LPM OnlineFebruary 23, 1999 |
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Our campaign against the FDIC's proposed "Know Your Customer" regulation is swinging into high gear. And, with your help, we may be able to generate tens of thousands of public comments against this anti-freedom proposal -- enough to stop it in its tracks. Here's how: The Libertarian Party has launched a new website, DefendYourPrivacy.com, to help build public opposition to the "Know Your Customer" regulation. People who visit the site can sign an email petition, which will be immediately sent to the FDIC, their U.S. Representative, and their two U.S. Senators. They can also get additional information about "Know Your Customer," arrange to forward copies of the letter below to their friends and family, and read press releases and news articles about the regulation and the growing campaign to repeal it. We need you to do two things right now to make this campaign a success, and persuade the FDIC and Congress to repeal the regulation entirely, rather than merely "reforming" or "studying" it. 1) Please visit our new site, DefendYourPrivacy.com, and sign the online petition, even if you have already sent a message to the FDIC. By signing the online petition, you will ensure that the message gets to the Congress as well as the FDIC. 2) Forward the letter below to your friends and family. By triggering a chain reaction on this issue, we can generate tens of thousands of emails to the FDIC and Congress, on top of the 15,000 messages in opposition they've already received. We want to bury this proposal once and for all. While it is important that you forward this letter to anyone who might be interested, it is also important that we not engage in indiscriminate spamming. If at all possible, please address each message to the individual you're sending it to and put your name on it. We've been getting a tremendous response from people on this issue, particularly with our appearances on talk radio. We have a golden opportunity here to demonstrate the growing political clout of the Libertarian Party - let's work together to take full advantage of it. Thank you.
============================================================ [letter to forward to your friends and family] I'm participating in an Internet campaign to stop a regulation which would require your bank to spy on you, and I'd like to invite you to join me. We now have less than 20 days to contact the FDIC and demand that it kill its proposed "Know Your Customer" rule. Please forward this message to any friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, or other people you know personally who may be interested. Then go to http://www.defendyourprivacy.com and sign the petition. It will be submitted directly to the FDIC. Plus, a copy will be sent to your representative in the U.S. House and to both your U.S. Senators. The FDIC's Know Your Customer rule would force banks to "monitor" your checking and savings account and report any "unusual transactions" to the federal government. This frightening threat to your financial privacy would force your bank to: * Discover your "source of funds" * Determine your "normal and expected transactions" * Report any "suspicious activity" to federal investigators The government claims it is trying to thwart money launderers and drug dealers. But what this law will do is turn every bank teller into a government informer and everyone with a bank account into a criminal suspect. In a free society, the government has no business asking where you get your money or how you spend it -- and politicians have no right to force your bank to monitor your account. But that's exactly what's going to happen, unless we can generate enough opposition before the FDIC's comment period expires on March 8. Outraged Americans have already flooded the FDIC with over 15,000 comments against the Know Your Customer regulation -- but the agency hasn't backed down yet. Let's keep up the pressure. Please forward this e-mail to everyone you know who might be interested in helping, but please don't send it indiscriminately -- spam will only hurt our campaign. Then go to our web page (http://www.defendyourprivacy.com) and sign the petition. Thank you.
And the lord spoke to Noah and said: "In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people are destroyed. But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build me an Ark." In a flash of lightning he delivered the specifications for an Ark. "Okay," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints. "Six months, and it will start to rain," thundered the Lord. "You'd better have my Ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time." And six months passed. The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping, and there was no Ark !! "Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?" A lightning bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah. "Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best, but there were big problems." "First I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project, and your plans didn't meet code." "I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system. My neighbors objected, claiming I was in violation of zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission." "Then I had a big problem getting enough wood for the Ark because there was a man against cutting trees to save the Spotted Owl. I had to try to convince the U.S. Fish and Wildlife that I needed the wood to save the owls, but they would not let me catch the owls, so we have no owls for the Ark." "Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board before anyone would pick up a saw or hammer. Now we have two dozen carpenters doing the work of ten." "And still no Owls!!" "Then I started gathering up animals and got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind." "Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I could not complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being." "Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe." "Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many Croatians I'm supposed to hire." "Also, I'm running short on funds since the IRS seized all of my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about some kind of use tax. The federal government has now classified the Ark as a Yacht, thereby making it subject to an exorbitant luxury tax." "I really don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years," Noah wailed. The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled, "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?", Noah asked hopefully. "No," said the Lord sadly, "Government already has." |
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