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Saturday, May 27, 2017

In Blow to Federal Reserve, Arizona Just Legalized Gold and Silver as Currency - By Shaun Bradley

Phoenix, AZ — The latest massive price increases in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum have boosted the credibility of investors who criticize the fiat currency system. Unfortunately, precious metals haven’t followed in crypto’s footsteps yet, and heavy losses over the last few years have led many people to write off the asset class altogether. Owning things like gold and silver in the United States has either been outlawed or stigmatized since the Great Depression, but recently, real progress has been made towards once again recognizing them as legal tender.
In anticipation of the growing problems with the national debt, individual states across the country are seizing the opportunity to protect themselves and their citizens from financial repression. Twenty states have already eliminated sales taxes on precious metals transactions, but some are taking it even further. The most recent bill was H.B. 2014 in Arizona, which classifies U.S.-minted coins as a form of currency and even eliminates capital gains taxes on qualified precious metals. These kinds of simple actions directly threaten the power of the U.S. Federal Reserve, and any competition to the U.S. dollar undermines the central bank’s longstanding monopoly.
Representatives in Arizona worked on this legislation for years, and thanks to the support of people like Ron Paul, there was enough pressure on the governor to sign it into law.
Dr. Paul explained why this bill is so crucial for the future:
“HB 2014 is a very important and timely piece of legislation. The Federal Reserve’s failure to reignite the economy with record-low interest rates since the last crash is a sign that we may soon see the dollar’s collapse. It is therefore imperative that the law protect people’s right to use alternatives to what may soon be virtually worthless Federal Reserve Notes.”
We ought not to tax money, and that’s a good idea. It makes no sense to tax money,” Paul told state senators in March. “Paper is not money, it’s a substitute for money and it’s fraud.
Utah was the first to implement this new policy of empowering state governments against reckless federal incompetence when they passed H.B. 317 in 2011. This bill not only recognized coins as a form of money and eliminated taxes on them, but it also encouraged the state to study how it might establish an entirely new system of legal tender if needed.
Each state that stands up and refuses to be condemned to bankruptcy by the bloated bureaucrats in D.C. puts additional pressure on this failing paper Ponzi scheme. Only when enough people recognize the destructive road we’re heading down and demand a change will the federal government and banking institutions be forced to adapt. These growing pressures aren’t just manifesting domestically but can be seen developing around the world.
The growing uncertainty surrounding America’s future role in the international arena has inspired nations like China and Russia to establish their own currency exchanges that bypass the U.S. dollar. Their leadership in the BRICS nations has put them in an influential position in the developing world. Along with India, they are among the world’s largest gold buyers and have created reserves that could serve as a basis for a new reserve currency. This development of a new trading bloc in the East is being referred to by some as “The New Silk Road.”
Daily Reckoning analyst Byron King discussed how turbulent the current circumstances really are:
“Up to now, there has never been anything approaching a serious challenge to the global supremacy of the dollar — certainly not in global trade. Yet here we are, watching Russia and China set up a proto-trading system based on gold. The daily quote for gold seems not to price in even a hint of this development. Yet it could have world-altering implications as it all unfolds.”
The current economic realities affecting our quality of life will continue to force local representatives to take action while Congress faces gridlock. Without establishing alternative options for communities across the country, our entire standard of living may fall fully into the hands of the establishment politicians in Washington DC — more so than it already has.
There is a subtle ongoing realization that no matter what the pundits and politicians claim, there is no easy way out of this mess. The public’s confidence in central banking is clearly eroding, and hopefully, it will be enough to allow a new kind of financial freedom that hasn’t been seen in the United States’ economic system for over 100 years.