Governments around the world are seeking new ways to raise cash from their citizens. The European Union and the European Bank have developed a ruthless solution to the financial crisis in Cyprus. Their proposal is to confiscate up to 15 percent of the cash in separate Cypriot bank accounts. The Cypriot Parliament is considering legislation to confiscate between 3 percent and 10 percent of bank account assets in order to qualify for new loans from the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Cyprus is a member of the European Union and subject to the rulings of the European Central Bank.

Cypriot banks have been closed all week and will remain closed until at least Tuesday of next week. Cypriots have been prevented from transferring money out of the country, as their assets are restricted at this point. They can withdraw money from ATMs and are rushing out each morning to do so. By 7:30 a.m. the ATMs are empty and remain empty until they are filled in the early hours of the next morning. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/17/us-cyprus-parliament-idUSBRE92G03I20130317).Since the end of the depression, our money market and bank accounts have been considered safe. Recently, many Americans have moved a portion of their savings into gold as they correctly anticipated that bank assets can and will be seized if it serves the government. Numerous articles have been written in recent years about President Obama's need for cash and his desire to confiscate a portion of our IRAs and 401(k)s. (Http://www.silverdoctors.com/obama-begins-push-to-confiscate-iras-401ks/). Some liberals, and possibly the president himself, believe that these savings plans are unfair to the poor. The government established these plans in 1978 so that We The People could save for their retirement and not be a burden on the government or their children in their "golden years".Now that there is a significant amount of money in these plans, the government wants to get its grubby hands on all or part of it. Legislation has been proposed to confiscate the funds in these plans and replace them with government treasury bonds. That way, the taxpayer gets to keep their funds, but no longer has access to the higher returns in the stock and bond markets. Placing these funds in treasury bills would give the government the money they need to redistribute to the welfare classes, without the need to repay the funds in the short term. Quite frankly, I believe that if the government converted our pension holdings into U.S. Treasury Bonds, they would never repay the bulk of the bonds.Our national debt is almost $17 trillion and will certainly be in excess of $20 trillion by the end of the Obama administration. There is no way we can repay this debt. We will be at the mercy of the Chinese, other Asians and Europeans who loaned us this money. We are just a few short years away from being like Cyprus. Given the right set of circumstances, the government can and will confiscate a portion of or all of our assets within the next few years. Money in banks and brokerage houses can be confiscated at the stroke of a pen. For many decades, the banks have been providing the government with information on our bank accounts. They know how much we have and they know where it is. They can take all or part of it in the blink of an eye.They can also establish an asset tax. They know the property we own as we take advantage of the real estate tax deduction each year when we complete our income tax form. They know what stocks we own because they get a copy of our 1099s from the brokerage houses. To put it frankly, our government knows how much they can shake us down for and could use the FEMA security squads to take it whenever they want. As I mentioned in last week's article, the government bought 1.6 billion bullets and 1,700 light tanks to be used here in United States against American citizens. They can now roll into a community in the dark of night, just as the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) did prior to and during World War II.The government has already confiscated property of American citizens using Eminent Domain. Villages, towns, cities, states and even the federal government confiscate property each and every year to be used for the public good. It would not be a stretch to confiscate part or all of our financial assets if the government felt it was in the public interest.So what are we to do? We could buy gold and bury it in our backyards. Unfortunately, there would be a record of the purchase transactions that the government could access. We could transfer our money to overseas havens such as the Cayman Islands, Jersey and the Isle of Man, or Cyprus. (Oh my, Cyprus is confiscating money in bank accounts). A simpler method of protecting our assets would be to constantly pressure Congress and the president to ensure the freedoms guaranteed by the fourth amendment to our Constitution. We must also be prepared to protect our property from those who wish to take it, whether the takers are roving gangs or elected officials.We Americans really do not want much from our government. Tax us to defend our nation and provide necessary services such as roads and disaster assistance. Otherwise, leave law-abiding citizens alone so that we can work to support ourselves, our families and our communities. Let us pray in our churches. Let us live our lives free from government tyranny and intervention into our personal affairs. Let us live in the freedom that our founding fathers established and our soldiers, sailors and airmen died to protect.© 2013 Gordon Smith - All Rights Reserved