SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATOR WANTS TO OUTLAW FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES

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V13 2010 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 13, Number 8, February 21, 2010, Article 27

Larry Dziubek forwarded an article from CBS News about a story originally reported in the Palmetto Scoop - see below for excerpts from that article. Regular as clockwork, every now and then someone comes up with the idea of returning to a hard money standard. This time, a lawmaker from South Carolina is pushing the concept. -Editor

South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way.

Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.

If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.

Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to "function through gold and silver coinage" and give the state a "base of currency" in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system.

"I'm not one to cry ‘chicken little,' but if our federal government keeps spending at the rate we're spending I don't see any other outcome than the collapse of the economic system," Pitts said.

But one legal expert told The Palmetto Scoop that, even if it were passed, Pitts' bill would quickly be ruled unconstitutional.

"It violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private," the expert said. "We settled this debate in the early 1800s. I appreciate the political sentiment but the law is blatantly unconstitutional."

If Pitts wants to send all those worthless Federal Reserve Notes back to the Washington, D.C. area, I'll be happy to provide a shipping address.

The article drew over 130 web site comments. You gotta love the ability for everyone and anyone to chime in on a topic. Long live Free Speech. Here are a couple good ones, one both sides of the issue:

I live in massachusetts and would gladly trade any 5 or more of our state lawmakers for mr Pitts

"Pitts is a grandstanding dork from a state that doesn't need a bigger reputation for anachronistic stupidity. This issue was settled a number of times in the 19th century..."

-Editor