“The founders didn’t want the states to print their own paper money. “
That was their intention. However, the BUT part states they must use gold or silver to repay debt.
A1 S8 authorizes congress to COIN money. That’d be gold or silver. By the same token, would the founders want Congress to use anything BUT gold or silver to repay debt? After all, they placed this limit on the states.
We all know what happened. Citizens can’t be burdened with walking around with bundles of gold and silver in their pockets. So now comes the paper currency backed by gold and silver which is stashed safely in some well guarded federal facility. It’s much easier to carry a t-bill in your wallet than it is to carry around a pound of silver or gold.
Now comes the dilemma. Does the US govt have the gold and silver to back up the paper bucks in circulation? We already know the silver dollar, the half dollar, the quarter, and the dime has been of late made mostly of copper. Which is more valuable, a coined silver dollar, or a coin made mostly copper dollar? I’m thinking silver is more valuable than copper.
I agree we have all done well thus far with the green backs. But if we lack the gold and silver to back up our green backs, is this not a house of cards which could collapse at any time? Especially now, when we all know the fed is printing money out of thin air.
Article 1 section 10 prohibits states from making any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.
The Federal government is not limited in the same way by the Constitution and the states are not "making any thing".
Does the US govt have the gold and silver to back up the paper bucks in circulation?
No.
Especially now, when we all know the fed is printing money out of thin air.
The Fed has always created money out of thin air. That's what central banks do. The only recent change is in magnitude.