Survivor that I have ever read!