RESPECT Act Tries to Curtail IRS Abuse

U.S. Representatives Peter J. Roskam (R-IL) and Joseph Crowley (D-NY) are continuing their efforts to rein in asset forfeiture abuse.  According to Roskam, over 3/4 of people who have their assets improperly seized by the IRS do not get them back.  Currently, the IRS seizes assets from any bank accounts it deems as having "suspicious" activity.  This practice is known as "structuring."
  
Roskam's bill would "... prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from carrying out seizures relating to a structuring transaction unless the property to be seized derived from an illegal source or the funds were structured for the purpose of concealing the violation of another criminal law or regulation, to require notice and a post-seizure hearing for such seizures..." House Committee Report  


The House voted unanimously to pass a similar bill in 2016.  The bill passed the House again in 2017, but has been sitting in the Senate Committee on Finance since last September.

I wonder why the Senate will not act on the IRS inappropriately taking assets?  

Inflation May Be Rearing Its Ugly Head

Over that last 10 years, the United States Government and the Federal Reserve have turned up the printing presses, creating more money than ever in US history.  They have touted that they have done this without creating massive inflation, which is a seeming impossibility.  Part of this was a lie.  Those who remember how much they paid for groceries or gasoline in 2007 compared to today can attest to that.  A major way the government produced this trick was to change the way inflation is calculated in 2015.  Consumer Price Index Undergoes Most Significant Change In 25 Years

Even with the change to hide the not so dangerous inflation, it appears that massive inflation may be on its way.  Inflation hit a five year high in May of this year and appears poised to go higher.  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stated that conditions were similar to the beginning of the 1970s while talking to a group of international bankers.  He stated that he believes that bankers can handle the situation, but who knows?

The only proven way to combat inflation is to limit the government's ability to create money.  This is often done by attaching money to some commodity, like gold or silver.  Although this can cause occasional short term problems, it stops the long term systemic problem of steady inflation.  It also puts an end to acute periods of run away inflation.

Broward County Caught Rigging Elections

   

In the 2016 election, Tim Canova lost the Democratic primary election to Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  Canova thought there were improprieties and asked to examine the ballots.  Broward County (FL) officials destroyed the ballots before they could be checked.

In the Broward County Circuit Court case of Canova v Snipes, the court ruled that the county had broken federal law by destroying the ballots.  Sounds like some shenanigans to me.  Snipes plans to challenge the ruling.

https://ivn.us/2018/05/14/judge-ballots-wasserman-schultz-race-illegally-destroyed/