Originally published March 10 2015
U.S. government to citizens: 'You can't leave without our permission'
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) At the same time the Obama Administration is throwing open the doors to the country to illegal aliens, he and other lawmakers are working overtime to shut those doors to Americans.
As noted in a blog post on the website of Armstrong Economics, first the Internal Revenue Service used the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, of 2010, to hunt down any assets Americans had overseas.
Now, Armstrong says, there is an attempt by a GOP lawmaker to use the excuse of preventing terrorism to hunt down American assets once again.
The economic forecaster notes:
[J]ust two days after taking charge of the committee chairing the House Homeland Security subcommittee hearing, U.S. Rep. John Katko introduced two bills. He is looking to effectively close the borders using terrorism as the excuse as always to hunt down Americans. Katko is a former federal prosecutor. So he knows precisely what he is doing writing a law that is so broad, that anyone suspected of a crime cannot leave the country. This is any crime. Keeping gold in a safe deposit box is money laundering carrying up to 25 years in prison.
Spend more time as law enforcement officers
His bill, H.R. 719, called the TSA Office of Inspection Accountability Act of 2015, would require the Transportation Security Administration's criminal investigators to spend at least half of their time "investigating, apprehending, or detaining individuals suspected of committing a crime." If these individuals do not spend 50 percent of their time in that role, then the measure calls for the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security) to "reclassify" them "as noncriminal investigator positions or non-law enforcement positions," according to a summary of the legislation.
"This bill will now result in the arrest of anyone for any alleged crime whatsoever and that will apply to taxes," wrote Martin Armstrong, of Armstrong Economics. "Katko is constructing a highly dangerous version of the Berlin Wall around all American citizens. He is converting the TSA into a police force less concerned about air safety and focused more on catching anyone the government can argue violates some law federal or state. It is so broad, this would apply to domestic disputes as well."
A report by The Hill, a daily newspaper covering Congress, noted that Katko filed his legislation in response to a 2013 shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport, which resulted in the first fatality of an on-duty TSA agent.
"Threats to our nation's transportation systems are constantly evolving, and it is critical that Congress act to preempt catastrophes at our nation's airports by strengthening security protocols in the most cost-effective manner possible," he said. "My subcommittee hearing [last] week stemmed from security breaches in which loaded firearms were brought onto commercial airplanes by employees with airport access privileges."
Not smart to give the TSA expanding authority
"In light of that hearing, these bills provide a thoughtful response to create safer airports across our country by improving upon nationwide security protocols and facilitating commonsense TSA reform to save taxpayer dollars," he continued.
Syracuse.com further reported that the Republican-controlled House was set to pass Katko's legislation February 10, under a suspension of the rules, a fast-track method that will get them to floor quickly.
"Under TSA's existing rules, investigators do not have to meet the 50 percent requirement, even though they receive higher compensation than other TSA employees because they are considered law enforcement officers," Syracuse.com reported.
While Katko's legislation appears reasonable -- requiring TSA officials considered to be law enforcement officers to spend most of their time in that capacity -- we here at Natural News have documented repeatedly that the TSA in general simply is overly large, grossly invasive and mostly incompetent at its primary function -- providing airport security. And while there have been some efforts in the recent past to rein in the agency or turn over airport security to the private sector once again, other efforts, like Katko's, have been directed at expanding the TSA's roles and authority.
Sources:
http://armstrongeconomics.com
http://www.irs.gov
http://www.syracuse.com
http://thehill.com
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