Kleptocracy

[wal]

Does the Federal Government of the USA take money from idle accounts?

Words fail me. The Australian Government has a 3 year rule, no activity money is taken.

Although the banks can take your money by fees on idle accounts also.

http://www.skynews.com.au/business/b...unt-money.html

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...609-39t7p.html

[Mark Rippetoe]

I don't think the Feds do this, but I remember something about the State of California pulling this shit.

[Rook]

My wife's family in Sweden back in the 1980’s used to take whopping vacations because the Swedish government would take your money from your bank account if you had too much money in it. Or something like that.

I was like ”why don’t you keep the cash some place else?”, then I realized you can’t have a gun in Sweden either….

[Drewcar]

I don't think the Feds do this, but I remember something about the State of California pulling this shit.

When I moved to Colorado for grad school, California (CA) tracked me down and asked me why I wasn't paying CA State tax anymore. Despite the fact that I wasn't making much when I was in CA, and that I wasn't living in CA at the time, I found it odd that I had to prove I wasn't delinquent on my not-living-in-California California taxes.

[Culican]

Does the state have your money?

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/inve...roperty-1.aspx

[wal]

I don't think the Feds do this, but I remember something about the State of California pulling this shit.

This was brought in by the Labour party (like your Democrats), however we had a change of government to the Liberals, sort of like your Republicans, this lot protested against it when in opposition, but now support it. I thought we voted out the socialists?

The state government has set up mobile stationary speed traps, which are placed at random within a town or city, these are vans with a camera set up in the back window, they take a photo of your number plate and log the gps position and you get a fine in the mail if you break any of the multiple speed zones we have now. (We use to be a two speed state a few years ago, but now I have lost count.

The local government has also acquired a mobile parking inspection vehicle that takes images of parked car number plates, they can log 300+ cars per hour, the parking cop who use to chalk your tyres was too slow.

I don't think our taxes we pay are enough anymore.

[DaveJF]

My wife's family in Sweden back in the 1980’s used to take whopping vacations because the Swedish government would take your money from your bank account if you had too much money in it. Or something like that.

So the idea was that you either "voluntarily" re-circulated "savings" back into the Swedish economy, or the Gov't would do it for you? Or were the policy makers so stupid as to think that after the first tax bill people would patriotically, or out of solidarity w/ the human race, leave anything over the taxable amount in their accounts? Probably the later. Either way, I hope your wife's family and everyone else emptied their accounts on foreign vacations.

Sweden has long been a model for US progressives. I'm sure the same is coming if the pendulum doesn't (or can't) swing back the other way soon.

[wal]

Does the state have your money?

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/inve...roperty-1.aspx

Well I just acquired a new word, "escheat", seems the dogs from after my chickens as well. Now we know where the word "cheat" come from.

[svenskefan]

So the idea was that you either "voluntarily" re-circulated "savings" back into the Swedish economy, or the Gov't would do it for you? Or were the policy makers so stupid as to think that after the first tax bill people would patriotically, or out of solidarity w/ the human race, leave anything over the taxable amount in their accounts? Probably the later. Either way, I hope your wife's family and everyone else emptied their accounts on foreign vacations.

Sweden has long been a model for US progressives. I'm sure the same is coming if the pendulum doesn't (or can't) swing back the other way soon.

This is all just BS. I have lived in Sweden for more than 50 years, and the events the OP describes, are unheard of here. Sorry to disrupt you world view, fellow liberals.

[Mark E. Hurling]

I don't think the Feds do this, but I remember something about the State of California pulling this shit.

Welcome to Ћє Pєορlє'ς ЯaϊnЬoш ЯєρuЬlϊcж of Кalϊғornϊa. But according to this article, it's not just out here on the Left Coast. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug...ss/fi-perfin24