Jetsetter Show #33 includes an interview with Jay Butler, Managing Director for Asset Protection Services International. While Mr. Butler made a number of good points about the Dominican Republic as a likely target for American expatriates looking for a second passport, the discussion of why Americans should consider dual citizenship at all was especially enlightening. Butler mentioned three particular recent developments of which we all should be aware.

Glass-Steagall Act
The Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in 1933, and mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking in order to protect depositors from the risks of risky investments and market speculation. The Act was repealed in 1999. Many economists directly place the blame for the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis on this repeal. According to Wikipedia, “The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities.” Mr. Butler believes the removal of this check and balance on the banking industry has changed the economic stability of the United States permanently.

National Defense Authorization Act
Anybody scared about this one? You should be, unless you are in favor of a federal government with the power to designate anyone a terrorist

and allow the military to hold and interrogate them indefinitely without trial. What was that old-fashioned phrase from the Consitution? Innocent until proven guilty? Forget it. Won’t apply any more in Obama’s brave new (fascist) world. Is the unwinnable War on Terror worth ripping every last vestige of civil liberty out of our founding documents? The Jetsetter Show sure doesn’t think so, which is reason #2 we say it might be time to seriously consider a second passport and dual citizenship. In short, get ready to run when America goes careening off the rails. By the way, this act also tosses out the Posse Comitatus Act, thereby allowing federal and local law enforcement to work in cahoots against the populace.

Habeas Corpus Act
And, oh, by the way, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (read more about it in Forbes) recently signed into law by Obama, also scraps the concept of habeas corpus, which sort of puts the icing on the cake of totalitarianism and allows the federal government to classify the “homeland” as a battle front in the War on Terror. Say goodbye to your right to appear before a court to contest your detention or arrest.

If you’re not scared yet, you should be. This ain’t your grandfather’s America any more. We’re suggesting that about NOW would be a good time to take Jay Butler’s advice and read up on the Dominican Republic’s citizenship process.

The Jetsetter Show Team

Flickr / cliff1066

Tags: Glass Steagall Act, Habeas Corpus, loss of civil liberty, National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, Posse Comatitus, President Obama