Theft by Lawful Taking: The end of liberty.

By Brooks A. Agnew

True story.  Jason posted his aluminum, flat bottom fishing boat and a sturdy trailer on Craigslist.  Within a couple of days, he got a call from a buyer in the city of  Raleigh, about three hours away and made the arrangements to drive it there to make the sale. 

On the day of sale, the buyer counted out $5,500 in cash, Jason signed the title over, and he happily collected his Bill of Sale.  He didn’t fish much since the birth of his first son and wanted this money to remodeling his bonus room into a kid’s playroom.  He and his wife had discussed the ideas for nearly six months, and both agreed that the driveway would look so much better without the olive camouflaged boat.

That is, until he reached a checkpoint at the freeway onramp.  “License and registration, please,” said the officer.  Jason complied, now really in a good mood in anticipation of making his first trip to Lowe’s for the building materials.  His previous job as a carpenter would come in handy, and it would really feel good to get some sawdust in his hair, he thought.

“Okay, thanks.  Hey, how much money is that sitting on the console there?” Asked the policeman as he leaned in to see though the open driver’s window.

“There’s $5,500 cash, officer.  I just sold my boat,” responded Jason courteously.

“Step out of the car, please,” said the officer coldly.

The instant Jason was clear of the door, the office reached in and grabbed the bundle of cash and stepped back from the vehicle.  Jason’s heart came up in his throat, as the officer began walking toward his cruiser with his money and motioning to his team to move toward him.  A rush of panic flushed through him as he felt he had just been robbed.

Jason never saw his money again.  The perpetrating officer explained that his cash was probable cause that a crime had taken place and that it was being apprehended under the Civil Forfeiture Act.  “There is a lot of drug traffic that goes up and down this freeway every day,” the officer said like he was trying to sell rationalize his larceny.  Although Jason had a Bill of Sale, produced numerous witnesses, and a crying wife pregnant with their second child, the police department was permitted to keep his cash forever.  After spending nearly $2 thousand in attorney costs, Jason and his wife gave up any chance of recovering from the event. 

This happens in every State now, except New Mexico.  Republican Gov. Susana Martinez signed a new bill ending the unconstitutional practice of stealing the property of law abiding citizens by law enforcement.  New Mexico police must now convict you of a crime and prove your property was used in the crime before you forfeit it to the authorities. Also, the money gained from the property will now go to the state’s general fund instead of police budgets, so that police do not have incentives to take from citizens.

In every other State, the police are trained that cash is probable cause.  Don’t be surprised if police include an inquiry as to how much money you have on you the next time you are stopped.  If you are stopped, questioned, and frisked by a police officer, and he feels a wad of cash in your pocket, he has the authority to take your money. 

If you are in the habit of taking you paycheck to the bank every Friday and holding out a little cash every week for the weekend and spending money, be aware that your friendly window teller is now an informant for the DHS.  Once you have taken a total of $5,000 or more from your paychecks, the teller is obligated to inform the Department Of Homeland Security.  The police may be notified to find you and search you for that cash.  This may include your home, car, or gym locker.  If the cash cannot be located, the IRS may seize your remaining funds from your account.

If you obtain your money from sources that are not local, for example a consultant working out of state for months at a time, then all the funds in your local bank may be seized by the State Department of Revenue.  Even if you prove that you paid taxes on the funds, and even if they are direct deposited from the company for whom you are working, they will seize the funds, and you will never see them again.

Americans are under siege from all sides by a Federal Agency government.  Americans must take precautions as though they are in a Fascist regime that is searching for dissenters or those who may get the idea that they can escape the system of oppression.  If you have cash, you are capable of liberty.  Liberty is being expunged from the nation in leaps and bounds now. 

In the 2006 landmark Amazon best-selling publication The Ark of Millions of Years: Volume Two, the plan to rid America of cash was disclosed.  Turning cash into contraband through Federal mandates igniting the insatiable greed of local precincts was a stroke of genius.  It wipes the president’s fingerprints off the insidious plan to capture America without firing a single shot.

The book argues that the process will be an easy sale by a Plutarchian press.  This will end the war on drugs.  It will stop illegal immigrants from entering the country.  It will allow the goverenment much better control over inflation and recessions.  It will eliminate the cost of printing and guaranteeing the integrity of the paper money itself.   It will prevent tax evasion, and identity theft, and endless larcenies.  Oh, and let’s not forget how dissdents can be starved by freezing their cash, tracing their expenditures, and profiling their political speech by a simple piece of software.  

But you won’t oppose it.  In fact, you will gleefully vote it into law.  After all, you haven’t done anything wrong.  You’re not planning to revolt against the system.  You have a car to pay for, a job, a wife, and a memership in the NRA.  Wake up and smell the coffee, America.  You have already been well-trained.  

Almost no one carries cash now.  The chains of slavery are made of plastic.  You can’t rent a car, book a hotel room, or do a host of other activities now without a credit card.  Debit cards are the same as cash, except that every single little purchase you make is recorded and profiled.  And those insidious little price discount numbers at the grocery.  “You saved $8.35 today by using your MVP card,” the cute little checkout girl says. 

But, those green beans, and the coffee, and the cigarettes you bought are now catalogued to your name and social security number.  Your risk for health issues, along with your age and sex, and being analyzed for risks.  This will be integrated with Obamacare so that your future burden on the system and eligibility for benefits can be determined.

Resist abolishing cash with every American corpuscle.  You may not have much of it, but without the principle of cash there is no escape.  Without a method of escape, there is no liberty.  Without liberty, the entire idea that was America is gone forever.