Found at 
http://www.sierratimes.com/03/09/25/nuggets.htm


News Nuggets
Š 2003 Ray Thomas
See more Copyright Information Below

GOVERNMENT SELLS STOLEN PROPERTY: One of the biggest "moneymakers" on eBay
is the federal government, which is selling items confiscated from airline
passengers at airports all over the country. This story reports only on
items stolen from passengers at two different Kentucky airports, but you
can bet that this is happening all over the country as federal and local
agencies see the possibilities for making money from selling these items
they "confiscate" from hapless passengers who either forgot the had them or
didn't even know they were "contraband." Seems like the government turns
everything they do into moneymakers.

Whenever they take property from taxpayers, ultimately the property gets
sold, with the government putting the money in its pocket. Even in
"gun-buyback" programs, which are supposed to "get guns off the streets,"
they end up selling the guns and the guns end up back on the streets.
Meranwhile, the criminals who turned them in buy newer and better guns, so
now you have twice as many guns on the streets. But that's okay, as far as
the government is concerned. They've transferred the money they were given
to buy up the guns into money in their own budgets. (Source: WCPO News,
9/23/2003) [09/2503-1]

CRIMINALS BUY NEW COP CARS: Not willingly, of course, and not all the money
being used to buy new patrol cars for the many cars that have been crashed
by Providence cops came from criminals. The money came from that
confiscated (stolen) from people "suspected" in drug cases. Boy, isn't it
nice to have a reliable fund to use in replacing crashed squad cars? And
paid for (mostly) by the criminals! How about that? This wouldn't even be
something I'd write about if the money used to pay for these new cop cars
all came from criminals. Or at least people they say are criminals.

But since I know that a large part of it came from innocent people the cops
have simply "defined" as criminals -- but which hasn't been proven -- I get
angry when I see the money used for what should be a "budget item." If the
laws ever get changed so that people must be convicted of a crime before
the government can confiscate their money and property, I'll shut up --
even though I don't like the whole idea of stealing people's property, even
if they are criminals. It's "double jeopardy," no matter how much the cops
deny it, using the bogus idea that "confiscation" is a "civil" action, not
a criminal one. It's the same thing: people being punished twice on the
same set of facts. (Source: Providence Journal, 9/23/2003. Requires free
registration.) [09/2503-2] 

. . .

News Nuggets is Š2003 by Ray Thomas. Republishing these articles without
this copyright notice and the the Sierra Times.com URL
(http://www.sierratimes.com) is prohibited.

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