Paying your bills makes Homeland Security investigate you

[Hatfield]

this is getting crazy.

LINK: http://www.propagandamatrix.com/arti...rowedmoney.htm

Borrowed Some Money? You May Be With Al-Qaeda
Another victim of Homeland Security financial snoops

Last week’s story about a retired Texas school teacher who came under Homeland Security’s microscope for paying off a $6,522 credit card debt has been trumped by a similar case involving an amount of just $650.

Previously, Walter Soehnge made national headlines when he attempted to pay off debt on his MasterCard. The payment was rejected and automatically triggered an investigation by Homeland Security.

Now we have the story of Edie Booth, a community college professor in East Texas.

Trying to pay off her February credit card bill, Booth found her funds short and so asked to borrow $650 from her sister to avoid an interest overcharge of $140.

Booth made a $3,500 payment from her own account and then sent the other $650 with permission from her sister’s electronic account.

I watched the status of these two payments on line, since I am not the 'trusting' type, when it comes either to banks, credit card companies, OR government,” says Booth.

“The $650 was pending one day and then showed funded the next. All seemed fine. However, I continued to check the status on-line for the next 5 days.

“On the 6th day I found the extra $650 payment CANCELLED.”

Upon calling the credit card company, Booth was told that Homeland Security would not allow her to make two payments from two different sources in the same day.

Booth was then slapped with the $140 overcharge for causing the hard working boys at Homeland so much inconvenience.

This is a monumental waste of time and if there were any real terrorists out there Homeland Security is more interested in your spending habits than Al-Qaeda.

As Edie Booth points out, this is “such insanity, I mean, if you are paying your credit card, you have already obtained the explosives or whatever some time before."

“Where is the leadership? When will we get some relief from these morons?”

The very individuals that used 9/11 to force layer upon layer of increased state surveillance and big government bureaucracy upon us are the ones in business with Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. And yet it is law-abiding citizens that get hassled for the simple desire to pay off some debt.

Homeland Security targets toy store owners, t-shirt sellers and kindergartners while hiring former East German Stasi heads to spy on Americans and recruiting tattle-tale squads under ‘Highway Watch’ – a program that encourages truckers, toll takers, road crews and bus drivers to watch their fellow citizens and report suspicious activity.

It seems painfully obvious that the people trying to take away our freedoms are not wearing turbans and shouting Allah Akbar, but that the enemy is within the gates.

[frankensooner]

that is kinda scary.

[jeremy885]

propagandamatrix.com :rolleyes:

[Hatfield]

jeremy I fully admit that is a crazy sounding site.

does the site name alter the details of the story?

[jeremy885]

jeremy I fully admit that is a crazy sounding site.

does the site name alter the details of the story?

It just sounds like a site that imejebus or nickelback would link and the main page says "exposing the 4th Reich of the Elite and Government Sponsored Terrorism".

The investigation by Homeland security seems silly, but maybe if the woman read the terms of her credit card, maybe it would say that she couldn't do this particular type of transaction or she could have called the company first. I know I would, before I tried to pay my cc from an account that wasn't my own.

[mdklatt]

I know I would, before I tried to pay my cc from an account that wasn't my own.

You think your credit card company cares where the money comes from?

[jeremy885]

You think your credit card company cares where the money comes from?

if it's an ACH payment they do.

[usmc-sooner]

now if Tuba would have posted something like this, Hatfield would have called him a mindless cow.

you know what Hat, if the government wants to investigate me, then bring em on, I'm not worried one bit. As a matter of fact they've done numerous investigations into my background, for different things in the military. No I'm not worried one bit.

[yermom]

even if it costs you $140?

[mdklatt]

As a matter of fact they've done numerous investigations into my background, for different things in the military.

Don't you think volunteering for the military is different than trying to pay your credit card bill? And didn't the military tell you beforehand that it was going to investigate you?

[usmc-sooner]

Don't you think volunteering for the military is different than trying to pay your credit card bill? And didn't the military tell you beforehand that it was going to investigate you?

yes sir,

and I still don't care if they want to investigate me now. I'm not doing anything.

So long as it's not an IRS audit:D

[jeremy885]

"Trying to pay off her February credit card bill, Booth found her funds short and so asked to borrow $650 from her sister to avoid an interest overcharge of $140."

What kind of fee is an interest overcharge? It couldn't be a late fee since they accepted the $3500 payment. If she was trying to avoid paying interest on the balance then its not a fee and it wouldn't have been $140 on a $650 balance. I think this story is BS.

[usmc-sooner]

"Trying to pay off her February credit card bill, Booth found her funds short and so asked to borrow $650 from her sister to avoid an interest overcharge of $140."

What kind of fee is an interest overcharge? It couldn't be a late fee since they accepted the $3500 payment. If she was trying to avoid paying interest on the balance then its not a fee and it wouldn't have been $140 on a $650 balance. I think this story is BS.

yep

[Hatfield]

now if Tuba would have posted something like this, Hatfield would have called him a mindless cow.

you know what Hat, if the government wants to investigate me, then bring em on, I'm not worried one bit. As a matter of fact they've done numerous investigations into my background, for different things in the military. No I'm not worried one bit.

not at all. logic dictates that if tuba would have posted this article i would have agreed with him since i posted the article.

i just think there are more important things to worry about than whether joe public does the responsible thing and pays his bills.

[usmc-sooner]

not at all. logic dictates that if tuba would have posted this article i would have agreed with him since i posted the article.

i just think there are more important things to worry about than whether joe public does the responsible thing and pays his bills.


you are bizzaro tuba, :D

when tuba posts articles that validates his opinions is what I should have said but you knew what I meant.

[Hatfield]

It just sounds like a site that imejebus or nickelback would link and the main page says "exposing the 4th Reich of the Elite and Government Sponsored Terrorism".


you should see some of the guy's theories on various things that I got this from. Sometimes he is really out there with his nonpartisan conspiracy theories...but sometimes he does provide useful info.

[Hatfield]

yeah i knew what you meant. :)

and if he posts an article that makes sense to me i will agree with it....just waiting for that day. ;)

[TheHumanAlphabet]

"Trying to pay off her February credit card bill, Booth found her funds short and so asked to borrow $650 from her sister to avoid an interest overcharge of $140."

What kind of fee is an interest overcharge? It couldn't be a late fee since they accepted the $3500 payment. If she was trying to avoid paying interest on the balance then its not a fee and it wouldn't have been $140 on a $650 balance. I think this story is BS.

I kinda agree with you, but, perhaps it was a no interest for X months type deal. If you don't pay it off in time, then you incur the full interest payments for said period. Thats why if I do those deals, I set up my payments so that the payment is completed pa couple of months prior to the payment deadline.

[jeremy885]

I kinda agree with you, but, perhaps it was a no interest for X months type deal. If you don't pay it off in time, then you incur the full interest payments for said period. Thats why if I do those deals, I set up my payments so that the payment is completed pa couple of months prior to the payment deadline.


If that's the case, her interest rate is like 40%

140/4150 = .033735 *12=~40%

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Sounds like loan sharking to me...;)

Why on earth would any of this trigger HSA? I'm more inclined to believe B.S.

[C&CDean]

Put me down in the "who gives a ****" column.

Pay your ****ing bills normally. With a check in an envelope. No worries. And if HSA wants to investigate my checking account, go ahead on. I simply do not care.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Put me down in the "who gives a ****" column.

Pay your ****ing bills normally. With a check in an envelope. No worries. And if HSA wants to investigate my checking account, go ahead on. I simply do not care.It IS another government bureaucracy. WTF do you expect, anyway?:eddie:

[SCOUT]

Sounds like loan sharking to me...;)

Why on earth would any of this trigger HSA? I'm more inclined to believe B.S.

I would agree. I suspect that the friends account was in Mosul or something. There is no way paying a credit card debt alone, which happens millions of times every day, would trigger HSA.

[Harry Beanbag]

Don't you think volunteering for the military is different than trying to pay your credit card bill?


If you volunteer for the military you're obviously too stupid to pay your credit card bills.

[jeremy885]

If you volunteer for the military you're obviously too emotionally and physically scarred to pay your credit card bills.

fixed it for you ;)

[swardboy]

Darn HSA! Stories like this make me want to move to Iraq! Er, wait...no. France! Wellll, maybe not there....Mexico! Uh, who'll send me $'s from the USA? Ummm...Russia! Ack...Pootin's a problem.

Guess I'll stay....

[imjebus]

It just sounds like a site that imejebus or nickelback would link and the main page says "exposing the 4th Reich of the Elite and Government Sponsored Terrorism".


First of all spell my name right, second of all you obviously just threw my name out because I have only linked one story on here and that was off MSN. Third.....suck it...;)

[imjebus]

fixed it for you ;)


once again.....suck it..

[imjebus]

If you volunteer for the military you're obviously too stupid to pay your credit card bills.


you 2...

[Tear Down This Wall]

The dickbrain who wrote this article, Paul Joseph Watson, has also written that the Reagan Assassination attempt in 1981 was a hit order by the Bush family. Basically, Paul Joseph "Dickbrain" Watson is a conspiracy theorist specializing in the Bush family.

[Hatfield]

for those that doubt the veracity of this story because you would just rather believe it doesn't happen. Here is the first story that was reported.

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

By BOB KERR
The Providence Journal
28-FEB-06

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.

(Bob Kerr is a columnist for The Providence Journal. E-mail [email protected].)
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAISEALARM-02-28-06

[SCOUT]

for those that doubt the veracity of this story because you would just rather believe it doesn't happen. Here is the first story that was reported.

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

By BOB KERR
The Providence Journal
28-FEB-06

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Walter Soehnge is a retired Texas schoolteacher who traveled north with his wife, Deana, saw summer change to fall in Rhode Island and decided this was a place to stay for a while.

So the Soehnges live in Scituate now and Walter sometimes has breakfast at the Gentleman Farmer in Scituate Village, where he has passed the test and become a regular despite an accent that is definitely not local.

And it was there, at his usual table last week, that he told me that he was "madder than a panther with kerosene on his tail."

He says things like that. Texas does leave its mark on a man.

What got him so upset might seem trivial to some people who have learned to accept small infringements on their freedom as just part of the way things are in this age of terror-fed paranoia. It's that "everything changed after 9/11" thing.

But not Walter.

"We're a product of the '60s," he said. "We believe government should be way away from us in that regard."

He was referring to the recent decision by him and his wife to be responsible, to do the kind of thing that just about anyone would say makes good, solid financial sense.

They paid down some debt. The balance on their JCPenney Platinum MasterCard had gotten to an unhealthy level. So they sent in a large payment, a check for $6,522.

And an alarm went off. A red flag went up. The Soehnges' behavior was found questionable.

And all they did was pay down their debt. They didn't call a suspected terrorist on their cell phone. They didn't try to sneak a machine gun through customs.

They just paid a hefty chunk of their credit card balance. And they learned how frighteningly wide the net of suspicion has been cast.

After sending in the check, they checked online to see if their account had been duly credited. They learned that the check had arrived, but the amount available for credit on their account hadn't changed.

So Deana Soehnge called the credit-card company. Then Walter called.

"When you mess with my money, I want to know why," he said.

They both learned the same astounding piece of information about the little things that can set the threat sensors to beeping and blinking.

They were told, as they moved up the managerial ladder at the call center, that the amount they had sent in was much larger than their normal monthly payment. And if the increase hits a certain percentage higher than that normal payment, Homeland Security has to be notified. And the money doesn't move until the threat alert is lifted.

Walter called television stations, the American Civil Liberties Union and me. And he went on the Internet to see what he could learn. He learned about changes in something called the Bank Privacy Act.

"The more I'm on, the scarier it gets," he said. "It's scary how easily someone in Homeland Security can get permission to spy."

Eventually, his and his wife's money was freed up. The Soehnges were apparently found not to be promoting global terrorism under the guise of paying a credit-card bill. They never did learn how a large credit card payment can pose a security threat.

But the experience has been a reminder that a small piece of privacy has been surrendered. Walter Soehnge, who says he holds solid, middle-of-the-road American beliefs, worries about rights being lost.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to others," he said.

(Bob Kerr is a columnist for The Providence Journal. E-mail [email protected].)
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=RAISEALARM-02-28-06
I guess I have a different tolerance level. This article sounds like due diligence more than it sounds like some enormous spying ring. If a person pays $100 per month for 2 years, for example, and then drops $7,000 on their credit card that might warrant a little closer scrutiny.

If everything checks out, move along. If the funds come from a questionable source then we have uncovered a very good lead.

[jeremy885]

I looked on the JC Penny website and it looks like they only offer classic and gold cards. Also, all of my store credit cards are not affilated with Visa, MC, AMEX, or Discover. They are pretty much a store AR managed by a third party bank.

Link to the JCPenny's CC site https://www.onlinecreditcenter2.com/JCPenney/occ-privilege.html

[yermom]

I guess I have a different tolerance level. This article sounds like due diligence more than it sounds like some enormous spying ring. If a person pays $100 per month for 2 years, for example, and then drops $7,000 on their credit card that might warrant a little closer scrutiny.

If everything checks out, move along. If the funds come from a questionable source then we have uncovered a very good lead.

or they could have refinanced their house or transferred the balance to another card by depositing a check

that can't be that uncommon

[Stoop Dawg]

I don't think the govt should monitor any monetary transactions. Screw catching terrorists and those who fund them.

[Harry Beanbag]

you 2...


http://www.kvpt.org/0to5/images/home/crying_baby.jpg

[SCOUT]

or they could have refinanced their house or transferred the balance to another card by depositing a check

that can't be that uncommon

It probably isn't. That would fall in to the everything checks out, move along category. If it turns out to be something less ordinary, I don't have a problem investigating it a bit further.

[soonerscuba]

I greatly anticipate the fondness of Hillary Clinton engaging in domestic spying by those who currently support it. I'm the same way though, I mean what if we don't get somebody with such a proven track record of being so completely trustworthy, competent, and transparent as President Bush? We could be in trouble.

[Octavian]

I greatly anticipate the fondness of Hillary Clinton engaging in domestic spying by those who currently support it.

Mr. Fred Barnes, founder of the Weekly Standard and influential FOXNews contributor, answers your question:

http://www.vsocial.com/video/?d=12652

(a little over half-way through)

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

First of all spell my name right, second of all you obviously just threw my name out because I have only linked one story on here and that was off MSN. Third.....suck it...;)

I thought spelling smack was below you...FLIP FLOP.....John Forbes Kerry is that you?

[Stoop Dawg]

Mr. Fred Barnes, founder of the Weekly Standard and influential FOXNews contributor, answers your question:

http://www.vsocial.com/video/?d=12652

(a little over half-way through)

Fred: GWB is a rebel. He's rebelling against liberals AND conservatives. He's not a typical conservative.

Bill Maher: But GWB doesn't do conservative type things!!!

Stoop Dawg: Uh, yeah. That's what he just said, moron.

[Octavian]

Fred: GWB is a rebel. He's rebelling against liberals AND conservatives. He's not a typical conservative.

Bill Maher: But GWB doesn't do conservative type things!!!

Stoop Dawg: Uh, yeah. That's what he just said, moron.

He's "rebelling" against spending *** loads of money b/c Congress won't stop spending...b/c their constituents like getting benefits.

So in the face of a political culture in which spending could not be realistically stopped...he advocated massive tax cuts anyway, which was approved by a Congress again b/c their constituents don't like paying taxes.

Most people, then, like benefits but not taxes. Shocking. But then again, a lot of people don't understand how fiscal policy works. The same senior citizens who are appalled about benefit cuts in Social Security agreed w/ W when he told them that "they should keep more of their money." This is why tax cuts were popular but the SS privatization wasn't.

A US executive administration, however, should realize that when a gov't decreases its income but doesn't curb its outlays, it's gonna go broke.

So he wasn't rebelling. He said he wanted to stop spending and push through tax cuts. He did half of it, put us in a hole that would make Reagan blush, and now some of his supporters claim that was his plan all along.

[soonerscuba]

I wonder if Mr. Barnes was so kind as to swallow when he was done with his literary fellatio?

I see him give a non-answer so he can get ****ed when Johnny or Joan Democrat gets the executive and turns a government eye upon state militias.

And in case you follow Congressional politics, Frist is trying to revamp the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and I'm not making this **** up, because it is too partisan. Interesting considering the Committee is evenly split, and shockingly, Frist is blaming the Democrats for partisanship. Let me repeat this, Bill Frist is complaining that the committee is too partisan while at the same time working for a Republican majority on a bipartisan national security committee. Just tell me you'll get mad when a Democrat does the exact same thing. Hell, I admit that I give Democrats a pass on stuff, because I'm a partisan. Entrenched Republicans are full of **** when they say they're going to be cool with a Democrat that does this. I would wager all $45 in my bank account on it.

[Harry Beanbag]

If there's one thing we can all agree upon (I think), it's that politicians suck.

[Stoop Dawg]

He's "rebelling" against spending *** loads of money b/c Congress won't stop spending...b/c their constituents like getting benefits.

So in the face of a political culture in which spending could not be realistically stopped...he advocated massive tax cuts anyway, which was approved by a Congress again b/c their constituents don't like paying taxes.

Most people, then, like benefits but not taxes. Shocking. But then again, a lot of people don't understand how fiscal policy works. The same senior citizens who are appalled about benefit cuts in Social Security agreed w/ W when he told them that "they should keep more of their money." This is why tax cuts were popular but the SS privatization wasn't.

A US executive administration, however, should realize that when a gov't decreases its income but doesn't curb its outlays, it's gonna go broke.

So he wasn't rebelling. He said he wanted to stop spending and push through tax cuts. He did half of it, put us in a hole that would make Reagan blush, and now some of his supporters claim that was his plan all along.

At less than 40% approval rating, he's rebelling against something.

I wasn't defending the guy, I was just stating the obvious (that Bill Maher is an idiot).