Bailout Bill Would Require Banks to Track and Report Personal Checking Accounts to Feds

Thanks. Voted Up.

The requirement to maintain records is not the problem, that sounds reasonable. It is the fact that the use of that information is not restricted. Also that the CFPA literally made the rules to which they are to be governed. This has wide sweeping implications and is a violation of our personal privacy. What if you needed a medication that was cheaper if you bought it in a Canadian pharmacy but buying it was a crime? Then the Federal government would have a record of that transaction. Further, libertarians have fought for preservation of our civil liberties. I agree that blogs don't change the world but votes in the house and senate do and libertarians have done their best in that regard.

"Furthermore the bill makes no stipulation that this information would be passed on to any regulatory agency, they're supposed to keep records -for themselves-."

C) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—
(1) SUBMISSION TO AGENCIES.—The data required to be compiled and maintained under this section by any financial institution shall be submitted annually to the CFPA, or to a Federal banking agency, in accordance with rules prescribed by the CFPA

http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/AYO09D44_xml.pdf

How does managing the money given to banks get warped into Tracking Personal Checking Accounts of private citizens and reporting to Feds. How is that financial reform going to regulate the banks? Only in Washington does legislation that was intended to regulate banks turn into a bill that tracks and monitors the bank accounts of private citizens.

"There is no Libertarian ACLU, no organization which gets up and actually gets shit done through"

Most LIbertarians Join the ACLU because they advocate for civil liberaties and Cato isn't LIbertarian.

seems i remember all the liberal stink about the patriot act, and how bush was checking out what books i read -- now you expect us to just blow it off that the feds will be monitoring our personal banking activity. Amazing how libs don't have principles when it comes to their cult leader obama.
Is real enlightening to see how quickly libs become outraged when the activitities of their dear fascist leader are pointed out.
WHY, WHY? ... please do tell us your rationale for why this is good.
we are waiting with anticipation.

i wouldn't say it's necessarily better.

Havent we already done that?

That is something i think we can all agree on.

Somehow I doubt you read it . The nonchalant comment "since I read the bill and found no mention of this AT ALL," suggests you have not even looked at the document long enough to realize it’s 1136 pages. Moving on…

The government doesn't automatically know how much money you make every year. You voluntarily report your income when you pay your taxes. True the IRS could investigate and find out how much you earn every year but this is an IRRELEVANT point. As the issue with this legislation is it gives the government the ability to track how you SPEND your money.

Side note: You incorrectly equate overstock dot com advertising with “big brother” which leads me to believe you have never read George Orwell’s 1984. “Big brother” refers to the abusive, intrusive government within the novel and doesn’t apply to an online company that sells bargain basement junk to overweight middle age women.

Your naive " I have nothing to hide why do you" suggests you live a very sheltered life and yet profess to care little for the right to privacy. You don't believe in the right to privacy, but what is your justification for giving the federal government the power to track every single purchase a citizen makes? I would say please make a constitutional argument but I doubt you even know what the Constitution is. ….

You probably believe that the government is always looking out for your best interest and would never abuse its power. At this point in time I will end this comment as history and logical we not sway you. I will finish with saying please read my response to Snarly on where you can find the text.

This bill does not track every single purchase a citizen makes. It merely tracks the amount in the bank account. READ. At least I know how to do that."

The next step in the process is the application of what you read. The bill gives the government the ability to track how much you have in your account…… meaning they have a record of how much you deposit and how much you withdrawal.

If you were withdrawing cash from an ATM than on your account statement it would read “ATM withdrawal” This is essentially a purchase of fiat (paper) money with electric data points you have stored in the banks system. The record of this transaction will now be given to the government.

When you swipe your debit/credit card it records where you swiped it, how much you spent. forming a record of your purchases. Record of this transaction will now be given to the government.

"wtf do you care?" I didn't mean to come off so gruff, but don't expect me to blow sunshine up your hiney when that’s your attitude on an issue that is far more serious than a cursory glance would reveal.

It's true, Just one more freedom were losing.
This make shock you, but it is beyond the enumerated powers of the feds by the constitution to do this. Matter of fact, it's not constitutional for the feds to be in banking at all.

Surprise surprise! Like most people on Current you probably didn’t look any farther than wikipedia . Here is the bill directly from the Senate banking committee’s OWN WEBSITE! It’s 1136 pages. Now child please scroll to page 1039 in Adobe Acrobat and follow along with me. Look under subtitle “G’ Regulatory improvements. Section 1071 “Collection of deposit account data". Under this section :

B(1) ‘the financial institution shall maintain a record of the number and dollar amounts of deposit accounts of customers.”

B(2) GEO-CODED ADDRESSES OF DEPOSITORS.—
“Customer addresses shall be geo-coded for the collection of data regarding the census tracts of the residences or business locations of customers.” !!!

B(3) IDENTIFICATION OF DEPOSITOR TYPE.—In
maintaining records on any deposit account under
this section, the financial institution shall record
whether the deposit account is for a residential or
commercial customer.

B(4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—
IN GENERAL.—“Each financial institu1tion shall make publicly available on an annual basis, from information collected under this section—
(i) the address and census tract of
each branch, automated teller machine at
which deposits are accepted, and other deposit taking service facility with respect to
the financial institution;
(ii) the type of deposit account, including whether the account was a checking or savings account; and
(iii) data on the number and dollar amount of the accounts, presented by census tract location of the residential and commercial customer.

(C) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION.—
(1) SUBMISSION TO AGENCIES.—The data required to be compiled and maintained under this section by any financial institution shall be submitted annually to the CFPA, or to a Federal banking agency, in accordance with rules prescribed by the CFPA.

You flunked class for today. Please sit in the corner and wear your dunce cap.

http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/AYO09D44_xml.pdf

According to what you just wrote and the file in question... the only thing recorded is the amount you have in the bank, and whether you're a residential or commercial customer. I fail to see the big deal. So what if they know how much money you have in the bank? They already know how much you make, and you're required to disclose your assets in your taxes. You plan on doing some illegal banking then, are you?

And you fail to quote the purpose of the section. "(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-mote awareness and understanding of the access of indi- viduals and communities to financial services, and to iden-tify business and community development needs and op-portunities."

You're refusing to see anything other than what you want to see.

And you also fail to quote this -

"(B) PROTECTION OF IDENTITY.—In mak-
ing date publicly available, any personally iden- tifiable data element shall be removed so as to protect the identities of the commercial and res- idential customers."

"(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to pro-mote awareness and understanding of the access of indi- viduals and communities to financial services, and to iden-tify business and community development needs and op-portunities"

Please articulate what boundaries are set by a vague and a nonbinding purpose statement, .

"(B) PROTECTION OF IDENTITY.—In mak-
ing date publicly available, any personally iden- tifiable data element shall be removed so as to protect the identities of the commercial and res- idential customers."

That’s irrelevant as it applies to the data that is released to the public from the government AFTER IT COLLECTS YOUR INFORMATION. Its not the general public we are concerned with, as they currently don’t have access to your financial information now ANYWAY. Prior to this bill the public didn't have access to your information, and after passing this bill they won't have access to your financial information. It’s a red herring placed to distract and give you comfort.

it doesn't matter if im on the up and up, it's still not constitutional for the central government to be this involved in banking. the whole reason they made the federal reserve board was so they could manipulate the economy thru a board of private bankers, because like i said -- it is not constitional for the government to be in banking.