More stories in the press on the subject of the recent announcement from the US mint. There isn’t as much attention being paid to this as I would like, but it still appears to be making a few headlines. 33 hits today, quite a step up from the 4 or 5 of a few weeks ago.
It’s still nothing more than a threat. No arrests made, no further elaboration from mint officials on the glaring errors in their statements. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who is familiar with the problems that We the People has been having getting their very simple questions answered.
But, like the tax protest problems, the law relating to money in the US is not exactly clear on the subject. Well actually it’s quite clear on the subject, it just isn’t being followed by the Federal Reserve or the government of the US. If it was, there would be no need for alternative currencies like the Liberty Dollar. The US dollar would provide a store of value. Inflation wouldn’t occur. We wouldn’t be in anything approaching the financial mess that this country is in right now.
Anyway, here’s a few of the stories I’ve run across.
Liberty Dollar medallions could land coin collectors in jail Trots out the 7 year old hatchet job from the Southern Poverty Law Center as part of the argument against the Liberty Dollar. Other than that it’s rather even handed.
The Washington Post says: ‘Liberty Dollars’ Can Buy Users A Prison Term, U.S. Mint Warns. But they only quote the same tired sources who misquoted the constitution in their original press release, and the above referenced hatchet job. No additional information, and much more negative than the Missoulian article.
As bad as the article is at the Washington Post, it’s nothing like the entrapment and complete mischaracterization that plays out on this video from WCBS. I’m actually embarrassed for the reporter who did this story. Is this what passes for journalism these days?
On a completely different note, the Philadelphia Inquirer wants to know: Is it sounder than a dollar? and quotes one of my more favorite statistics:
To use a concrete example, in 1948, gasoline sold for 25 cents a gallon, so a buck bought four gallons.
The dollar of that era was a silver certificate backed by just over three-quarters of an ounce of silver. That same quantity of silver still buys about four gallons at today’s prices – proof, say Liberty’s advocates, that precious metal retains its value while Federal Reserve notes, which they derogatorily call “FRNs,” diminish in value the moment they hit the street.
In what can only be called a positive piece for the Liberty Dollar. About the only article I’ve read that doesn’t toe the government line on the illegality of using Liberty Dollars in transactions. I hadn’t realized that the government had outlawed the barter system. I think they’ll have a hard time enforcing that.
Finally, UPI posted this last Wednesday, which has been picked up in several media locations:
U.S. Mint: ‘Liberty Dollars’ a buck short
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 (UPI) — Alternative “Liberty Dollar” coins being circulated have prompted the U.S. Mint to remind users they can lose their liberty for five years for using them.
The silver and gold coins are produced at the private Idaho mint of the National Organization for the Repeal of the Federal Reserve Act and the Internal Revenue Code, The Washington Post reports.
They first appeared in 1998 as the brainchild of NORFED co-founder and “monetary architect” Bernard von NotHaus, who claims on the group’s Web site the coins are a hedge against inflation.
The group claims to have more than $20 million in Liberty coins and notes in circulation, which is a bane to U.S. Mint officials.
“Merchants and banks are confronted by confused customers demanding they accept Liberty Dollars. These are not legal coin,” mint spokeswoman Becky Bailey told the Post, adding users could face a 5-year prison sentence.
In response to a public warning issued by the Mint, NORFED responded on its Web site, saying: “Here it is in plain sight … the Liberty Dollar is not a coin, not legal tender, and backed with inflation proof gold and silver!”
UPI
A buck short, indeed. As if the mint has any idea what the value of a dollar really is. A deer skin (a buck) goes for a good bit more than a dollar these days. I think they need to arrest a few people. Let’s see how strong their case is.
Editor’s note. I left this article pretty much alone. I did remove a few links to previous articles that I had compressed into one longer article on the subject. I was tempted to add this one to that article as well, but decided to let it stand. Why? Because it is cautionary tale about how dangerous it is to think you know things that you don’t actually know and can’t really explain.
I find it amusing, in hindsight, that I was so certain that the Liberty Dollar system was in the right and that this would be proven in court, all the while ignoring that nagging little voice that pointed out just how far into the wrong the marketing had spread before it was checked by the warning from the US Mint. What came after these events should not have been a surprise.
I knew you and the Wife were Cult leaders! I mean I have had my suspicion for sometime now… I could tell by the amount of large quantities of bulk food you provide to keep your cult moving. Now, as a child slave in days gone by, by order of Family Cult, I am able to recognize such behavior. I personally know you harbor COMD….(Children of Mass Destruction, lol) YET SOON THEY WILL BRANCH OUT AND BEGIN THERE OWN CULTS…! OK, Da Da…. cute…. anyway, have a great day! Dali Dagger