. . . is taxing its bank depositors 9.9 percent one time (allegedly). The government of the United States . . .
. . . taxes bank depositors a penny at a time, through zero-percent interest rates engineered by the Fed.
Our method is more polite, more civilized, less disruptive, but the goal in each case is the same: To pick the pockets of frugal savers for money to accomplish some presumed greater good.
In Cyprus, it is to support banks run by foolish bankers who are long on Greek bonds and, therefore bankrupt.
Stealing savers' money is a time-tested method for the governments of banana republics to finance social programs and corruption, to maintain their power.
U.S. depositors are polite. We put up with the slow-motion theft of our assets, with only the occasional yelp.
Some depositors in Cyprus are Russian mobsters, however, who are said to be somewhat less polite.
I suggest the Cypriots start checking arrival flights from Moscow for beefy guys with flashy sunglasses, expensive Italian suits, and small bags of fast-setting concrete, each sufficient to encase a pair of feet.
Meanwhile geniuses in progressive America's think tanks have their eyes on an even bigger pots of money -- our 401(k)s and IRAs.
This form of redistribution of wealth from savers to government is still far over the horizon, but it would be a mistake to discount the possibility.
The scheme would work like this: Benevolent statists -- cheered on, no doubt by the Houston Chronicle -- would nationalize our retirement dollars.
The money would then be used for vote-garnering social programs, perhaps to prop up Obamacare as it lurches toward bankruptcy, and for corrupt investments, such as Son of Solyndra and funding SIEU pension funds.
In return, savers would get government bonds promising some fixed interest rate. The govenment can always print the money to pay us back.
What could go wrong?
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