Topic: Federal Reserve
State legislative approach to End the Fed
What if we come up with a model bill, to be introduced by our friends in state legislatures, which uses this constitutional provision to criminalize the use of Federal Reserve Notes as payment to the state?
by Bill Greene
(libertarian)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008

I've got a question to pose to you experts :-), about a possible proposal I've been rolling around my brain for a while.

I've been having this discussion on a couple of the Georgia CfL lists, but I thought it might be a good idea to post it on a few blogs.

The U.S. Constitution says, in Article I Section 10, "No State shall... Make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts..."

What if we come up with a model bill, to be introduced by our friends in state legislatures, which uses this constitutional provision to criminalize the use of Federal Reserve Notes as payment to the state? State income taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, agency fees, etc. -- maybe even lottery ticket purchases! -- all must be paid with gold or silver coins. Maybe even payments that the state itself has to make, too.

By law, the word "coin" can only apply to rounds that are minted by the U.S. Treasury Department, so that can be included as well.

The law will be challenged, of course; but if written correctly, it would be fully constitutional, and should hold up even to the SCOTUS level, leading to the rejection of fiat money. And even if it doesn't, it will be one more educational chink in the Emperor's New Armor, as we work towards the day that the FED is no more.

By the way, this is NOT the approach being put forward in NH and IN, which would accept silver and gold ALONGSIDE FRNs. The problem I have with that approach is that it accepts FRNs as "legal tender," when Article I Section 10 is SPECIFIC in saying that NO State "shall make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts." ANY THING.

Once we've conceded that FRNs can be accepted as "Tender in Payment of Debts," we've lost. In order to succeed at this effort, we MUST make the Constitutional argument that ONLY gold and silver coin can be accepted as legal tender by the state. We then have the moral high ground, and a stronger case before the Supreme Court. And if we lose there, it will be plain to all that the Constitution has been abandoned, and action will need to be taken by the People.

Thoughts?

©2008 Bill Greene, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Last modified: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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Reader Comments:

Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-12-03 10:00:50

Dear Bill Greene -

Thumbs up from me dude, and thanks for sharing your idea. 

You are correct that this is yet another path of attack.  The bloody problem is that our government ignores the Constitution.  To them, it really is GW Bush's "goddamn piece of paper."  Also, a lot of the American people either A) ignore this, B) are ignorant  of what the Constitution actually says or C) are apathetic.  Up for debate but I think B is the most common.

As another GW, this one a hero of mine, said We the People are the only keepers of the Constitution.  I recommend  posting  your idea to this HR 2755 protest site and send to a few organizers, including the one who organized the End the Fed march closest to your home, at the endtheFed.us website. 

I think the key thing right now is education and building momentum.  Ideas are great too!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=50203358216&ref=mf

 

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Posted By: Jake, the champion of the constitution
Date: 2008-12-03 10:02:00

I forgot to add I am no expert, but I commented anyways :)

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Posted By: Chris Baker
Date: 2008-12-03 12:13:55

Most of the state legislatures don't have the guts to do something like this.

 

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Posted By: Larry
Date: 2008-12-04 11:40:36

Nice thought Bill, however: "On the third of March, 1884, without having listened to any public argument on the case which was made the occasion of its utterance, it [SCOTUS] pronounced before a crowd of listeners an opinion in these words: "The power to make the notes of the government a legal tender in payment of private debts being one of the powers belonging to sovereignty in other civilized nations, and not expressly withheld from congress by the constitution; we are irresistibly impelled to the conclusion that the impressing upon the treasury notes of the United States the quality of being a legal tender in payment of private debts is an appropriate means, conducive and plainly adapted to the execution of the undoubted powers of congress."" For the whole article, go here: [link edited for length].

Of course, there was no mention of the 9th amendment during deliberations.........

I think it is best to trust the free market and allow competition in currency. In other words, let Gresham's Law go to work and before long FRN's will be recognized as worthless pieces of paper only fit for getting rid of. People will hold on to specie and get rid of the FRN's as fast as possible, providing the same fate as the Continental Dollar suffered after the War of independence.

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Posted By: Bill Greene
Date: 2008-12-05 08:08:31

Larry, the only problem I see with that quoting that decision is... FRNs are NOT "treasury notes of the United States." It's true that U.S. Notes have long been agreed to be legal tender -- but when is the last time you saw a U.S. Treasury note?

I agree that we should have a free market in currency. The issue here though is that, Constitutionally, States cannot Make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts. That's what I'm focusing on with this proposal, as a means (perhaps one of many at the same time) to end the Fed.

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