Is It a Warning Shot?
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010On a recent financial statement, Citibank notified customers that effective April 1, 2010 the institution reserves the right to require seven days notice before permitting withdrawals from all checking accounts. The bank later clarified that the restriction only applied to residents of Texas.
If I am a Citibank customer, living in Texas or not, then it may prudent to take my money to another institution where the bank is going to let me have access to a checking account. The question being ignored by many reporting on this story is why Citibank has targeted Texas.
It must be remembered that the federal government owns about a third of this mega bank. Furthermore, the folks in Texas and the state legislature have been raising their voices about nullification. Recently, bills have been introduced in the state house questioning the Constitutional authority of the federal government to regulate emissions, healthcare, and gun registration. Some of the largest Tea party gatherings have occurred in the “Lone Star” State.
With the Democrats running full speed ahead to pass nationalized healthcare and the President invoking the power of the EPA to mandate global warming regulation, a good chance exists that Texas may invoke its rights under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to nullify any such intrusions from Washington D.C.
It only takes one spark to start a raging inferno. Montana and Tennessee have already passed what amounts to nullification legislation concerning gun and ammunition laws. In the last month Virginia legislation stated that the home to Jefferson and Madison would not be part of a healthcare plan that mandated citizens to buy insurance. Virginia also joined Alabama and Texas in filing suit against the EPA. Utah filed suit to reclaim land within its borders now controlled by the US government. Dozens of states are lined up to defy federal laws on marijuana and many more have pending resolutions declaring their Constitutional rights.
Could the Obama administration be using its bank to send the good people of Texas a message to stop making overtures for a fight or risk losing access to their money? I would not bet my checking account on it.