Friday, December 31, 2010

The Utah Sound Money Act - Utah 10th Amendment Center

Written by: Connor Boyack

...While we wait for the federal government to do nothing to stem the tide of Federal Reserve Notes that will likely soon capsize our ship of state, states can, like individuals, position themselves to proactively prepare for any problem with the dollar, rather than later be forced to react under troublesome circumstances. Article I Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution says that “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts…” Additionally, no power was delegated in the Constitution to allow for the federal government to make anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender for commerce. That this limitation has long been ignored is no excuse for its ongoing abuse.

In the 2011 general legislative session, Utahns will have an opportunity to position themselves and their state on better financial footing by infusing the system with sound money—to the degree that willing participants choose to use either gold or silver as alternative currencies. The Utah Sound Money Act will soon be introduced to initiate this opportunity.

This bill is designed to reinstate gold and silver coin as an optional medium of exchange for use in commerce within the state of Utah. It nullifies legal tender laws for intrastate commerce, recognizing the inherent, inalienable right of individuals to engage in specie-based exchanges with each other on mutually agreeable terms. You can read the bill here (PDF).

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE...

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Radio Interview on Constitutional Tender

Here's an interview with Dr. Bill Greene about the Constitutional Tender Act on the Tim Bryant (and Martha Zoller, who he was subbing for) radio show, broadcast on 12/29/10. For more info: http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Legislation proposes Utah adopt a gold-based system

By Robert Gehrke
The Salt Lake Tribune
12/28/2010

View the bill here.
Contact your Utah State Representative here.


Imagine paying your next parking ticket in gold Krugerrands or renewing your driver license using American Gold Eagles.

A proposal in the Utah Legislature would require the state to allow just that, requiring government agencies to accept gold for transactions, and creating a parallel monetary policy for intrastate commerce tied to the price of gold.

Under the legislation that has been drafted, Utah residents could mint their own gold or silver coins, a storehouse would be created to stockpile the precious metal and the Utah Defense Force, an arcane state militia that may be called and armed by the governor, would be responsible for securing the inventories.

“I think it has merit,” said Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, who had the proposal brought to him by a constituent and committed to opening a bill file. Another representative will probably end up sponsoring the legislation.

“Fundamentally, what it comes down to is people’s concern about the fundamentally reckless policies at the federal reserve and what it does long-term to the financial standing of the country and giving folks another choice of monetary tools for their financial transactions,” Dougall said.


READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE...

Every citizen TODAY needs to contact the Leaders of the Utah House of Representatives and ask them to support this bill -- CLICK HERE to take action NOW!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Constitutional Tender for Georgia? 10th Amendment Center


Written by: Michael Boldin
posted on 12/27/10 at the Tenth Amendment Center Blog

The United States Constitution states, in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.”

When was the last time your state followed this? For most living humans – never. In recent years, though, a number of states have seen Constitutional Tender Acts introduced with the goal of righting this wrong. Passage would nullify federal legal tender laws that prevent states from abiding by Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution.

In the 2011 legislative session, Georgia will consider House Bill 3 (HB3), which states, in part:

CONTINUE READING ARTICLE...

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Tenth Amendment Center: "A Date that Lives in Infamy"

We are incredibly grateful for the work of the Tenth Amendment Center in promoting the Constitutional Tender Act. On this dark day in history, they are graciously doing so again.
A Date that Lives in Infamy

EDITOR’S NOTE: On December 23, 1913, Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the Federal Reserve System. Now that Ron Paul is in a place to bring some light to the true dealings of the fed, the time is ripe to end the fed. But, the best way to get back to a proper monetary policy will likely come from a place far from Washington, D.C. – your own state.

The following article, “Ending the Fed from the Bottom Up,” by Dr. William Greene, was originally published here at the Tenth Amendment Center on 04-11-10. We’re proud to present it here again on this sad, but historic anniversary – with hopes that you will take action today to push your state to consider the Constitutional Tender Act, and start the process of bringing the Federal Reserve System to it’s much-needed demise.

READ THE REST HERE...

Monday, December 20, 2010

Another step towards Gold as Money: Boca Raton mall unveils ATM that dispenses gold

One of the most important aspects of restoring sound money to our country is the need for people to "wrap their heads around" the idea that gold and silver are money, and not just commodities. The Constitutional Tender Act does that by returning the State back to obedience to the Constitution's Article I, Section 10 negative mandate ("No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts").

By doing this, as I explained in a recent article, precious metal coinage could return, because the State would be required to only use gold and silver coins (or their equivalents, such as checks or electronic transfers) for payments of any debt owed by or to the State. All contracts, tax bills, etc. would be required to be denominated in legal tender gold and silver U.S. coins. All State-chartered banks, as well as any other bank that is a depository for State funds, would be required to offer accounts denominated in those types of gold and silver coins, and to keep such accounts segregated from other types of accounts such as Federal Reserve Notes.

The State would use gold and silver coins as money; the public and businesses would start using gold and silver as money, in addition to Federal Reserve Notes; and the use of sound money would return to America, one State at a time.

But with all of that said, one of the most interesting things to come out in the subcommittee hearing that the ConTen Act received here in Georgia, was the idea in those legislators' heads that gold and silver simply could not be USED as money, PERIOD. We heard comments like these:
  • "Where would the State keep all of its gold and silver coins?" (Answer: Where does the State keep all of its Federal Reserve Notes? In a BANK, of course - just like they would under this Act.)
  • "How would people be able to carry around all of those heavy gold and silver coins?" (Answer: How do they carry tens of thousands of dollars in Federal Reserve Notes around? They DON'T - they carry checkbooks and debit cards - just like they would under this Act.)
  • "How would people buy things at the grocery store?" (Answer: How do people buy things at the grocery store now? With physical cash, or with a check, or with a debit card, or with a credit card - just like they would under this Act.)
What do all of these kinds of questions have in common? They're based on a narrow view of what money is. Too many people have simply gotten used to the idea that pieces of green paper with dead presidents' pictures on them, and that aren't backed by anything of value, are "money," and gold and silver are "commodities." But that's a rather new idea, historically speaking; fiat money (pieces of paper backed by nothing, and declared "legal tender" by the government) was very much frowned upon by our Founders - which is why they explicitly denied to the States the power to use it. Until the past century or so, you could always pay for things with actual gold and silver coins. But, the general population has been trained by our "modern" government to throw that notion away, and to keep using those pieces of paper that lose more and more of their value every day... while gold and silver keeps its value.

Which brings me to the reason for this post: If you look back, I've written several times (for example, here and here) about the coming of ATMs that exchange paper fiat money for actual gold. This is just a precursor -- a taste -- of what I'm talking about here: modern banking based on sound money. Well, those gold ATMs have arrived on our shores:
Boca Raton mall unveils ATM that dispenses gold
By Frank Cerabino
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010

At 10 a.m. today, the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton will unveil a vending machine that dispenses gold bullion. That's right: You put in your money or your credit card, and you get wafer-thin gold bars or coins from the machine...

The gold ATM is made by a German company called Gold on the Go, which had its first machine operational in Abu Dhabi this year, and has had its gold vending machines operating in Germany, Italy and Spain. The one in Boca Raton will be the company's first in America.
Like I said, this is just a "taste" of the modern specie-based banking we can look forward to, if we implement ideas like the Constitutional Tender Act. But that's why this idea is key: the more we get used to the notion of gold and silver being money, the sooner we'll finally return to sound money that holds its value -- and the sooner we can save our trashed economy.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Chuck Donovan: "IT’S TIME FOR HONEST MONEY IN GEORGIA"

From Chuck Donovan's blog:
Dear Friends of Liberty,

The Georgia Assembly has before it a piece of legislation that will financially benefit our state. Bill Greene, PhD, is the author of the Constitutional Tender Act (HB3). I’ve read HB3, heard Dr. Greene speak, and read his papers including the paper he presented at the MISES Institute. I believe HB3 is the single most important piece of legislation before the Georgia legislature for 2011. It forces the State of Georgia to comply with Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution...

...Our Federal “representatives” have decided to ignore this part of the Constitution. Georgia HB3 begins returning our country to honest money by holding The Georgia State government to a verifiable and Constitutional standard...
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE...

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Contact Your GA Representative - "Cosponsor & Vote For the Constitutional Tender Act!"


Every citizen needs to contact their Representative in the Georgia House TODAY and ask him or her to support HB 3, the Constitutional Tender Act!

Find your legislator's contact information at http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2009_10/house/alpha.html

It's best to call your State Representative and ask him to sign on as a co-sponsor. If they respond with something like, "I'll vote for it if it gets on the floor," just tell them, "It CAN'T get to the floor unless you co-sponsor it FIRST. So will you?" If you're writing a letter, a fax or an email, here is a sample letter that you can copy and paste, or modify yourself, to send to your State Representative (download a PDF copy here):
Rep. [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]
The Capital
Atlanta, GA

Dear Rep. [LAST NAME],

As your constituent, I'm contacting you to ask you to please co-sponsor, and vote for, HB 3, the Constitutional Tender Act.

We are in an economic CRISIS, and we need a Sound Money solution NOW — before it’s too late, and the dollar loses all of its value.

This type of bill is needed because, due to the ever-widening circle of economic disaster that is affecting the citizens of every State, we MUST do something to at least begin the process of restoring sound money and a sound economy, even if (and especially if) the current federal administration refuses to do so.

This bill is also needed because Georgia, like every other state, is in violation of the U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 10) without such a bill (because the State is making some other "Thing" a Tender in Payment of Debts, both to and by the State). As a state legislator, you swear an oath to uphold that Constitution, so ethically and morally you need to do whatever the Constitution requires.

Please, put the people of Georgia and their well-being above any partisanship or politics, and especially above any fears about your "reputation" with others. What is important is the welfare of the citizens of this state, and the need to abide by the U.S. Constitution.

PLEASE, co-sponsor HB 3, the "Constitutional Tender Act," TODAY and vote for the bill in committee and on the floor -- but DON'T wait until it gets to the floor; it can't get there unless you co-sponsor it! I will be watching your actions on this bill very closely, and will remember them on election day.

You can find more information on this bill at http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/.

Thank you,

[YOUR NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[CITY], [STATE] [ZIP]
If we can literally overwhelm our legislators with emails, letters, faxes and phone calls, then we DO have a chance to restore our State to sound money, and sane Constitutional monetary policies! PLEASE TAKE ACTION TODAY!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Another Radio Interview on Constitutional Tender

Here's an interview with Dr. Bill Greene about the Constitutional Tender Act on the Al Gainey radio show, broadcast on 12/2/10. For more info: http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/



Original MP3: http://algainey.com/mp3/12-2-10_Dr_Bill_Green.mp3
The Al Gainey Show: http://algainey.com/

Radio Interview on Constitutional Tender

Here's an interview with Dr. Bill Greene about the Constitutional Tender Act on the Jody Hice radio show, being broadcast today in six states. For more info: http://www.ConstitutionalTender.com/



Original MP3: http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/398/episodes/35338/media_files/81390/download/5/file_128kb.mp3
The Jody Hice Show: http://thejodyhiceshow.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 6, 2010

How the ConTen Act can Return America to Sound Money

Ron Paul, in his paper "The Political and Economic Agenda for a Real Gold Standard" (originally delivered at the Mises Institute's 1985 conference on the gold standard), discusses the steps which the economist Ludwig von Mises laid out for us to be able to return to a sound currency (which was in his 1952 epilogue to "The Theory of Money and Credit").

What's particularly relevant about this discussion is that, where the attempts at the national level to implement these steps have been halting at best, the Constitutional Tender Act actually builds on what HAS been accomplished and uses it to implement those steps starting at the STATE level... where they actually have the chance to SUCCEED.

The first step we need to take, writes Paul, is "Gold Coinage":

The heart of Mises's proposal to restore gold to our monetary system is a gold coinage. He wrote,

Gold must be in the cash holdings of everyone. Everybody must see gold coins changing hands, must be used to having gold coins in his pockets, to receiving gold coins when he cashes his paycheck, and to spending gold coins when he buys in a store.[7]

In this one detail — the critical importance of the gold coinage — I believe lies the key to establishing a new gold standard.

We should make no mistake about it: the more progress we make toward reestablishing the gold standard, the more aggressive our opposition will become. Some vested interests, as you know, have a lot to lose if we succeed in getting the monetary system reconstructed on a gold basis. The first political step is, therefore, to get the coinage into circulation.

One objective might be to aim for every American to become a gold owner. We must encourage a broader base of political support for gold ownership and the availability of gold for personal economic objectives. Certainly a broader base of gold ownership in the country would help to reduce the threats of discriminatory taxation or regulation of gold ownership and gold coin transactions, which are seriously favored in Congress today.

Under the Constitutional Tender Act (a proposed State law which re-applies the U.S. Constitution's negative mandate in Article I, Section 10, that "No State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts"), the State would be required to only use gold and silver coins (or their equivalents, such as checks or electronic transfers) for payments of any debt owed by or to the State (e.g., taxes, fees, contract payments, etc.). All contracts, tax bills, etc. would be required to be denominated in legal tender gold and silver U.S. coins, including Gold Eagles, Silver Eagles, and pre-1965 90% silver coins. All State-chartered banks, as well as any other bank that is a depository for State funds, would be required to offer accounts denominated in those types of gold and silver coins, and to keep such accounts segregated from other types of accounts such as Federal Reserve Notes.

So, with the ConTen Act, the foundation is now laid. Dr. Paul goes on:

What we must first do is get the coinage into circulation, and then build the political base to lock the government's fiscal folly with golden handcuffs. People have always understood the tangible value of gold coins in circulation. They don't need to agree or even understand the fine points of monetary theory to own gold coins, trade gold coins, or use gold coins to satisfy part of their marginal-utility demand for cash balances.

Most people understand very little about economics or monetary theory. When they see supposed experts in disagreement, the status quo wins by default, because nobody with the power to change it has the courage of conviction. The majority of voters see the debate among experts and hesitate to support any leaders with comprehensive reform schemes. This is why all efforts to rebuild a gold monetary system have met with frustration and stalemate in the past.

And this is the beauty of the Constitutional Tender Act: instead of being a top-down, federal-level effort, it is a bottom-up, State-level effort, thus giving it a higher likelihood of eventual success (see my paper presented at the Mises Institute's Austrian Scholars Conference, "Ending the Federal Reserve From the Bottom Up: Re-introducing Competitive Currency by State Adherence to Article I, Section 10"). Upon going into effect, the ConTen Act would introduce currency competition with Federal Reserve Notes, by outlawing their use in transactions with the State. Ordinary citizens of the State, being required to pay their State taxes in gold and silver coins, would find it necessary to open bank accounts in those denominations. Businesses operating within the State, being required to pay their State sales taxes and license fees in gold and silver coins, would need to do the same; and in order to acquire such coins, they would begin to offer their goods and services in "dual currency" denominations, where customers could choose to pay in Federal Reserve Notes (which would still be necessary to pay Federal fees and taxes) or gold and silver coins (including checks and debit cards based on bank accounts denominated in such coins). Customers, having found the need to open such accounts in order to deal with the State, would be able to engage in commerce using those accounts.

Over time, as residents of the State use both Federal Reserve Notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve Notes do will lead to a "reverse Gresham's Law" effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve Notes). (Gresham's law is stated as, "Where legal tender laws exist, bad money drives out good money." A reverse of this would be, "In the absence of legal tender laws, when people are given the free choice between using and accepting good money or using and accepting bad money, bad money becomes less popular than good money, and is driven out of the marketplace.") As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the State's treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the State (as citizens residing in other States carry out their desire to bank with sound money), and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve Notes for any transactions. At that point, the Federal Reserve system will have become unwanted and irrelevant, and can be easily abolished by the people's elected Representatives in Washington, D.C. -- and thus open the door for a return to sound money, nationwide.

All of this can take place because Dr. Paul helped bring about the minting once again of legal tender U.S. gold and silver coins, which can now be used to return every State to its Constitutional mandate for honest money. He recognized that this first step was a necessity: "There must certainly be no restrictions on the private production of coins, but I believe that getting the US Mint further into the act, producing a gold coinage with some of the mystique of the government, will be useful in the further political stages of monetary reform. Honest money, after all, is a political objective; it is fitting that people should demand honesty from their government, as well as an economic policy that permits individuals to compete honestly." Now, with the Constitutional Tender Act, that political objective is within reach.