A Man Of the People

Donald Trump favors letting government take your money without due process.

Two Texas senators have offered legislation this year to require conviction before someone’s assets could be seized. Sen. Konni Burton, a Republican who often pushes civil-liberties legislation to protect personal information and property, was a fierce critic of Trump during the campaign. She and Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, a McAllen Democrat, have formed an unlikely team pushing this asset forfeiture legislation.

Trump’s reaction?

“Who is that state senator? I want to hear his name. We’ll destroy his career…”

Down in the comments there was this:

Maybe his next executive order will be to abolish the 4th ammendment.

And this:

Are you guys stupid? This is big government trying to take your assets before the convicted nobody should want this if you want to live in a free Society

And this:

Don, dude, the people who voted for you do not support the current civil asset forfieture regime (it’s, well, like a swamp monster for them). You reeeeeeealy are killing your base with this uninformed talk. Think about it, Don.

And this:

It is extremely upsetting that Trump is supporting the abolition of the 4th amendment. Civil asset forfeiture is the most grotesque form of fascism.

What people who like giving police this power forget is that they try these tactics out on the Drug War where it is relatively easy to get assent. And then once precedent is well set they roll it out on the rest of us. That way, if you go to court to resist the policy in your case, they have thousands of uncontested cases to point to. Very clever.

Trump should go back and reread his Ayn Rand. Or read this little ditty from Milton Friedman.

“Whose interests are served by the drug war? The U.S. government enforces a drug cartel. The major beneficiaries from drug prohibition are the drug lords, who can maintain a cartel that they would be unable to maintain without current government policy.” — Milton Friedman

Every time a politician claims to be fighting drugs what he really means is that he is aiding the Drug Cartels. I thought we learned that from Alcohol Prohibition. We didn’t even need Milton Friedman to tell us.

And as an addendum for the strict constitutionalists out there. There is no Drug Prohibition Amendment. The Feral (not a misspelling) Government has no legal power to be doing what it is doing in aid of this Prohibition. And they are all in it together – no Republican or Democrat President in the last fifty (or more) years has stood against this policy of theft by government.

You can find out more about this policy (forfeiture) at Forfeiture Endangers American Rights.