by Steve Hilgart, Director of Conference Operations and Marketing
When I first heard Bobby tell me that I should get a second passport, I thought, “What a silly idea! I don’t need a second passport! I’m a United States citizen – the greatest country in the world! Why the hell would I need a second passport?” But then I heard it again… and again… and being the curious individual that I am, I thought…
Could There Be Something To This?
Earlier this year, I was shocked to learn about Senate Bill 1813, also known as the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century” Act (sounds like something straight out of Atlas Shrugged, if you ask me!).
Its original purpose was to “Reauthorize Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction programs, and for other purposes.”
Other purposes? What could that possibly mean?
I Intended To Find Out
When I started reading the act, the first thing that came to my mind was, “ And I thought my writing was bad!”
Much of it described funds that would be allocated to create jobs building roads and digging ditches for the government.
But there was another section in this 1,676 page document, a small section, tucked away – all about tax delinquency. (What in the world does that have to do with construction planning anyways?)
There were two disturbing things I found almost immediately. The first one was that if you owed money to the IRS, your debt would be multiplied for inflation, and if that amount was not a multiple of $1,000, they would be so kind as to round it up to the next $1,000 mark for you! (Nice guys, huh?)
But that wasn’t the real kicker… It also read that if you are believed to owe $50,000 in taxes or more, the Internal Revenue Service now had the ability revoke or deny your passport – eliminating your right to free travel.
I think we all breathed a sigh of relief when this act got shut down. But it got me to thinking – could this possibly happen to us?
History Tells Us – YES!
When I was younger, learning about World War II and the Holocaust, I remember asking the question several times, “Why didn’t the Jews just leave?”.
Obviously it wasn’t that simple. While you probably don’t need a history lesson, it will help me prove my point (and we should all brush up on things once in a while!).
In 1935, the first of the anti-Semitic laws (called the Nuremberg Laws) were instituted – Mainly to get and keep the Jews out of any civil service positions.
In 1938, the Nazis ordered that all Jews were to register their wealth and property and Jews over the age of 15 were also required to apply for identity cards to be shown – on demand – to any police officer.
Soon after, Jewish passports had to be stamped with a large red “J” and were not allowed to leave the country.
Many who tried to leave were simply denied visas to do so. Those who did escape were officially stateless so no country would even take them in!
Then in 1939, Jews in Germany were subject to a curfew and doctors, lawyers, and dentists were forbidden to practice.
They were gathered in Ghettos and required to wear yellow stars on their clothing. Shortly after, the Ghettos were sealed off and the mass killings followed suit.
In the end, an estimated 11,000,000 people were killed – 6,000,000 of which were Jews.
In this case in history, people were forced to register all of their wealth and then denied the right to travel (sound familiar?).
“That’s all well and good” you say…
But That Could Never Happen To Us!
I was hoping you’d say that!
There are two heated debates going on right here in my home of Minnesota (and several other places as well).
The questions being asked are whether gay people should be allowed to marry and should we only allow people with identification to vote?
Now – maybe you care, maybe you don’t.
I could care less if gay people marry. They don’t hurt me in any way, and in fact, it would probably help boost the economy if a bunch of gay people have lavish weddings (Feel free to invite me! I love weddings, especially the open bar kind.)!
As far as voter identification, if we look at the numbers, it’s really just a ploy for the Republican Party to gain an advantage in the polls (and who wouldn’t want an advantage for their own party?)
But everyone here seems to be missing the point!
Both of these would be amendments to the Constitution (or what we have left of it). Regardless of how you feel or what you believe, the fact is that there are large campaigns demanding amendments to the Constitution that limit the rights of our citizens.
And That, My Friend, Is A Slippery Slope!
There has really only been one amendment to the Constitution that limited the rights of our citizens (the 18th amendment; the ban of alcohol production and sales). This was repealed shortly after with the 21st amendment in 1933.
While we have done well so far shooting down any amendment that would limit rights – it looks like the time is coming where we won’t be so lucky.
We are already required to register all of our wealth and property. We are already required to have identification on us at all times. There are no secrets between us, heck – the government even knows the identification of our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!
Let me ask you this:
Would it be so far-fetched that the government places a 75% tax on the wealthy? (Oh wait, that’s happening in France…)
Would it be so far-fetched that the government creates “tax-police” that pull over Ferraris and other nice cars to ask for tax returns? (Oh wait, that’s happening in Italy…)
Would it be so far-fetched that while the economy collapses and wealthy people attempt to expatriate, the government imposes laws to take the majority of their wealth before they leave? (Oh wait, they tried that here!)
Lastly…would it be so far-fetched that the government decides it should stamp large dollar signs on wealthy people’s passports so that they can easily identify who they need to take money from?
Who knows…
My Solution?
I’m getting a second passport.
I want my right to travel freely no matter what happens.
And I want to be able to do what others in history weren’t able to do: leave!
If you’re interested in joining me, I’m headed over to our buddies at The Dollar Vigilante. They have the best deals on second passports and they know a heck of a lot more than I do.
They’ll be able to tell you (and me) what makes the most sense for your situation. On top of that they have connections in dozens of countries and can get it to you quickly, easily, and legally.
That’s enough of me blabbing. Let’s go over there right now and check them out.
Until next time,
Have a FANTASTIC day and Live Well!
– Steve
P.S. I really am heading over to TDV for my second passport and I think you should too. They have some crazy good deals going on right now – don’t say I never did anything for you!
P.P.S. I was serious about the open-bar wedding invites too…
P.P.P.S. Oh, and don’t forget to click here to check out The Dollar Vigilante deals on passports.
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