Author Archive | Bill Greene

Although it is very encouraging that the House voted 327 to 98 to audit the Fed last month, it is virtually certain that the Senate will not concur this year. Moreover, it is virtually certain that Congress will not act to end or phase out the Fed any time soon.

So, what’s to be done about the impending destruction of our currency by the Federal Reserve’s ongoing expansion of the money supply. Since 2010 there has been a continuation of this rapid expansion of the money supply.

The preeminent expert on Constitutional money, Edwin Vieira, has a strategy for phasing out the use of Federal Reserve Notes through new state laws providing alternative currencies, which he has been promoting via interviews and videos for the past several years.

Basically, Vieira advocates that states start taking advantage of their sovereignty as guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment and their constitutional mandate under Article I, Section 10 not to “make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts,” by passing laws providing alternative currencies in their states based on gold and silver. Continue Reading →

This is a real bank, that deals in real money.

In other words, you can open accounts in any denomination you want, whether fiat currency OR gold bullion — whatever you’d like.

You can even get a “gold debit card” that you can use anywhere in the world. It’s backed by actual gold, which converts to whatever currency you’re needing at the time you hit that ATM.

It’s the sort of thing that the Constitutional Tender Act calls for in banking…

…Well, there is one caveat: you can’t open an account at this bank if you’re a U.S. citizen.

U.S. security laws have become so intrusive, burdensome, and expensive to comply with, that it made it difficult for Schiff to offer his services to his non-U.S. clients on a globally-competitive basis. So, he opened his bank offshore, in St. Vincents and the Grenadines. Since it operates outside the jurisdiction of U.S. security regulations, and does not accept accounts from American citizens or residents, U.S. regulations don’t apply. Continue Reading →

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC 4 News) – Buying gold may be something many of us know is a good idea; but how do you actually buy gold, and how do you spend it when you need it?

The state of Utah has a new program that’s designed to make both of those things easier. This morning, Sound Money Director, Larry Hilton, and Tea Party leader, Darcy Van Orden, joined us live in studio to talk about the “Sound Money Program.”

cross-posted from the Sound Money Center

In early 2009, I was teaching a course on American Government at Gainesville State College here in Georgia. As I was going over with my students the powers prohibited of the States in Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, we hit upon this one: “No State shall… make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts”.

A student in the back of the room raised his hand, and asked, “What does Georgia use for paying its debts – money owed to the State, and by the State?”

“Federal Reserve Notes,” I replied.

“Not gold or silver coins?” he asked.

“No, not gold or silver coins. And no, Federal Reserve Notes are not backed by gold or silver coins, either.”

He raised his hand again. “Which States DO use gold and silver coins for paying State debts?”

“None of them,” I answered. “They all use Federal Reserve Notes, which were declared to be ‘legal tender’ by the U.S. Congress.”

“When did we pass a Constitutional Amendment to change this requirement in Article I, Section 10?” He had a puzzled look on his face.

My answer seemed to puzzle him even more. “We didn’t.”

It was quiet in the classroom at that point. I waited. I didn’t have to wait for long.

“How have the States gotten away with that?”

I didn’t have an answer to that question. And it bothered me. So, I went and did some research on it – and what I found confirmed that student’s concern: the Constitution makes it clear 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 besides gold or silver a “tender in payment” (which means they cannot make something else an “offer as payment”) for any debts, which would include debts owed by and to the State. However, 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, every State is in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution. Continue Reading →

My friend, Georgia Rep. Bobby Franklin, has passed away.

This man was a giant — in faith, in intellect, in fidelity, in so much more. We came to be friends as we worked on the Constitutional Tender Act together — and I learned that if a majority of State legislators would only vote the Constitutional and Biblical way he voted, our State — and probably our country — could be turned away from the coming destruction.

I know that Bobby is in the presence of Jesus now, and rejoicing forevermore. He exemplified Philippians 1:21: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Have a glorious Home-going, Bobby. I will miss you — I’m sitting here crying as I type this — but I will share your joy in full one day.

And I would be remiss in Bobby’s eyes if I didn’t ask YOU, the person reading this, two simple questions: Have you come to the place in YOUR spiritual life where YOU know for *certain* that if you were to die today, you’d go to heaven? And if you *were* to die today — as Bobby can testify, it can happen to young and old — and you were to stand before God, and He were to say to you, “WHY should I let you into my heaven”… What would you say?

Bobby answered the first question with a resounding YES (1 John 5:13) — and he answered the second question with a resounding, “Because I’m trusting in JESUS CHRIST ALONE for eternal life.” (John 14:6) And Jesus has now answered back to Bobby: “Well done, good and faithful servant… Enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matt. 25:21).

READ MORE HERE…

This is a great article on how we can use gold & silver in everyday transactions. It answers the points raised by oh-so-many legislators:

by Mark Herpel, editor of Digital Gold Currency magazine

In my everyday conversations people always ask me, “are we going back to the gold standard? Is that what you want?”

I have to laugh and respond by saying, “yes, back to the gold standard of the 1800′s and on your way out today, please turn in your car keys and pick up your horse & buggy.”

We can’t go back in time. We can’t wake up one day and pretend that the cell phone was not invented or the Internet doesn’t exist. Once the blind man gets his sight, there is no going back to the darkness.

As both Lewis E. Lehrman and Ron Paul say, we should be “going forward to a new gold standard”.

The move from legal tender paper to voluntary use of gold and silver has already been occurring on a state by state basis in the U.S.

By giving people the option to use sound money over paper currency, slowly but surely, the state legislatures are offering real protection from ongoing paper money inflation. ..

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE…

Editorial of The New York Sun | June 28, 2011

…It’s called the Sound Money Promotion Act, and The New York Sun is happy to lay claim to being the first newspaper to endorse it. The measure, as it is characterized in a press release posted by Senator DeMint, would remove the tax burden on gold and silver coins that have been declared legal tender by either the federal government or state governments…

…It seeks to block tax authorities from treating gold and silver coins as though they were mere commodities and start treating them, at least in tax law, as though they were what the Founders of America thought they were, which is money. Gold and silver coins are already treated this way, as legal tender, inside the state of Utah, whence Senator Lee was elected.

This is because Utah was the first state in our modern time to exercise its constitutional power to make gold and silver coins legal tender. It did so earlier this year, ahead of as many as a dozen states that are at various stages of looking in to the question of how to protect themselves against the collapse of the United States dollars that are being issued by the Federal Reserve. They are all being energized by the fact that the value of the dollar has collapsed to barely a fifth of what it was, if that, at the start of the 21st century…

…How far the three senators will get with the Sound Money Protection Act is hard to say. Its implication — a recognition of gold and silver as the true constitutional money — is, in the current context, radical. But it’s no more radical than the Founders, who, when they twice used the word “dollars” in the Constitution, were referring to a coin containing 371 ¼ grains of silver. They codified that as the definition of the dollar in the Coinage Act of 1792. They also referenced gold in the 1792 Act, with a value of 15 times that of silver. We are in a time when understanding the concept of constitutional money will point the way to the policies needed to steer our country out of its current difficulties.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE…

I TOLD GEORGIA LEGISLATORS THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN IF THEY DIDN’T PASS OUR BILL FIRST! “Issac Jacobson, a fund manager, says that based on conversations he has had with other fund managers, he expects billions of dollars to come into Utah to take advantage of the new law. He explains that funds will store their assets in Utah and believes that over time, the average Utahan will see a financial benefit from these billions of dollars being located and managed within the state.”

Utah Sound Money Bill Rocks World
By: Carlton Bowen
Featured Liberty News Radio Columnist
Salt Lake City, Utah. June 2, 2011

Today Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed the Utah Legal Tender Act of 2011 (HB 317) in the Gold Room of the Utah State Capitol in a formal signing ceremony. In a room full of cameras, reporters, fund managers, businessmen, and prominent legislators, HB317 sponsor Brad Galvez, a Utah House Freshman, took to the podium and explained the effect of the bill. Representative Galvez recalled that when the bill was first passed in March, the local media took very little notice. There were a few stories he says, and that was about it. But the rest of the world took note. Galvez mentioned being contacted by reporters from around the world and listed media coverage in New York, London, Germany, other parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, and other parts of the world. Galvez says the legislation is historic…

The formal signing ceremony demonstrated commitment from Utah’s highest levels of government to the bill. Utah Governor Gary Herbert said he and the legislature sometimes disagree, but that this was an issue they both agreed was important for Utahans. Before signing the bill, the Governor noted that Utah had been recognized as one of the best managed states, the most financially sound state, and one of the best states to live in. He said that was because of the fiscally conservative principles he and the legislature shared and because of the culture of the people of Utah. Governor Herbert then proceeded with the formal signing of the bill, reviewing publicly what the bill did, saying that it recognized Gold and Silver coins issued by the U.S. government as legal tender in the State of Utah, and removed taxes, including capital gains, sales and income taxes, on the coins. He then signed the bill. Even though the bill was previously signed by the governor and went into effect on May 10th, 2011, the formal signing ceremony today highlighted the importance of the bill and the State’s commitment to its continued implementation…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE…

Prof. Michael S. Rozeff recently wrote an article at LewRockwell.com entitled, ”Changing to a Silver Economy“. It’s an excellent exercise in thinking about how to return to an economy based on sound money:

Prof. Rozeff’s idea is a good one, but it’s also a little complicated and potentially legally hazardous – we all know how our wonderful federal government likes “competition” in currency, and the Secret Service and IRS are used quite effectively to squelch such attempts. So instead of trying to swim upstream like so many others have attempted… how about using the government’s own “legal tender” laws against it, as an alternative? Continue Reading →