April 2, 2005
By JAMES SIMPSON
Raders News Update
The House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary will convene a series of eight hearings on the USA Patriot Act starting in about a week. The Patriot Act contains many provisions that are due to sunset at the end of 2005 if they are not reenacted.
I sincerely hope that changes are made to the Act, as it stands now it is in opposition to many of the freedoms and rights we treasure. I believe that many of the Patriot Act's provisions are in direct contradiction to the Constitution and a serious threat to American Liberty.
If you think the Act doesn't affect the average American, think again. It is nice to believe that our Congress creates legislation to help protect our lives and liberties, but more times than not they get things completely wrong.
A couple years ago I embarked the ambitious goal of creating an alternative party for people who felt abandoned by the Republican and Democratic parties. A Libertarian at the time, I felt their utopian platform and occasional radical candidates too much for the average voter to swallow.
So I launched a new party, which I named The Limited Government Party. The idea was to offer an option for people who believed that the government should remain true to the Constitution, and limit its encroachment into our lives and wallets.
The two-party system is the reason that it doesn't matter which party is in control, we will still have waste and pork oozing out of the Capitol Building. More on that in my next column.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) only "formally recognizes" a new political party after certain conditions are met. One of these conditions is the establishment of a bank account in which membership fees can be deposited. So, after receiving my Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS and filling out my FEC paperwork, I headed to SunTrust Bank.
I provided SunTrust with the IRS SS-4 form and corresponding Employer Identification Number (EIN), as well as my driver's license and a signed, ready-to-be-mailed, FEC application. I was then informed that these were insufficient to open a new account. According to the branch vice president, the Patriot Act requires more proof that I am not opening a checking account with depraved intentions.
She contacted a SunTrust "Patriot Act Specialist" and was told that I would need to provide documentation that the party was "officially recognized" by the FEC. Great ? the FEC wouldn't recognize the party unless I had a bank account, and the bank wouldn't open an account for me unless the FEC provided documentation that the party was officially recognized.
It didn't matter that I had another checking account at the same bank. It didn't matter that I had a valid Virginia drivers license, or a voter registration card, or a Social Security card. It didn't matter that I had numerous credit cards, a U.S. birth certificate, or an Alexandria Employees Credit Union account that was over 30 years old. I offered to provide numerous documents to help prove that I was not a terrorist, but that was not sufficient.
However, it doesn't end there. Now I come to the part of the story that Shakespeare would call "the rub."
I asked the vice president of the SunTrust bank if she could provide me some sort of documentation that indicated the reason I was being denied an opportunity to open a new account. Ready for this? She told me that according to the Patriot Act, not only was SunTrust unable to provide such documentation, but they were PREVENTED BY LAW from providing such information, OR EVEN verbally informing me as to why it was denied.
According to the Patriot Act, any citizen who tries to open even a private checking account and is rejected by the bank - FOR ANY REASON - is denied the right to know why they were refused service.
It could be that the individual is the victim of identity fraud, and someone is destroying their credit. Or it might be that somewhere in the banking system incorrect information was entered related to the individual, or it may be that someone has a similar name to one on the government "watch list." It doesn't matter - under the Patriot Act you have NO RECOURSE!
This law deprives people essential liberties and freedoms. I once thought that the only place where people were denied services in the free market - and by government decree not told the reason - was in the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. I now know better. As Americans we are no longer provided due process, we are now guilty until proven innocent.
Welcome to a Frightened New World. Thanks in no small part to the Patriot Act.
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