Selling Gold at Fort Knox Emerges as Next Big Question in Debate on Federal Debt Limit

The New York Sun ^ | May 17, 2011 | David Pietrusza

[abb]

That is an estimate. But if you take any three average government workers and do away with any one of them, the taxpaying public would never know the difference. I added 5% for fudge factor.

[LibLieSlayer]

I agree... sell off all of the State lands that they stole... wait... maybe they should just give back what they stole in the first place.

LLS

[Dick Bachert]

Roger that. I’m sure it’s larger now, but about 15 years ago, fedzilla owned as much property as there was land east of the Mississippi.

So much for “to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;”

We need to elect folks who didn’t major major in “Torturing the Language” in college.

[Pikachu_Dad]

Better a default than to sell the coal to the Chinese.

Perhaps we could undo the Louisiana purchase?

Who would like to buy Louisiana?!? Anybody?

[ctdonath2]

“the 73-year-old Fort Knox vault. Its glittering gold bricks, totaling 147.3 million ounces (that’s about $168 billion at current prices)”

There is over $1.5T in US cash currency.

For those wanting to return to a gold standard, we’re about 1,473 million ounces short.

[SunkenCiv]

:’D Thanks gw!

[Mariner]

"Dumbass"

Care to attempt to make a cogent argument to support your assertion that I am a dumbass?

[freedomfiter2]

If the government dumped a ton of gold on the market, the price would slump, and might slump hard, taking years to recover to anything close to current values, if it recovered at all.

Yeah, then they could buy it back for a third of what they sold it for. I agree though, real estate should be what the Federal government sells.

[meyer]

Sell New York and California.

I would certainly consider buying gold, but I wouldn't even think about buying a liberal state!

[meyer]

But if you take any three average government workers and do away with any one of them, the taxpaying public would never know the difference.

I believe that I'm in a position to be able to choose at least a few of those "workers". There's a couple of folks I know that think that their government paycheck is a welfare check, and they're about as willing as a welfare recipient to put up some sort of effort to earn their pay.

[bert]

I think perhaps it has been leased andwho knows what the people that leased it did with it

[dusttoyou]

No way they’ll sell off land. This Debt Limit thingy is just so much theater for the masses.

[RKBA Democrat]

No, no, no, no, no.

If you want to deal with the debt, deal with it. Not by selling off assets at a fire sale, but by repudiating the debt.

That’s right, walk away. Declare bankruptcy. Because that is the only way we will actually get a balanced budget: when the politicians have no other choice because no one will lend the money anymore.

Let’s say we sell off all of these assets. Then what? Does anyone actually believe that the politicians will suddenly act with fiscal restraint? No, they’ll just continue their spending binge with whatever they generate from the fire sale.

[bert]

-——we should be buying all the gold with our phony money-——

Perhaps we are. Buying gold with US$ printed by the fed to buy bonds is a bigger scam than Bernie Madoff on his best day

[Cobra64]

The feds should AUCTION off MOST unnecessary property before attempting to RAISE the DEBT LIMIT.

That is a fiscally irresponsible solution to the immediate problem. The problem is spending.

The Feds owned no property when this America was founded. Therefore it is not the federal government's property to sell.

This property should be turned back over to the States.

Furthermore, what do you propose we do 10 years from now when we are in the same situation we are in today?

(See my tag line)

[Mariner]

I believe Heritage will repudiate this suggestion within the week.

It's time to have a serious discussion about sovereign default.

[Carry_Okie]

Too late. Federal Lands were put up as collateral in the '70s. We're all that's left. Hmmm... sounds familiar.

Genesis 47:14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. 16 And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. 17 And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed [3] them with bread for all their cattle for that year. 18 When that year was ended, they came unto him the second year, and said unto him, We will not hide it from my lord, how that our money is spent; my lord also hath our herds of cattle; there is not ought left in the sight of my lord, but our bodies, and our lands: 19 Wherefore shall we die before thine eyes, both we and our land? buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh: and give us seed, that we may live, and not die, that the land be not desolate. 20 And Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field, because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof. 22 Only the land of the priests [4] bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore they sold not their lands. 23 Then Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for you, and ye shall sow the land.

[cookcounty]

How can you be for the gold standard and favor selling off the last of the gold???

Ron has some ‘splainin’ to do.

[M-cubed]

We went off of the gold standard. You think it's a good idea for them to hoard gold in Kentucky? Why? <<

ARTICLE 1. Sec. 8 of the Constitution....we need to get back to the Founders intent...

[Pelham]

"What leads anybody to suspect there is still a substantial amount of holdings of gold at Ft Knox?

There’s a reason why the Federal Rrserve doesn’t want to be audited"

The Federal Reserve has no connection with Fort Knox. The US Bullion Depository at Fort Knox is controlled by the Treasury Department.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has its own gold vault in Manhattan, totally independent of Fort Knox and the Treasury Department.