Most administrations are a bit reluctant to pass regulations that anger prominent members of their own party, but President Obama apparently has no qualms doing so. Last week the administration announced the final version of a regulation that will require depository institutions to report interest paid to nonresident aliens despite protestations from the entire Florida delegation (including DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz) and a wide array of Democrats and Republicans across the country. The harmful consequences to our economy promise to be significant.

The major problem (as we pointed out earlier in these pages) is that there is roughly $3 trillion in deposits in U.S. banks from nonresident aliens, most of which is here because the depositors live in countries where the political and economic environment conspire to make domestic bank deposits less than safe. Rampant inflation, a sudden devaluation, or an arbitrary tax on wealth are constant threats to the middle class throughout the world. Those who wish to guard against this often do so by opening a bank account in the United States, where such things haven’t happened for a while.