Cypriots Run the Banks
The EU has required a one-time tax of 9.9% tax on deposits of more than €100,000 starting Tuesday, as part of a bailout of the tiny nation. On Saturday, the EU unveiled a €10 billion plan to rescue Cyprus’ outsized banking sector and avoid a default.
It was the first time that the EU has insisted on such terms for bank depositors as part of a bailout. The EU’s bailouts other nations in the last three years, such as Greece and Portugal, have usually been accompanied with strict budget restrictions and led to big losses for bond holders.
The Cyprus Parliament is expected to vote on the plan Monday. If it goes through, people with less than €100,000 in deposits will have to pay a tax of 6.75%.
As Cypriots heard the news of the tax, they started lining up outside of ATMs to withdraw money. Banks have placed withdrawal limits of €400 and many ATMs were running out of cash over the weekend.
It’s difficult to even think of the EU’s demand as a tax. The money is stitting there in the bank and they are talking about just taking a chunk of it. Usually a tax involves actually doing something with the money - like spending or earning it. But in this case, it looks more like just outright confiscation.
I wish that those people saying things like “Other countries have better health care than us” would remember actions like this when dreaming of those “utopias”. We all know that scott would never take into account this type of action when demanding that the Haves pay for the health care of everyone.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2013 at 1857 hrs
Your beloved Governor unilaterally reduced state employees’ take home pay by an average of 13% with Act 10. You, and conservatives in general, are hypocrites. That was $300 million suddenly yanked out of Wisconsin’s economy. Enjoy our 42nd place finish for job creation. We’re all suffering because of it.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2013 at 2032 hrs
A bill passed by two houses of legislatures and signed by a governor is not “unilateral,” you brain dead cultist.
Posted by Badger on March 17, 2013 at 2050 hrs
That would be the danger of single party control of all branches of govt. Your party is famous for lockstep discipline. No need to think. Who’s the cultist? I won’t call you brain dead, but you are an ideologue. Or, at a minimum, ignorant.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2013 at 2059 hrs
And to close that budget gap, $300 million would have been pulled out of the economy in the form of tax increases for all.
Please take your Flavor-Ade addled, economically ignorant ass out of here.
Posted by Badger on March 17, 2013 at 2108 hrs
Incisive, Badger. Guess I’ll go cry myself to sleep.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2013 at 2114 hrs
Figures, crybaby. You get caught in a blatant lie, and you run away.
Posted by Badger on March 17, 2013 at 2118 hrs
You’re awfully big with name-calling. It doesn’t exactly speak to much confidence in your so-called arguments.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 17, 2013 at 2126 hrs
Says the big man who started off with namecalling and distortions.
I know it’s St. Patrick’s Day, but drinking and commenting don’t mix. Try not to plow into a family of four tonight, rummy.
Posted by Badger on March 17, 2013 at 2146 hrs
Cyprus has nothing on what Obama has planned for us.’
While nothing is firmed up yet - my guess not until after the 2014 elections - it is no secret the US government needs massive amounts of cash to finance trillion-dollar budget deficits. The solution is to “save” investors from any future financial shock to their retirement accounts by forcing IRA and 401(k) holders to buy Treasury bonds, mandating the placement of government-structured annuities in their retirement accounts. Obama has already floated “Automatic IRAs” in his 2013 budget.
SEIU has joined with the AFL-CIO in lobbying for “Retirement USA.” This would be a government mandated program. The concept is that all workers in the U.S. have a right to a government retirement account that would fund a secure retirement with adequate dollars. Obama’s 2012 budget proposal calls this “a system of automatic work-place pensions that will expand access to tens of millions of workers who currently lack plans.”
I DON’T RECOGNIZE THE LAND OF THE FREE ANY MORE.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0521 hrs
Yes this scares the hell out of me. Because if you were able to save money this is money you rich people don’t need. Act 10 is a pay cut you don’t like it find a new job. This is goverment steeling money that was saved by responsible people. My fear is if the democrates get control this is what is instore for us. And of coarse there will be exemptions for the favored people Who won’t have their savings taken.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0638 hrs
Am I a hypocrite for wishing annonybob would have his life savings raided by the EU and not mine?
What a clueless useful idiot!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0705 hrs
Typical EU socialists.
Punishing those that save and invest. Punish responsible decision making.
Rewarding those that spend and consume. Reward irresponsible decision making.
This is why the moocher culture is more profitable than actual work.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0706 hrs
Democrats are already in control. We now have Sen. Feinstein’s gun bill which includes federal registry of gun owners, complete with pictures and fingerprints,
Even more disturbing is the ability to completely bypass elected reps by using appointed Boards. In California’s proposed legislation to ban lead in ammunition was already implemented in an eight county area by their DNR. Bloomberg pulled a similar stunt with his soda ban imposed by the the Board of Health.
Some say that Obama’s EPA would never mandate lead free ammo but when a federal appeals court said the Obama administration’s EPA was setting production quotas to high for the nearly non-existent cellulosic biofuels, the EPA issued new standards that raised requirements for the use of cellulosic biofuels for 2013.
While Cyprus is not the USA, Obama’s plans for us are more devious. Check out Box 12 Code D and DD on your W-2 this year; 401K contributions and Employer Sponsored health care. Both will become taxable income after the mid-term elections.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0724 hrs
What the EU implemented was a tax on wealth.
We don’t have one here ... yet. There surely are many here in the USA who would tax wealth if they could get away with it.
As for punishing those who save (to bailout those who borrowed), that is pretty much the fed’s policy now, as it is deliberately holding down interest rates below inflation. In the short run this forces savers to either take a loss or to accept at least some risk just in order to avoid this loss. In the longer run the flood of dollars will make it possible for the federal gov’t and other debtors to pay back their loans with money that’s not worth as much.
As for that “$300 million suddenly yanked out of Wisconsin’s economy,” it’s not as if that money’s just gone. It’s just that it’s still in Wisconsin taxpayer’s pockets.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0846 hrs
Are we talking about the same Obama? The one I see as in the pocket of Wall St? You boys need to loosen the tin foil caps, or at least get your economic news from someone besides Rush or Glenn.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0849 hrs
I see the town drunk is back with the same insults and lies.
Posted by Badger on March 18, 2013 at 0930 hrs
The idiotic part of the Cyprus debacle is that it will ineveitably lead to additional bank withdrawals when the banks reopen in order to prevent future confiscation. Large withdrawals and the subsequent loss of capital will stabilize Cyprus’ banks how, exactly?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0940 hrs
Obama’s 2013 budget is here LINK TO 2013 BUDGET AND AUTOMATIC IRAs
Obama’s 2013 budget is here LINK TO 2013 BUDGET AND RETIREMENT USA
SEIU launch of Retirement USA is here LINK TO RETIREMENT USA PROPOSAL
I checked and none of these web sites are affiliated with Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 0958 hrs
Dammit BVBB, I wanted to point that out. If money in the mattress has a higher savings value than a savings account(because Gov’t might take 10% out of an account that only earns 1%), then more people will put money in their mattress.
That observation may be over AnonyBob’s head, rather than under it.
Bill, why ban lead in bullets? Is it bad for your health?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1019 hrs
Oh, I agree that Cyprus is an absolute mess. I don’t think Germany’s austerity requirements are helping the EU, but he who has the gold rules.
Bill Meyers, I think the government coming up with a mechanism to help people save for and finance their retirement is a fine idea. I don’t quite see it as THE END OF FREEDOM AS WE KNOW IT! Are you that thrilled with your 401k? Few regular people have much saved, and clearly don’t have the discipline and moral fortitude of this blog’s regular commenters. Too bad everybody can’t be in a system as well run and funded as the Wisconsin Retirement System. When are you guys going to wake up to the real question: not “why do those lousy public employees have it so good,” but “why don’t I?”
Badger, you are one classy dude! I love you, man!Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1029 hrs
Aninybob-we also decreased by 13/%, the potential cost/liability to the 95% of the rest of the taxpayers, who pay the freight and pull the wagon.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1034 hrs
Sorry to disappoint but chat rooms are for personal interaction; blogs are for sharing opinions and information.
Cyprus is stealing people’s money from their bank accounts. There was not referendum, public hearings or anything I can find other than an edict.
Although pundits claim “it can’t happen here,” it certainly can. Programs like ‘Retirement USA’ and ‘Automatic IRAs’, if implemented, would do exactly that. I would not like it very much to wake up one morning to learn Obama had just taken every penny of my retirement and replace it with a promise to pay me back.
Granted, there are some excellent pension programs. WRS - Wisconsin Retirement System, administered by the Dept of Employee Trust Funds is one held up as a model. Unlike the current pension membership, I have been paying for WRS my entire lifetime wishing I could benefit from my payments. I have also been paying for my own retirement and, until recently, would never have believed the US government would ever even think about taking my savings away.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1137 hrs
AB,
These thefts are funding the public entitlements you speak so highly…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1245 hrs
I’m not sure how anyone one can defend the ham handed attempt to grab Russian Oligarchs money by the EU
The Germans want and probably deserve a pound of flesh to bail out the mismanagement of Cypress and Greeks but even these micro economies become to big to fail when they cause world wide financial disruption.
And that’s the problem no one on this board is smart enough to fix
The idea that this is a liberal or conservative play is strictly in the minds of partisans.
It’s a bad idea because it won’t work .
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1610 hrs
Bullshit. This is the inevitable consequence of so-called progressivism.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1656 hrs
It’s a bad idea because it’s wrong, Mark Maley.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 1811 hrs
It’s wrong and the product of progressive (AKA liberal) policies.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 2059 hrs
BVBB , can you explain what the phrase “outsized banking system ” means in the article?
Smeedy, not sure how the EU wanting some $ back from Cypress to guarantee a $10 Billion bailout is progressivism but maybe you were replying to a different post
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 2128 hrs
Maybe you should familiarize yourself with the spending that has driven EU to the brink.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 18, 2013 at 2210 hrs
Yes I can, Mark Maley, although it isn’t outsized.
Can you explain what Selden’s penny is?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 0620 hrs
Smeedy, not sure how the EU wanting some $ back from Cypress to guarantee a $10 Billion bailout is progressivism but maybe you were replying to a different post
Posted by Mark maley on March 18, 2013 at 2128 hrs
Maybe you should familiarize yourself with the spending that has driven EU to the brink.
Posted by Smeety on March 18, 2013 at 2210 hrs
Don’t expect an well thought out response from Smeety, he’s just trolling.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 0623 hrs
Of course, that’s just what inflation does to personal savings- reduces their value without a referendum.
Having The Greedy Hand reach in and take it is just more obvious.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 0742 hrs
Bill Meyers, I think the government coming up with a mechanism to help people save for and finance their retirement is a fine idea. I don’t quite see it as THE END OF FREEDOM AS WE KNOW IT! Are you that thrilled with your 401k? Few regular people have much saved, and clearly don’t have the discipline and moral fortitude of this blog’s regular commenters.
Heh, isn’t that pretty much what social security started out to be? Now it is just one of the too many anchors dragging down the boat.
The current suggested means of ‘helping people’ with their retirement are variants of taking part of everyone’s savings and redistributing it so that it is ‘equitable’ for everyone. You think that is a fine idea? I am a regular person and I have had the moral fortitude and discipline to save for my retirement. I have never made 50k in one year in my life and you think the Government stealing my moral fortitude is a fine idea? With all due respect Anonybob, fuck you.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 0843 hrs
I started working at age 12 and by 15 was working full time for
$1.02 an hour. In the last 50 years, our government has taken a lot of my money in the name of Social Security. Despite that and an array of taxes taking even more of my hard earned dollars, I managed to save some money in the hopes of retiring someday.Cyprus apparently arbitrarily decided to help themselves to their citizens money and Obama’s administration is working on doing the same or worse here. If these ‘Do Gooders’ like Obama, Moore, Soros, AnonyBob and the rest feel compassion for those without retirement accounts, I think it is a fine idea for them to give whoever they choose as much of their money as they want but not a penny of mine. If I am going to give away my life savings, it will be my idea.
WE EARNETH AND THE GOVERNMENT TAKETH AWAY IS NOT ONE OF THIS COUNTRY’S FOUNDING PRINCIPAL.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 1240 hrs
Guys,
Guys, let me repeat: I think Cyprus is a mess. I don’t think yours, mine or anybody’s money in the bank should be subject to seizure. The Cypriot PM was nuts to agree to it and the Germans were nuts to demand it.
I think most Americans would agree Social Security is a success, it keeps the elderly and the disabled from dying in our streets. It was intended to supplement retirement; people need more, but most aren’t doing it on their own. Pensions have disappeared for most. It won’t take much in the way of tweaking (the Dems need to get on board this) to make SS viable for the long term. But how you make the leap from Cyprus to Obama is beyond me. And Tuergas, your closing to me was beneath you.Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 1311 hrs
I started working at age 12 and by 15 was working full time for
$1.02 an hour.I would have considered that a lot of money, Bill. I too started working at 12 and by 15 was working full time for $.75 an hour.
I’ve saved and invested, and don’t have the need for dependence on Social Security. It’s a shame much of the younger generation doesn’t have the same work and personal lifestyle ethics.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 19, 2013 at 1347 hrs
Perhaps, AnonyBob, I apologize. However, you have to realize that different types of seizure are exactly what Obama is considering. Even the 40 billion a month in extra printed money that started last September is taking from my savings in the form of inflation. The bubble and popping of the housing bubble (for which I blame Government, both parties) was caused by Government and affected my value.
It is not like there is a pool of available money out there big enough to give everyone a shiny new retirement savings account. It has to come from somewhere. Right now most people are talking about the deficit like it matters at least a little. How could we fund a new program the size of SS, or half the size or double size? We can’t afford what we are responsible for now.
I have a really hard time feeling sorry for people who did not save any money for retirement, yet want to live a larger lifestyle than their SS can afford. Sure there are some hard luck cases, but that is not the norm of who will be financially helped and financially hurt by a whole new forced savings Government program. Garnished wages that goes in to an account with your name on it, we can talk. Forced payments in to another big pool that ‘everyone’ gets? How many of those will ever be enough? You stop poopooing what Gov’t is fully capable of and I will stop fuck youing. Fair?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 21, 2013 at 0807 hrs
We know Cipriots run the banks, but just like Bill Gates or John Studzinski , they give a lot to a charity. I don’t mind that they control the banks as long as they let the banks function freely and don’t mess with the economical crisis.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 08, 2013 at 0337 hrs
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