I just finished reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, so maybe I’m a bit paranoid of the government right now, but even if I hadn’t, I think this has BAD IDEA written all over it.
Buried deep in a Senate bill for housing financing reform created because of the subprime adjustable rate mortgage crisis, there’s a provision to have the government monitor purchases made with credit cards as well as purchases made via PayPal, Google Checkout, and Amazon.com. In fact, it’s so deep that I initially couldn’t find it on Thomas and made myself look like a fool on Digg.
Here’s why I couldn’t find it on Thomas. It’s in a 631 page substitute to the House amendment to the Senate Amendment of the original House bill, H.R.3221. Furthermore, it was submitted to the floor at 5PM yesterday. Today, they’re trying to push it through as quick as possible. Despite this, there’s overwhelming support for this from both sides of the aisle because it’s a bill worded to have the Federal Housing Administration take on loans from mortgage companies to possibly prevent some foreclosures. No one wants to be seen as getting in the way of that. Well, all except a few senators, namely Senators Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Jim DeMint (R-SC). They tried and failed to send it to the Banking Committee so, you know, it could actually be read by someone before they voted on it.
While I’m skeptical of the bill in and of itself, it’s the revenue provision that scare the crap out of me:
“Payment Card and Third Party Network Information Reporting. The proposal requires information reporting on payment card and third party network transactions. Payment settlement entities, including merchant acquiring banks and third party settlement organizations, or third party payment facilitators acting on their behalf, will be required to report the annual gross amount of reportable transactions to the IRS and to the participating payee. Reportable transactions include any payment card transaction and any third party network transaction. Participating payees include persons who accept a payment card as payment and third party networks who accept payment from a third party settlement organization in settlement of transactions. A payment card means any card issued pursuant to an agreement or arrangement which provides for standards and mechanisms for settling the transactions. Use of an account number or other indicia associated with a payment card will be treated in the same manner as a payment card. A de minimis exception for transactions of $10,000 or less and 200 transactions or less applies to payments by third party settlement organizations. The proposal applies to returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2010. Back-up withholding provisions apply to amounts paid after December 31, 2011. This proposal is estimated to raise $9.802 billion over ten years.” (emphasis theirs)
You can find the pdf of this here. The pertinent quote is at the bottom of page 11 and top of page 12. What this has to do with preventing foreclosures, I have no idea. I realize that the Senate is far less rules oriented and far more compromise oriented, but this is why the rules on germaneness need to be farther reaching in the Senate. As it is now, essentially the only time amendments to a bill have to actually relate to the bill in the Senate is after the bill has already been voted on.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Michael // Jun 20, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Read a full article concerning this topic on Digg.com. It’s already got 1300 diggs!
http://digg.com/business_finance/Sen_Bill_Forces_eBay_Amazon_Google_to_Report_Transactions
2 Benny // Nov 23, 2008 at 12:48 pm
I agree. I really got suspicious when I began to make credit card purchases at the local Stripes, a vendor of Valero. I moved from another another state, and suddenly, the credit system went down. After a couple of weeks, the credit card system came back up. I asked the woman at the cash register if the system was back up. She looked at me, gave me a sheepish grin, and replied, “Yes.” I ordered my pack of cigarettes. This “sheepish” grin gave me an indication that state authorities are indeed monitoring credit transactions. Another thing. There is a government system that publishes over the internet that individuals have money due them, and to provide ID to claim it. Being that we are “programmed” in some form or fashion to trust government, I did so. I have yet to receive the money. I’ve been given tiny clues from various register attendants everywhere that I need to be paying in cash to avoid the tracking of my transactions. It’s not that I’m afraid of my transactions being tracked. It’s the idea that all of our 5th amendment rights are being violated through credit card transactions everywhere. Payments made over the internet are being monitored and credit card transactions whether tied to a bank account are being monitored regardless of the purchases made. Furthermore, there is a little sign in some shop windows that “warn” that a police officer may be paid specifically to act as a cashier, monitoring people and their transactions as they come through the store. If a payroll check is cashed, it is being monitored as to who you are, therefore, our right to privacy, our places of employment, our residences…are revealed to all who want to make an inquiry, regardless of age, sex, or affiliation. We are moving full steam ahead into a communist, socialist society in which all are suspect, and none are safe from the presumptuous judgements of authorities who “need to know.”
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