“What about a debt-free, government-issued, fiat currency like Lincoln’s Greenbacks? “
The fiat Greenback issue set off an inflation that lasted for years. Gold convertibility was suspended in 1861 and didn’t resume until 1879.
“According the the US Constitution, Congress has the right to issue our money, and cannot delegate it to someone else”
The Constitution authorizes Congress to coin money, not to print it. Moreover in Section 10 it prohibits States from making anything other than gold and silver a legal tender. There was a distinct antipathy to government paper money due to the recent experience of the Continental Dollar.
During the 1800s and up until 1913 banks printed their own currency. You could have a wallet full of dollars each printed by a different bank, and not all of them traded at par value. It was like dealing with foreign currency. The Federal Reserve Act provided for a uniform currency, something we take for granted today.
“We have been conned into borrowing our own money, thus incurring an unpayable debt and tax burden.”
We don’t “borrow” our money. There is absolutely no interest paid on the money we use, and in fact there is no way to implement something like that even if you wanted to do so. The only debt we owe is what Congress obligates us to pay, and we pay that debt to the Treasury via our taxes. There are a lot of hare-brained ideas floated about the Fed, but the one that amazes me the most is the idea that we pay interest on our money. I’ve yet to see anyone billed for the use of their money. But every April 15th I do get billed by the IRS for the money that Congress spends in my name. That debt does really exist.