On Dec. 28th there was a thread started on this forum regarding pending legislation by the 106th congress. The rumor was that they are considering a bill that would limit cash withdrawls to $500.00 I am frothing at the mouth to get some confirmation on this! Could someone please help me with this.

-- Economan (economy@aol.com), January 09, 1999

Answers

I cannot confirm this rumor. However, a number of comsumer surveys including one published this week from USA today, indicate that at least 33% of the people surveyed plan to withdraw all or a substantial amount of their cash and cash equivalents prior to Jan 1 2000. It is my understanding that there is not enough cash available for that to be physically possible. One of the surveys was reported to the Congress on or about August 1998 in testimony before Stephen Horn's committee on Y2K. They know about it. They may act on it. However, if they do... I believe that the consequences may be grim. People may really start to panic if such tight restrictions are placed on them. However, it may be necessary to prevent bank collapses. It appears to be a catch 22. UGH.

-- Sue Conibear (conibear@gateway.net), January 09, 1999.

Economan

Go play around at The Congressional web-site. It takes some getting used to but the information is buried there. In fact it can be quite an interesting treasure hunt. Learn the search engine tips.

http://www.house.gov/house/

Happy hunting!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 09, 1999.

For those of us who don't have the time to spend scouring out details, how about posting the critical info. to answer the question. Thanks much.

-- Bumble Bee (bumble@icanect.net), January 09, 1999.

On second thought, widespread cash withdrawals may not cripple the system after all...since the average American is maxed out on his credit cards, is $90K in debt, and has only $27 in his checking account, perhaps we can expect an average withdrawal of four dollars (but expect a run on coin rolling paper tubes!). Start rolling!

-- Kay Killam (dkill@exis.net), January 10, 1999.