Thursday, March 31, 2011

"The GOP's New Gold Rush: Inside the conservative plan to take down the Fed from the bottom up"

Aaaand... Mother Jones joins the chorus of left-wing publications waking up and realizing that we're making progress at the State level. It's a fairly typical media piece, not severely denigrating, but including enough silly quotes from establishment economists - "make wampum legal tender" - and getting enough facts wrong, like using "pre-1985 Golden Eagles" (what?) - to render the article pretty much useless in terms of helpful information for anyone that actually wanted to learn more. At least they included a bunch of good links. And I did like how he subtitled the article, "Inside the conservative plan to take down the Fed from the bottom up" - taken directly from my paper & article at Tenth Amendment Center. -- BG
After three decades of railing against America's monetary policies, Congress' most famous gold bug and anti-Fed crusader, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), doesn't have much to show for his efforts on the national level.

But Paul's message finally seems to be gaining traction outside Washington. Since the beginning of 2009, lawmakers in more than a dozen states, with the backing of conservative organizations like the Tenth Amendment Center and the American Principles Project, have introduced bills promoting the use of gold and silver currency for everything from buying groceries to paying taxes. Last week, Utah became the first state to enact such legislation, declaring gold and silver coins from the US mint legal tender, and creating a commission to study the efficacy of this move.

Other proposals, in Georgia and Iowa, would mandate that all state taxes be paid in gold and silver. In Montana, a "sound money" bill that would have required all taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products be paid in precious metals was narrowly defeated on Monday.

Some supporters hope the movement will succeed where Paul's efforts have fallen short—by bringing down the Federal Reserve system from the bottom up.

"It's much more difficult to be lobbying against one bill than it is against 50 bills," says Bill Greene, a conservative activist and political consultant whose sample legislation has served as a foundation for a bill that's currently before the Georgia legislature. "As soon as one state passes a sound money bill, that state is going to reap the most benefits first. That'll open the floodgates and get the ball rolling and more and more states wanting to do it."

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Montana: "Gold standard defeated after lively House debate"

We came very close - just 52-48 - to getting another sound money bill passed, this time in Montana. Interesting approach: It would have required all taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products be paid in precious metals. Well, it's certainly a start.

HELENA — The House narrowly defeated a bill Tuesday that would have required the state to back some of its transactions with gold and silver coins.

House Bill 513, by Rep. Bob Wagner, R-Harrison, would have established a state reserve of silver and/or gold in various forms to accommodate transactions using the tobacco tax revenue stream. Wagner said the bill would have required Montana state government to trade with some taxpayers and contractors in units of gold, starting with those who pay taxes on tobacco products.

Wagner said the bill would protect "honest money" from "political manipulation and value."

"To return to this system of honest value, former Federal Reserve Chairman Allen Greenspan suggested that a system would need to be developed to operate in a dual currency," Wagner said during floor debate on the measure.

Supporters say the new currency exchange would be "separate and parallel" to the traditional exchange of federal notes...

...The plan failed on a 52-48 vote, as 20 Republicans joined 32 Democrats in opposing the measure.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.

Monday, March 28, 2011

UTAH GOVERNOR SIGNS GOLD & SILVER LEGAL TENDER BILL!

Utah has now become the first State on our list to actually enact a sound money bill into law.

On Friday, March 25th, Gov. Gary Herbert signed HB 317, the "Utah Legal Tender Act," into law.

The law recognizes gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency in the state. The coins do not replace the current paper currency, but may be used and accepted voluntarily as an alternative.

The law exempts the sale of gold and silver coins from the state capital gains tax, since you would simply be exchanging one form of legal tender currency for another. It also calls for a committee to study alternative currencies for the State and a means for Utahans to pay their taxes with gold and silver coins.

Gold and silver coins issued by the federal government are already legal tender, of course, and can be used to purchase items and pay debts owed. However, they could only be used at the face value of the coins -- which is ridiculously lower than the value of the precious metal content of the coins. If you were to use them at the actual value of the coins, you would face a capital gains tax on the "profit" you gained over the face value.

If nothing else, this law recognizes the inanity of imposing a tax on exchanging one form of legal tender currency for another. By removing that tax and officially recognizing the legal tender status of the gold and silver coins within the State of Utah, the way is now open for good and services to be priced in both Federal Reserve Notes denominations and Gold & Silver Coins denominations; likewise, banks should now be free to offer their customers accounts denominated in legal tender gold & silver coins, so that consumers will be able to make purchases based on those accounts, using their debit cards, checks, ATM cards, etc. Banks should also easily convert FRNs to Gold & Silver Coins and vice-versa, since they will now be treated as simple currency exchanges.

So... what bank will be the first to jump on board here? Because once that happens, the floodgates will open, and billions of dollars in new banking accounts will pour into Utah banks, from people who want to use sound money that keeps its value, rather than nearly-worthless pieces of paper whose purchasing power continues to plummet.

And you know who'll be one of the first in line!

Monday, March 21, 2011

"Legislator says the state needs its own currency"

Finally, we're seeing movement in North Carolina as well. Of course, it's being reported on in the same ridiculously slanted manner as every other sound money bill across America - you know, "they want to print their own money" (they don't), "the Austrian school of economics is fringe" (not any more!), jokes about "storing gold & silver in old State vaults" (duhhh, they'd use banks, hello!), etc. No one wants to talk about what the U.S. Constitution actually says: that States are REQUIRED to use only gold & silver coins in all financial transactions. Period.


RALEIGH -- Cautioning that the federal dollars in your wallet could soon be little more than green paper backed by broken promises, state Rep. Glen Bradley wants North Carolina to issue its own legal tender backed by silver and gold.

The Republican from Youngsville has introduced a bill that would establish a legislative commission to study his plan for a state currency. He is also drafting a second bill that would require state government to accept gold and silver coins as payment for taxes and fees.

If the state treasurer starts accepting precious metals as payment, Bradley said that could prod the private sector to follow suit - potentially allowing residents to trade gold for groceries.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Citizens of NC: Contact your State Representative here to ask they co-sponsor this bill!


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

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Another State in Malaysia Introduces Gold & Silver Money

As we noted in January was going to happen, another Malaysian state (Perak) has now introduced its own Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham coins. Kelantan was first, in August of 2010.

Today, the Perak (state in Malaysia) government, introduced Gold dinars and silver dirhams. Menteri Besar of Perak, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir launch the world's first financial instrument ever made of gold and silver with a purity of 99.9 per cent or 24 karats at the Perak state secretary building in Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh. For a start, 1,000 pieces of gold dinars and silver dirhams had been manufactured and would be marketed through Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi Islam (Yapeim) and Nusantara Bullion Exchange (Nubex Sdn Bhd)...

Datuk Seri Dr Zambry said Perak Dinar also had higher level of quality as compared to the dinars and dirhams first produced by Islamic scholar Khalifa Abdul Malik ibn Marwan about 1,357 years ago.

"Gold dinars and silver dirhams produced then contained 97 per cent of gold and silver purity, but what we launched today are of higher quality because they are equivalent to 24 karats."
As we also noted earlier, the Malaysian constitution (in ninth schedule, list I sub 7.a) does not allow its states to issue coins (much like the U.S. Constitution in Article I, Section 10); however, these coins are being privately minted by the "World Islamic Mint" under the authority of the Perak government (the Koran, like the Bible, forbids the use of fiat money and fractional reserve banking). The Perak gold dinars and silver dirhams are being produced by Goldnet International, a joint-venture company with the Perak State Development Corporation, in collaboration with KFH (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Seriously, the time to start moving away from devaluating fiat paper and back to sound gold & silver money is NOW. We can see it as the mainstream media is reporting the growing number of U.S. States introducing legislation to do just that. But as we know, vested State banking interests and national banking cartels don't like competition, as we've seen from the Federal Reserve in the U.S. We can expect that the Feds and the bank industry lobbyists will fight hard to stop the States from returning to the Constitutional mandate that they use only gold and silver coins in their financial transactions.

Well, they will until their whole Ponzi scheme comes crashing down.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Update: "Sen. Bill Ketron wants TN to consider creating its own currency"

State Sen. Bill Ketron is pushing for Tennessee to study whether the state should create its own currency in the event of a breakdown of the Federal Reserve.

Depending on the perspective, Ketron's proposal is either a harmless step toward safeguarding the state in the event of national financial calamity, or proof that the Republican-led General Assembly is distracting itself from the task of creating jobs and improving the economy.

Ketron has filed a joint resolution to create a committee that would study whether Tennessee should adopt a currency as an alternative to the federal dollar in the event of a "major breakdown" of the Federal Reserve.

The proposal is part of a burgeoning movement on the part of conservative lawmakers to begin preparing for a worst-case scenario in which the Reserve collapses. Ketron's legislation mirrors almost word-for-word bills filed in South Carolina and Virginia, which passed the law earlier this year.

The Utah House of Representatives passed legislation approving gold and silver as legal tender. A Georgia lawmaker has proposed legislation that would force the state to conduct its monetary transactions in gold or silver coins.

Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said he got the idea from the legislation filed in other states.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Citizens of Tennessee: Contact your State Senator here.

Every American citizen TODAY needs to contact the Leaders of the Tennessee Senate and ask them to support this bill -- CLICK HERE to take action NOW!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

"Utah Legislature backs gold and silver as legal tender"

And so it begins... who's next?



The Senate gave final approval Thursday to a bill taking the first step to recognize gold and silver as legal tender in the state.

It voted 16-7 to pass HB317, and sent it to Gov. Gary Herbert for his signature.

The measure would recognize as legal tender gold and silver coins issued by the federal government — not just their face value, but also their value in gold and silver or to a collector...

“It will put some pressure on the federal government. That’s the goal here because right now we have a dollar that’s just running away with inflation and our hope is that this is a little bit of a shock that’ll say we want to deal with inflation,” Senate Majority Leader Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, Senate sponsor of the bill, said in earlier debate. He gave senators gold chocolate coins on Thursday before debate...

Rep. Brad Galvez, R-West Haven, sponsor of the bill, earlier told the House, “This is a step in preparedness, a step in security that allows us to be able to help hold up our economy as the dollar continues to shrink.”



READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Contact the Governor here.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Constitutional Tender Act Gets Georgia House Subcommittee Hearing!

On Monday, March 8, 2011, a hearing was held in the Georgia House Financial Institutions & Services Subcommittee (a Banks & Banking Committee subcommittee) on HB 3, the Constitutional Tender Act.

Testimony in favor of the bill was given by Rep. Bobby Franklin & Dr. Bill Greene, who authored the bill. There was no testimony in opposition to the bill given.



HB 3 would return the State of Georgia to adherence to the U.S. Constitution's legal tender provisions. Specifically, the U.S. Constitution declares in Article I, Section 10 that "no State shall... make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts". This means that no State can make something a "tender in payment" (which means they cannot "make something an offer as payment") for any debts, which would include debts owed by and to the State. However Georgia, like EVERY State in the United States of America, HAS made some other "Thing" an offer as payment - they have by law declared that they will accept, and pay out, Federal Reserve Notes for any debts owed by or to them. Therefore, Georgia is in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, this bill would require Georgia to ONLY use gold and silver coins in payments to and by the State. Federal Reserve Notes could still be used by the people of the State in personal and business transactions, if they so choose; but with the introduction of competition with REAL money, FRNs will likely soon go the way of the dodo bird.

The witnesses testified and explained to the Members of this subcommittee the absolute requirement of the U.S. Constitution for the State of Georgia to ONLY use gold and silver coins in its transactions, and a dialogue was begun in the best MEANS by which this should be done. The legislators present (only 5 of 13 members showed) asked a good number of questions, many of which were already answered in the handouts they had been given in advance.

Rep. Franklin and Dr. Greene explained to the Members the need to return to fidelity to the Constitution quickly, in order to reap the greatest benefits from such an action. The likely complete devaluation of Federal Reserve Notes, and thus the need for Georgia to protect its citizens via returning to Constitutional Tender, was also explained.

No vote was taken at this hearing.

Further testimony by additional witnesses also followed, which will be uploaded as separate videos.

View the bill here.
Citizens of Georgia: Contact your State Representative here to ask they co-sponsor this bill!


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

View last session's hearing & testimony here.

Monday, March 7, 2011

UPDATE: New Hampshire Legislator Introduces Resolution for "restoring gold and silver money"

Back in January, we noted that in New Hampshire, whose State motto is "Live Free or Die", Rep. Norman Tregenza had submitted a "Legislative Service Request" (LSR) that perked our ears up:
title: urging Congress to pass legislation against losses in value due to money supply by the federal reserve; restoring gold and silver money; and phasing out the federal reserve system.
The bill was formally introduced as HCR 13. We're happy to say, it was voted UP in the State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Committee, and sent to the floor with a recommendation to pass it! The bill is scheduled to have a full vote on the floor of the State House of Representatives on March 15 -- and it stands a good chance of passing!

Great job, Rep. Tregenza! Maybe now we'll see the "Gold Money Bill" introduced again, too. Or maybe a legislator there can even introduce a NH version of the Constitutional Tender Act itself? Even nicer.

"Sen. Ketron: TN should study creating alternative to federal currency"

Tennessee has now seen legislation introduced that is similar to Virginia's resolution to study gold and silver as an alternative currency, for the coming day when Federal Reserve Notes are finally hyper-inflated and depression hits the U.S.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, has filed a senate joint resolution to study whether Tennessee should adopt its own currency in case of a breakdown of the federal reserve system.

The resolution would create a special joint committee to look at the issue.

Ketron’s proposal mirrors efforts to study the issue in states such as South Carolina and Georgia.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Citizens of Tennessee: Contact your State Senator here.

Every American citizen TODAY needs to contact the Leaders of the Tennessee Senate and ask them to support this bill -- CLICK HERE to take action NOW!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

RED ALERT! Committee Hearing & Vote MONDAY on HB3!

THIS IS A RED ALERT!

Hearing & Vote on Constitutional Tender Act THIS MONDAY MORNING!
WE NEED YOU THERE!


Last week we told you that the Constitutional Tender Act (HB 3) had been assigned to the Banks and Banking Committee's "Financial Institutions" subcommittee, "to have a hearing" on it. We then requested that you contact subcommittee Chairman Tom Weldon and ask him to hold a hearing on this bill right away.

IT WORKED! Rep. Weldon has called a hearing for THIS MONDAY MORNING (March 7), at 9:00 A.M. It's likely that a vote will be held on the bill at that time as well, deciding whether it will be sent up to the full Committee or not.

WE NEED TO PACK THAT HEARING ROOM WITH SUPPORTERS! If you want to testify for the bill, get there BEFORE 9am to sign up at the front. THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM ALL OF US -- and that includes YOU!

INFO YOU'LL NEED:
WHAT: Financial Institutions and Services Subcommittee Meeting
WHEN: Monday, March 07, 2011 9:00 AM-10:00 AM
WHERE: Coverdell Legislative Office Building (CLOB), Room 506
MAP:


View Larger Map

Friday, March 4, 2011

"Utah House Passes Bill Recognizing Gold, Silver as Legal Tender"

Utah is the 14th State to introduce sound money legislation like the Constitutional Tender Act this year. Next week, Idaho is set to become the 15th. "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win."

Utah took its first step Friday toward bringing back the gold standard when the state House passed a bill that would recognize gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency.

The House voted 47-26 in favor of the legislation that would also exempt the sale of gold from the state capital gains tax and calls for a committee to study alternative currencies for the state.

The legislation now heads to the state Senate, where a vote is expected next week.

Under the bill, the coins would not replace the current paper currency but would be used and accepted voluntarily as an alternative.

If the bill passes, Utah would become the first of 13 states that have proposed similar measures. The others states are Colorado, Georgia, Montana, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Citizens of Utah: Contact your State Senator here.

Utah Considers Return to Gold, Silver Coins

Utah is the 14th State to introduce sound money legislation like the Constitutional Tender Act this year. Next week, Idaho is set to become the 15th. "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win."
It's been nearly 80 years since the U.S. stopped using gold coins as legal currency, and nearly 40 since the world abandoned the gold standard, but the precious metal could be making a comeback in the United States -- beginning in Utah.

The Utah House was to vote as early as Thursday on legislation that would recognize gold and silver coins issued by the federal government as legal currency in the state. The coins would not replace the current paper currency but would be used and accepted voluntarily as an alternative.

The legislation, which has 12 co-sponsors, would let Utahans pay their taxes with gold and also calls for a committee to study alternative currencies for the state. It would also exempt the sale of gold from the state capital gains tax.

The bill cleared a state legislative committee on Wednesday, the first of 11 similar bills in statehouses across the country to do so. If the bill clears the House, it would have to pass the Senate before the governor could sign it into law.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE...

View the bill here.
Citizens of Utah: Contact your State Representative here.

Every American 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, March 1, 2011

"Rallying for States’ Rights, G.O.P. Legislators Tell Washington to Go Away"

A NY Times article that doesn't cast Nullification in a bad light? Wait a minute, we aren't being charged with racism, or called neo-Confederates, or laughed at for believing in sound money and the Constitution? Maybe there's hope for America yet!

State legislatures, bolstered by the huge Republican freshman classes that were swept into power from New Hampshire to Montana last year, have intensified their attacks on federal authority in the name of states’ rights...

In Kentucky, the State Senate is expected to take up a bill this week declaring the state a “sanctuary” from meddling by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In Arizona, the State Senate approved a measure this month that would exempt all products made and consumed within its boundaries from federal interstate commerce laws.

The Montana Legislature is considering a bill that would allow the state to nullify federal laws that protect endangered species. And in Georgia, a bill that would override federal monetary regulations by requiring banks to accept payment in gold or silver has survived two readings in the State House of Representatives.

“There’s been a kind of ramping up,” said Michael Boldin, the founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, a research and advocacy group in Los Angeles. Last year, Mr. Boldin said, many of the bills were simply statements of dissatisfaction or intent. This year, he said, the bills are armed with teeth and recommended penalties. The Arizona bill, for instance, would make it a felony for anyone who tried to enforce federal commerce laws.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE...