This week the U.S. Congress will holding hearings on extending three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act that expire at the end of this year.
At the same time, civil liberties groups and some Democrat senators are pressing for changes to Bush era surveillance laws that might revive some of the Fourth Amendment protections the PATRIOT Act has all but destroyed.
The Act's name itself is a public relations acronym. It stands for the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act," Public Law No. 107-56.
Both the House and the Senate are set to hold committee hearings this week on re-authorizing sections that expanded the power of the F.B.I. to seize personal and financial records without a warrant and to eavesdrop without court approval on phone calls in counter terrorism investigations.
Restoring the Fourth Amendment?
A group of U.S. senators who support greater privacy protections introduced a bill, S.1686, last week that would impose new safeguards on the PATRIOT Act while tightening restrictions on other surveillance policies.
Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisc), (below) the chief sponsor was the only senator who had the courage to vote against the Act when it was first adopted in 2001. The measure is co-sponsored by nine Democrats, an independent and no Republicans.
Aparently the Republicans, supposedly "conservatives," are not concerned about redressing the constitutional violations contained in the PATRIOT Act that I’ve called the worst legislative attack on the Constitution since President John Adams and the 1789 Alien and Sedition Laws.
Curbing FBI Excess
Some want to use the extension bill to restrict the FBI’s use of so-called "national security letters" -- administrative subpoenas that allow agents to seize business records without obtaining permission from a judge which in the past was required. Agents have used this device tens of thousands of times each year.
The Justice Department’s inspector general issued two reports finding that FBI agents frequently abused these letters in obtaining bank, credit card and telephone records.
Last week Obama called on Congress to re-authorize the expiring provisions, but Ronald Weich, assistant attorney general for legislative affairs, expressed an open mind about new surveillance restrictions. "We are aware that members of Congress may propose modifications to provide additional protection for the privacy of law abiding Americans," Mr. Weich wrote, adding that "the administration is willing to consider such ideas, provided that they do not undermine the effectiveness of these important authorities."
Obama Flip Flop
I hope that statement is sincere.
But it was presidential candidate Barack Obama who criticized the PATRIOT Act and promised if elected to reform it.
Rather thanmake improvements, Obama has endorsed and adopted as his own questionable Bush policies of prolonged detention without charges and surveillance of Americans without warrants or probable cause. Obama has indicated he may even go further, requesting new powers to arrest and detain people without charges, a direct violation of the Constitution.
Blind Vote
In 2001, the PATRIOT Act zipped through Congress in six weeks, gutting much of the Fourth Amendment. This so-called "deliberative process" was reduced to secret negotiations; no conference committee; no committee reports; no final hearing at which opponents could testify; not even an opportunity for most legislators to read the 131 single spaced pages.
The congressmen couldn't read it - no final printed copies of the bill were available when the vote was taken. However, copies of the U.S. Constitution were available -- and still are today.
Assault on Financial Privacy
The section of the PATRIOT Act, (125 of 362 pages), that pertains to U.S. banking and finance is the greatest single governmental assault on personal and financial privacy in American history.
The net result was that American banks and financial institutions, indeed all U.S. businesses, by law now are required to spy on their clients, "know their customers" and report any "suspicious activity" to the government.
Understand that this Act, then and now, is sold as being an "anti-terrorist" law.
In fact, the Act's police powers have been used broadly to investigate and prosecute all types of crimes, many having nothing to do with terrorism. In 2004, two federal judges secretly ruled that the Act could be used to investigate any criminal or other pending charges, even if unrelated to terrorism.
Strategies to Shield You
The PATRIOT Act's powers operate mainly within the United States. That means you should arrange your investments, cash, assets, record keeping and financial information in a way that maximizes your privacy, including structures located offshore. Three major moves to consider:
1. Move some of your assets to offshore jurisdictions that guarantee privacy by law. Foreign insurance contracts, annuities, foreign real estate and offshore precious metals holdings all are examples of legal investments that, even under the PATRIOT Act, are difficult for the U.S. government to seize.
2. Create one or more offshore legal entities, such as an asset protection trust or private family foundation. Pick a maximum privacy country and your name as owner is not a public record and can be kept confidential unless a local court orders otherwise. An offshore entity can also provide asset protection against frozen bank accounts or attempts at civil asset forfeiture.
3. Choose an offshore country as your base of business operations and possibly, as your home. In tax haven or maximum privacy nations such as Panama, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra, Belize, Singapore, Uruguay and the Cook Islands, information is not surrendered automatically to demands by foreign governments or lawsuits, even under the newly imposed OECD tax information exchange rules.We Can Help
The Sovereign Society can advise you on tax and asset haven nations that have statutory protections for financial privacy, as well as professionals that can help. With the current political situation in the United States, the time to act is now.
In this special 44 page report I wrote (and just revised for the third time, Sept. 2009), you learn all about the PATRIOT Act and its far-reaching invasion of your rights -- and what you can do to defend yourself.
Plus, you'll automatically receive a FREE subscription to the world’s most popular offshore e-letter, The Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter. With more than 230,000 readers world wide, The A-Letter keeps you in touch with global events and investments that affect your wealth and safety. Learn more here.
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