Posted on 11/13/2012 3:53:15 PM PST by DeaconBenjamin
State Rep. Jerry O’Neil, R-Columbia Falls, is spooked enough about the country’s fiscal picture to request that his legislative pay come in the form of gold and silver coins.
In a letter sent to Montana Legislative Services this week, O’Neil cites Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which states in part that no state shall “make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts.”
He said that in his 10 years as a legislator, he considered it a “trivial matter” and he “did not want to be branded as a fanatic over an issue of no consequence.”
But now he says he is looking at the value of the dollar “in a new light.”
The country’s $16 trillion debt “is a warning sign we can only ignore at our peril,” he wrote. “It is very likely the bottom will fall out from under the U.S. dollar. Only so many dollars can be printed before they have no value.”
Contacted at his Columbia Falls-area home, O’Neil said that he did not contact Legislative Services prior to sending the letter to see if there may be any logistical barriers to providing his legislative pay in gold and silver.
He said he doesn’t know what to expect in the way of a response.
“They might just go to the coin shop and get me gold and silver coins, or they might say I have to do it myself,” he said. “I don’t know.”
O’Neil said he is largely trying to make a point and get “people to start thinking about what will happen if our money collapses. Also, I would like the state to think about the logistics of actually following the Constitution when it comes to gold and silver coin.”
The clause that he cites in the Constitution fell to irrelevance in all states, O’Neil believes, starting with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.
“One of the arguing points of passing that was to make money more elastic,” he said.
In his letter, O’Neil points out that he does not want to be paid at the face value of $50 American Eagle gold coins or $1 silver American Eagle coins. He stipulates that he should be paid at their market values, currently $1,801 for the gold coin and $35.28 for the silver coin.
“Let’s say I made $1,800 in a month. They could give one gold American Eagle” or multiple silver American Eagles, he said.
“Hopefully this will be an example for our Montana citizens and prompt them to also have some of their own wealth in money that has intrinsic value,” his letter concludes.
A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money.
Sure, why not. It's only the taxpayers' money after all.
This clown is unfit for office if this is his level of reading comprehension. if states want to issue their own money, it has to be gold or silver. US currency is legal tender in all states.
Good luck trying to get paid in precious metals. There are places these days that don’t even accept cash regardless of the “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private” printed on it.
At this point, I don’t think any elected official should be paid at all.
At this point, I don’t think any elected official should be paid at all. They should be paying us. We’re the ones getting screwed.
“This clown is unfit for office if this is his level of reading comprehension. if states want to issue their own money, it has to be gold or silver. US currency is legal tender in all states.”
Except, the same section prohibits the States from coining money, so it obviously can’t mean that...
At this point, I’d just about settle for a kiss.
If his salary is $1,801 every two weeks, then what does it hurt to give him a coin twice a month instead of cash? It’s the same value.
Until we get to hyper-inflation, he should have time to cash his check and use it to buy the gold himself
(Yes, I know this is a state legislator not a federal one, but still...)
You are wrong.
US Constitution, Article I, Section. 10, Paragraph 1:
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
I agree with him that the dollar is worthless.
If I demanded to be paid in gold or silver, it wouldn't make news.
He did and his demand did. I'm calling this good naked truth.
Offer in cash, when they say they won't take it, get it in writing, signed by a manager or somesuch (bonus points if you bring a notary), then walk away.
If/when they bring it up in court produce your document, claim that because they refused payment (as documented) you considered it a gift.
Actually he’s said just the opposite (2), that he’s doing this to bring devaluation to light (1).
(1) — He does not want to be paid at the face value of $50 American Eagle gold coins or $1 silver American Eagle coins. He stipulates that he should be paid at their market values, currently $1,801 for the gold coin and $35.28 for the silver coin.
(2) — The country’s $16 trillion debt “is a warning sign we can only ignore at our peril,” he wrote. “It is very likely the bottom will fall out from under the U.S. dollar. Only so many dollars can be printed before they have no value.”
I like your idea. Interestingly, the example I was thinking about is trying to purchase a meal with cash on a flight.
Why should the taxpayers pay to convert your ill-gotten gains?
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