Posted on 01/10/2013 7:23:38 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Much of the last 4 years has been a nightmare for conservatives. But there is a crazy, stupid, absurd idea being seriously discussed in Washington that makes previous nightmares from the White House pale in comparison.
The idea is for the Treasury Department to mint a platinum coin and declare it to be worth $1 trillion. If Congress won't raise the debt ceiling, the coin would be deposited at the Federal Reserve and Obama could continue to spend money.
Congress passed a bill allowing for the minting of platinum coins several years ago. But it was a bill designed to aid investors and collectors. Unfortunately, someone forgot to put in a limit on how much a platinum coin could be minted for. Thus, a gigantic loophole that liberals see as a way to stick to the GOP while spending money as fast as it can be printed.
Is it legal? Partisan constitutional scholar Lawrence Tribe says yes:
"I don't think it makes sense to think about this as some sort of "loophole" issue. Using the statute this way doesn't entail exploiting a loophole; it entails just reading the plain language that Congress used. The statute clearly does authorize the issuance of trillion-dollar coins. First, the statute itself doesn't set any limit on coin value. Second, other clauses of 31 USC §5112 do set such limits, but §5112(k)-dealing with platinum coins-does not. So expressio unius strengthens the inference that there isn't any limit here."
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Lawrence “Lost” Tribe.
Then why not issue 16 of them and get rid of all of the debt?
If minting a 1 trillion dollar platinum coin is the end point of Obama economic policy that has failed to produce real wealth, then the Administration will have jumped the shark and be laughed out of office. Chinese must be really happy holding 2 trillion in treasury notes and just can’t wait to trade them in for two of those coins. Delusional and comical , but emblematic of a declining America that consumes more than it produces.
What do democrats do when they aren’t stealing money from taxpayers, tearing down America, trashing Christianity, promoting homosexualism, pedophilia, juvenille sex and abortions?
They dream up schemes like this to bypass and undermine the US Constitution and promote one party tyranny.
And make them out of chocolate so they have some use.
New Democrat mantra: Great power means exercising no responsibility whatsoever.
Personally, I might go with a Saint-Gaudens $20 Gold Double Eagle or 1916-1947 silver Walking Liberty half dollars.
I'll pass on the political gimmicks.
What good is minting a coin if you can’t buy anything with it?
And if you COULD buy something with it, what would that “something” be? Congress? Yosemite?
What exactly?
And who would end up “owning” the coin? The People of the United States? The Federal government?
The PRIVATE BANK, the Federal Reserve?
No way this can end up good.
Any of these a$$ clowns familiar with the economic concept of intrinsic value? Let's see... the last time I checked, the current spot price of platinum was around $1,600/ounce, so that coin is going to have to be awfully large. Third world economics espoused by the idiots surrounding a Third World dictator wannabe....
No wonder why Dingy Harry hasn't bothered to approve a budget in 4 years!
In order for laughter to ensue, the audience needs to comprehend the joke. The end result will be much like an obscure, highbrow Dennis Miller joke.
I think it is a great idea. When someone wants to buy a loaf of bread I can charge people to haul a mountain of $100 bills in my pickup for them so they can make that purchase.
My charge would be a handful of those chocolate coins another poster mentioned. At least the chocolate has a bit of intrinsic value.
“…intrinsic value? Let’s see... the last time I checked, the current spot price of platinum was around $1,600/ounce, so that coin is going to have to be awfully large.”
We have fiat currency. That means that everybody agrees that it’s “worth” the value printed on it. (What that “value” will actually buy is a different matter.) I’m guessing that there’s a legal limit on the values you can place on paper currency. I know they did away with the $500 bill, likewise the $1,000 and the $10,000. These notes were originally used to satisfy debts between banks and not for general circulation, except the $500. They did away with that one to stop drug lords from easily moving huge sums. (Europe created a $500 pound EU bill because money held outside the system by drug lords is essentially an interest free loan for that amount.)
But the point of the platinum coin law was Congress didn’t set a limit on the fiat agreed “value.” So, why not just make a million, billion, trillion dollar coin and be done? No debt limit. No negotiations, just infinite spending.
I don’t think this would make it through the current Supreme Court. But it would give Obama some political theater and he could again blame the Republics for interrupting the flow of Obama phones and EBT cards.
I can’t think of a better symbol for the hyperinflation ahead than a trillion dollar coin. The administration has signaled its intentions to write off the public debt by inflating the dollar’s value to virtually nothing. Those bass turds are totally bankrupt — spiritually, morally, fiscally.
I advise everyone to flee paper and invest in tangible assets, such as gold, land, ammo, tools and food.
I was being somewhat facetious. On a side note... I believe the law these sociopaths are referring to pertains to the minting of commemerative coins of nominal value, and NOT intended for the perverted purpose forwarded by the libtards.
They debate the legal ‘loophole’ aspect of this but say nothing about whether or not it makes even a shred of economic sense. Again, the game is to beat the Republicans. The welfare of the country as a whole be damned.
So exactly how is minting a single coin valued at one trillion dollars different from just printing one trillion dollar paper bills?
It isn’t!
This exposes their real intentions. They would LOVE to print a trillion dollars of extra paper money, but they are prohibited from doing so. But, if you do the exact same thing with a precious metal coin, you can skirt the law. Robert Mugabe would be so proud.
So exactly how is minting a single coin valued at one trillion dollars different from just printing one trillion dollar paper bills?
It's different because Congress passed a law allowing the treasury to mint platinum coins in whatever denomination it wanted -- with no limit. There is no such law for any other kind of currency.
The law was a small measure intended to allow the treasury to mint collectable platinum coins. This actually generates revenue from coin collectors who buy such things.
Exploiting this law is a political stunt. If I were Obama, I'd be really worried about this backfiring. If they do the coin stunt, it will almost certainly end up in the courts.
On the other hand, there is some worry that it won't backfire and that it will be look upon as a "bold" move that Obama had to take because Congress is completely gridlocked. I think we can all agree that this would be a seriously bad outcome.
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