Gold and Silver as Money says Louisiana Senate

"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero."

Voltaire

BATON ROUGE, La. (10th Amendment Center)  –  Today, the Louisiana Senate passed a bill that would exempt the sale and purchase of gold and silver from state sales and use taxes, encouraging their use and taking the first step toward breaking the Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money.

Rep. Stephen Dwight (R) and Rep. Mark Abraham (R) introduced House Bill 396 (HB396) on March 31. The legislation would exempt the sale of platinum, gold, or silver bullion, ingots, or coins that are valued only on their precious metal content from the state sales tax. It would also exempt certain numismatic (collectable) coins.

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs passed HB396 with some technical amendments. The Legislative Bureau followed with its approval the same day. Previously, the House passed the measure 95-0. Today, the Senate passed it by a vote of 30-2.

Imagine if you asked a grocery clerk to break a $5 bill and he charged you a 35 cent tax. Silly, right? After all, you were only exchanging one form of money for another. But that’s essentially what Louisiana’s sales tax on gold and silver does. By removing the sales tax on the exchange of gold and silver, Louisiana would treat specie as money instead of a commodity. 

This represents a small step toward reestablishing gold and silver as legal tender and breaking down the Fed’s monopoly on money.

Practically speaking, eliminating taxes on the sale of gold and silver would crack open the door for people to begin using it in regular business transactions.This would mark an important small step toward currency competition. 

If sound money gains a foothold in the marketplace against Federal Reserve notes, the people would be able to choose the time-tested stability of gold and silver over the central bank’s rapidly-depreciating paper currency.

Constitutional tender expert Professor William Greene said when people in multiple states actually start using gold and silver instead of Federal Reserve Notes, it would effectively nullify the Federal Reserve and end the federal government’s monopoly on money.

“Over time, as residents of the state use both Federal Reserve notes and silver and gold coins, the fact that the coins hold their value more than Federal Reserve notes do will lead to a “reverse Gresham’s Law” effect, where good money (gold and silver coins) will drive out bad money (Federal Reserve notes). As this happens, a cascade of events can begin to occur, including the flow of real wealth toward the state’s treasury, an influx of banking business from outside of the state – as people in other states carry out their desire to bank with sound money – and an eventual outcry against the use of Federal Reserve notes for any transactions.”

Once things get to that point, Federal Reserve notes would become largely unwanted and irrelevant for ordinary people. Nullifying the Fed on a state by state level is what will get us there.

Read More . . . .

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The Olden Days When Gold and Silver was Money.
When gold and silver was money somehow the sun came up every day, children played, businesses did business, people went to work and lived their lives.
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But our ever so smart economists from the very best schools (who think loaning money to Greece is a good idea) tell us we are the "crazy" ones for wanting a stable gold backed currency and balanced budgets.