Posted on 03/27/2011 1:35:31 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Salt Lake City - The state of Utah is on the verge implementing its own proto-Gold Standard. The House and Senate have voted in favor of HB317, which would make gold and silver coins legal tender. Governor Gary Herbert has until the end of the month to veto the bill.
“The gold standard would keep you from printing money and destroying the middle class,” said Republican Congressman and potential 2012 Presidential candidate Ron Paul. “Every country where you have runaway inflation, there's no middle class. Mexico, there's no middle class, you have a huge poor class, and a lot of wealthy people. Today we have a growing poor class, and we have more billionaires than ever before. So we're moving into third world status...”
In fear of the United States dollar being virtually worthless, some legislators in several states have introduced legislation that would allow their state to mint their own currency. But the state that has captured the most media attention, including a mention on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Freedomwatch, is Utah.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah residents may soon be allowed to use gold and silver coins in order to purchase goods and services. Lawmakers in the House and Senate have passed HB317 47-26 that would allow Buffalo and Eagle coins to be used as legal tender.
Furthermore, the bill exempts the transfer of gold and silver from state taxes. Foreign minted coins, such as Krugerrands, Napoleons and Pandas, would not be accepted under the bill.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert will have until Mar. 30 to veto the legislation, but if he doesn’t then the bill will automatically become law. It is still unknown where the governor stands on the bill and he has not spoken to the media regarding the legislation.
“This is a step in preparedness, a step in security,” said Republican Utah Representative Brad Galvez, reports Commodity Online. “It allows us to be able to hold up our economy as the dollar continues to shrink.”
Some, however, feel the bill will incite tax loopholes. Certified public accountant and Representative Steve Eliason opposed the bill and said investors who are looking for a way to avoid capital-gains taxes on assets can sell it for coins.
The bill comes as there is a growing anti-Federal Reserve movement. Proponents of auditing the Fed and/or abolishing the institution completely say former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan and his successor Ben Bernanke were the instigators of the current economic collapse.
“They’ve been a disaster,” said policy director of the American Principles Project, Jeff Bell, reports the Globe and Mail “Mr. Bernanke, ever since he got on to the Fed, has been a force for fighting deflation and bringing interest rates down to the disappearing point.”
BTTT.
Sad thing is- is that the Governor could sign this and make it law; then some group of people (or Mr. You-know-who in the WH and his buddy the Attorney General) would run to some hard-left judge to stall it or stop it! This has happened so far to Gov. Brewer and Gov. Walker!
I live here in S. Utah (a Catholic among our LDS friends) and I can tell you this:
It is no surprise to me that they passed this. This state gov’t is not interested in being “stuck” with a bunch of worthless fiat money to pay their bills.
Say what you want about the Mormon’s, but this is a well-run state. Waste is kept to a minimum and so is regulation. This is a first rate “good government” state and taxpayer friendly. If most states were run like Utah, their problems would disappear.
(Of course, we still have the illegal immigration crap that was signed into law, but that won’t last. It’s unconstitutional. Yet that’s the kind of stuff that goes on when the LDS church has an office in the capitol, close enough to “counsel” members of the legislature who don’t vote the right way.)
It is a complete fallacy that the gold standard would keep government from screwing over the little guy. One of the most persistant issues in the 19th century was how to manage the monetary system, and it kept bubbling to the surface in different forms: Gold vs. silver vs. bi-metalic, subtreasury or independent treasury vs. a chartered bank and the effects each have on economic conditions; playing with the fixed price of monetary metals, not to mention the J. Gould scandal. The medium of exchange makes very little difference to Uncle Sam’s ability to swat us down on any given day, either on purpose or by accident while the politicos dole out favors to their buddies.
If we want to lessen the extent by which we are screwed over by them, we need to end the Federal monoply on money, period.
sfl
***which would make gold and silver coins legal tender. *****
When my dad worked at the Rattlesnake uranium mine (1955) outside of Moab-La Sal, he and everyone always got paid in REAL silver dollars.
We kids also got one silver dollar a week to “save”, but they always disappeared after a few weeks and we kids never found where they went.
And if he had paper dollars, it said on them..”Pay to the bearer on demand ONE DOLLAR IN SILVER”.
Oh for the days when a dollar was worth something!
“Sad thing is- is that the Governor could sign this and make it law; then some group of people (or Mr. You-know-who in the WH and his buddy the Attorney General) would run to some hard-left judge to stall it or stop it! This has happened so far to Gov. Brewer and Gov. Walker!”
Its it indeed sad that the Federal injustice system is so proficient at completely ignoring the Federal Constitution which specifically allows states to recognize gold and silver coins. Hence Utah’s choice in gold and silver coins. It was quite simply the only legal option.
Any government that will not allow gold or silver to be used as legal tender is printing their money on toilet paper, in our case, most of the ‘paper stock’ is already used.
I would happily take a Double Eagle for a $20 debt.
Section 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
I wonder if it would be worth it to save coin money such as pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters and half-dollars as they are made out of real medals instead of worthless paper?
But then it would go to the Supreme Court where it might have a chance.
I think they did away with the silver certificate dollars around 1964.
Congress has the power to coin money, and regulate the value thereof.
Congress has coined lots and lots of gold and silver, and has set the legal tender value of 1 ounce of gold at $50 and the legal tender value of 1 ounce of silver at $1.
Utah cannot change the legal tender value of Constitutional money, which American gold and silver eagles unquestionably are.
Utah should declare FRNs to be not legal tender - because I do not see any power granted to Congress to print and circulate FRNs, much less to make them legal tender.
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