H. R. 4248 the Free Competition in Currency Act of 2009 was introduced and sponsored by Ron Paul on December 9, 2009. The Act aims to (1) repeal federal law which currently decrees unconstitutional forms of currency legal tender, (2) prohibit federal taxes on precious metals, (3) prohibits States from assessing taxes or fees on any currency or monetary instrument used in interstate or foreign commerce that has legal tender status under the U.S. Constitution, (4) repeal federal criminal code pertaining to gold, silver or other metal coins and nullify any previous convictions under those codes. You can read the full text of the Act here, or check on its progress here.
CONSTITUTIONAL LEGAL TENDER
Article 1 Section 8 Clause 5 states that Congress has authority to ‘Coin Money, regulate the Value thereof’. Note that this does not give any authority to print or fabricate money. Also, of note, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Accordingly, if a power is not specifically delineated, then it is prohibited. In which case the Federal Government is given no authority to “generate” legal tender. Accordingly, the Federal Reserve Act (link) is unconstitutional.
Individual States do have authority to declare things legal tender but are restricted under Article 1 Section 10 Clause 1 from making any ‘Thing but gold and silver coin a Tender in Payment of Debts’. The great state of Idaho recently passed a bill legalizing silver coinage as legal tender. To read, click here.
IMPLICATIONS
Most of us now realize that a Federal Reserve Note (paper dollars) are bills of credit, or a debt instrument, which are backed by an intrinsic value of good will. But at what point does that good will “cash-out”. To be sure, H. R. 4248 would cause a liquidation of Federal Reserve Notes and virtually stop the government and central bank’s ability to print money. And there certainly are risks to this. However, continuing to inflate/devalue U.S. currency as has been done over the past century has to be a major concern for all U.S. citizens. There is a reason health care, housing, food, employment, etc., are in crisis. Maybe its more closely related to the shared problem that we have with our governmental representatives. Maybe, we need to all be focused on earn/save vs. borrow/borrow mentality.
CONCLUSION
Supporting and passing H. R. 4248 re-enables our right to constitutional, commodity-backed currency by allowing all US citizens to use precious metals, tax-free, to conduct commerce. This will cause a De facto stop to all money printing presses at the Federal Reserve and the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. In short, we had, at one point the freedom to use gold, silver and other coinage to conduct commerce. –Real money-. Now we use digital processes, ink, paper, and game tokens (us coins) –Pretend money-. At what point do we realize that ‘good will’ will only take us so far, nationally, and globally. And at what point do we realize that by doing nothing, we, are as much to blame as anyone.
February 20, 2010
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