Even during the Clintoonian years, it was against the law to try and carry more than $10,000 out of the country or into the country.
In the early part of the Clintooning of America, my wife and I flew to the UK for a few weeks.
We basically had minimal cash, a couple of hundred in American money, two hundred UK Pounds, and about a hundred France Francs. We planned to use our ATM cards and our AMX cards if there were no ATM’s.
Apparently my two fly rods, reels, lines and flies that I carried on, the plane and some of my wife’s jewelry she carried on triggered us a possible candidates. We were question by a bureaucrat twice, once before boarding and on the plane.
He and his igor refused to believe that we were going overseas with so little money. They were delaying our takeoff and finally my wife said loudly, “Arrest me, I’m carrying several million $’s secretely!” Then she added a few choice words that only he heard.
He backed off and said that we could fly with the rest of the passengers.
The return flight from the UK was about the same and maybe more intense. I had bought two large Wheatley custom wood Fishing Fly display boxes with and assortment of flies at Harrods. At that time we had spent all but a couple of Pounds and all the Francs and had very little America money,enough for tips and to pay the bridge toll back home. They wanted to know how we managed to stay in the UK with a day trip to France with so little cash coming in. I had the ATM receipts which answered that.
The intrusion of big brother in our lives for our own good has become out of control. And what bothers me the most those in power our elected representatives with a wave of the hand or the flash of an id are simply waved right on through with no baggage checks or physical scans and these folks could be carrying on God knows what. It is beyond major BS!