The Republican Mother brings us this news. Maybe now we know more about the Check Points that the DHS is working on. No way out of the U.S. soon. Just claim a citizen owes taxes and they take your passport.Recall DHS adding bullet proof Guard Booths to its arsenal or recall
Debtor Prisons returns to the United States
More than a third of all states now allow borrowers who don’t pay their bills to be jailed, even when debtor’s prisons have been explicitly banned by state constitutions. A report by the American Civil Liberties Union found that people were imprisoned even when the cost of doing so exceeded the amount of debt they owed.
After clearing the Senate on a 74 – 22 vote on March 14, SB 1813 is now headed for a vote in the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to encounter stiffer opposition among the GOP majority.
In addition to authorizing appropriations for federal transportation and infrastructure programs, the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” or “MAP-21″ [Agenda 21 anyone?!!!] includes a provision that would allow for the “revocation or denial” of a passport for anyone with “certain unpaid taxes” or “tax delinquencies”.
Section 40304 of the legislation states that any individual who owes more than $50,000 to the Internal Revenue Service may be subject to “action with respect to denial, revocation, or limitation of a passport”.
So its tied into a transportation bill, which is classic. I’m sure that even if you owe less that $50,000 and are an undesirable, you’ll find yourself passportless, and put on some review list to be gotten to five years from now.
April 8, 2012 at 8:45 am
It is starting to sound more and more like the Soviet Union around here…..
April 8, 2012 at 9:16 am
so much for the election of our Tea Party folks. Apparently they cannot read as well.
April 7, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Here we go again Bunker. So which enumerated power in the constitution gives the federal government the power to do this?
April 7, 2012 at 5:24 pm
This is really going over the top…. and where is the outrage? We do indeed have a dictator.
April 7, 2012 at 8:51 am
How ironic to have buried this in a transportation bill. I understand the desire to make tax evaders pay up; but this is a dangerous and slippery slope we are embarking on. Here in Venezuela, passports can be confiscated any time the government decides that you are under investigation for whatever. Tax evasion is the issue now. What will be next? The militarization of FEMA and the ever expanding role of TSA have me very worried.
April 7, 2012 at 8:55 am
Well, some small hope that CBS covered it, but apparently does not appreciate the ramifications. First the tiny step, the step that does not seem oh so bad, then the next? Only someone who has lived under a dictatorship umderstands where we can be headed with this. I do not like what DHS is up to these days and should explain it to Congress.