As outrage and concern over the Federal Reserve and its embattled fiat currency continue to grow, lawmakers in Missouri are considering legislation to protect residents by making gold and silver legal tender within the state. If passed, Missouri would join the state of Utah — which adopted a similar sound-money law last year — in its efforts to expand the monetary choices available to citizens.
Known as the “Missouri Sound Money Act of 2012,” House Bill 1637 would define precious metals issued by the U.S. government as lawful money inside of the state. U.S. gold and silver coins would then essentially be valued in commerce at the true market-price of the metal instead of the largely irrelevant face value assigned by the federal government.
The legislation would also eliminate an array of state taxes on gold and silver — capital gains and sales taxes, for example — in a bid to allow honest money to circulate more freely alongside the Federal Reserve’s inflationary debt-based paper currency. Federal taxes would not be affected, however, leaving at least one significant impediment to establishing true competition among currencies.
Under the proposed law, people would still be able to refuse payment in precious metals, and nobody could be compelled to pay in gold or silver. But supporters of the bill hope to establish sound-money depositories that would allow citizens to deposit precious metals and use debit cards to pay bills out of their accounts. The competition in currency, advocates say, would usher in an array of benefits.
A broad alliance of activists has worked tirelessly to advance the popular bill and similar measures in at least a dozen states, often for diverse reasons. Douglas Tjadon of the Sound Money Center and Greg Franco from the Utah Gold and Silver Depository both testified in favor of the legislation in Missouri.
“It's about giving citizens of Missouri an alternative to the dollar that is not affected by the monetary policies undertaken in Washington,” Economics Director Rich Danker of the group American Principles in Action was quoted as saying in press reports. Some analysts, meanwhile, tried to portray the bill as merely a “protest” against the federal government and the privately owned Federal Reserve.
Rep. Paul Curtman, one of the sponsors of the bill, explained that the Fed and the federal government had created an inflationary situation by creating enormous amounts of new currency to bail out big banks. And the effects on prices are already being felt, he noted, adding that serious inflation may soon ravage the dollar’s remaining purchasing power even further.
During a debate about the legislation in the state House of Representatives, one lawmaker admitted that she did not understand the bill — yet she said she opposed it anyway. Rep. Curtman responded by patiently attempting to explain some basic economic principles and why Missourians would benefit from competition in currency.
The legislation would, for example, help citizens to “hedge against inflation” and “protect the purchasing power” of their wealth by allowing them to save and trade in non-inflationary money. Meanwhile, the state would benefit by providing “more economic freedom” to the people of Missouri, Rep. Curtman explained.
"When prices begin to rise on the commodities index, I don't know about you, but I don't know of a lot of people in my district that have been getting a pay increase of 30, 40, 50 percent," Curtman added, citing official data about the wild expansion of the currency supply in recent years. "It is a state issue because everybody in our state uses Federal Reserve Notes … That's something that we're all suffering from."
Under a century of Federal Reserve control, the U.S. dollar has lost about 95 percent of its purchasing power so far. The price of gold and silver in Federal Reserve Notes, on the other hand, has risen meteorically. Gold, for example, was worth less than $20 per ounce in 1913. Today the price is over $1600. And unless something changes, that trend is expected to continue as Americans’ wealth is quietly siphoned away.
According to an official summary of the sound-money legislation in Missouri, proponents say there are many reasons why state-based efforts to move toward honest money are worth supporting. Chief among them: the disastrous monetary policy and currency system currently plaguing America.
“The fiat money in use today is backed by nothing but debt,” the summary notes. “Each time money is issued, it creates more debt.” Of course, because virtually every single new dollar is issued as debt with interest, it becomes mathematically impossible to escape the debt trap. And Americans — particularly the poor and middle classes — pay the price.
More states should look to adopt this....
Replies
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •Gold and silver are finite resources and just like 1944 & the late 60s if this passes on a federal level for all states it will bare huge risks & consequences for the economy, especially in today's environment.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •And Good Post @Last of my kind
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •Sion the economy is fucked anyway,its just a matter of when. We cannot continue to borrow money, if the economy fails it might as well be something tangible IMO, the consequences seem better than the situation we are currently in. Fuck the fed.
Thanks and maybe in missouri if it passes but i doubt it
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •Yeah this is true, your right but at the same time there isn't enough gold in the world for everyone to share/use.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
1 • Wack Feelings 2Nosign 1Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •I accept that these things are suppose to happen cuz its apart of the economic cycle and all that but this is my first time in today's times that I've seen history literally repeat for what might be the fourth time, almost exactly how it even originally started. Fascinating.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
1 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether 1GOAT LOL •Bruh these politicians couldnt tell you the difference what the hell the federal reserve, IRS, or the world bank. All they know is they dont like it.
Passing stupid laws without looking why the first law was repealed is one of the reason why there is always a economic downturns.
Yeah @SION like you said there are cycles but as long as there are lobbyist money in Washington and the state governments there will never be real reform.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
1 • Wack Feelings Nosign 1Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •So tell me about this scam again?
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •I didnt tell you the first time. If you cant see how the fed printing paper money causes inflation and infinite debt from which they capitalize off of while the world economy is going to shit IDK what to tell you. Plus aint shit federal about them, its a private entity.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •So what system do you suggest should be in its place?
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •Leave things as is, the only problem is the housing market. Not currency and not GDP growth. Unemployment is coming down but in order for the economy to turn around - housing needs to come back and taxes need to be raised ESPECIALLY on the rich.
America is doing quite well since the recession - unemployment fell from 12.1% to 8.1%, majority of corporate America has returned to profitability, American banks are far stronger and far better capitalized than they've ever been in the history of America something the Europeans can't say LOLOL.
There's 2 problems which will eventually smooth out. Problem 1 is that so far despite unemployment falling GDP growth and the recovery has been very weak despite all the stimulus and you can't implement more because inflation can spike, on the flip side with all the stimulus already implemented & Europe in shambles it's possible that with a weak recovery we face deflation especially when the Americans de-leverage most of their debt to lower the trade deficit (which seems the likely choice).
America is on the road to far better times and despite what you've read it's not nearly as bad the media paints it. HOWEVER, the path to prosperity is gonna be a long and bumpy road, it's just that nobody wants to accept it.
- Spam
- Abuse
- Troll
0 • Wack Feelings Nosign Cosign Ether GOAT LOL •