Fiscal terrorism
Capitol Hill Blue reports a story of a couple who in a burst of fiscal responsibility, paid off their J.C. Penneys Mastercard. After they sent the $6522 check in, they kept checking online to make sure their account was credited for the payment. After a while of no reaction from Penneys, they called the company, finding out that because the amount was more than they usually paid, they had triggered a "red flag" and were reported to Homeland Defense. Their money stayed frozen until thawed by DHS.
I don't know if this story is true or not. If it is, I'm not surprised and I'm not shocked--I'm less than hopeful for the future. It's too easy to pick at this story, but I will say that some regulatory (cough: Congress) should be monitoring the details of what's being done in the name of security. Some of these precautions may be justified, but it's hard to not think that some mid-level civil servant is sitting in a bullpen somewhere thinking this stuff up.
I have great faith in a system where there are checks and balances. America's strength has always been its broad spread of governmental powers, such that someone in DC is watching out for us. The concept of regulatory oversight has become severely limited since 9/11, to each of our civic detriment.
Posted on March 07, 2006
