Big News in the Fight for Sound Money!
Originally posted 3/19/09 on DailyPaul.com
A few months ago I posted an excellent five part series of videos by Dr. Paul’s friend and colleague Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Parks, entitled Collapse of the Dollar – Monetary Malfeasance, Resurrection of Gold: Reasserting the Monetary Powers and Disabilities of
the U.S. Constitution
Larry is the Executive Director of FAME, whose Board of Directors includes Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, Edwin Vieira, and other heavy-hitters who advocate sound money.
At the time I said that “I may be working with Dr. Parks on an abbreviated version in the near future to be distributed to state legislators… I will keep you all posted if that happens.”
Well, it’s here!
http://montanasoundmoney.org/parks.html
But that in itself is not the biggest news. The biggest news is the context in which this came about.
On March 12, 2009, the Montana House State Administration Committee held a hearing on HB 639, the Sound Money Bill. The purpose of this bill is to begin to reassert Article I Section 10 of the United States Constitution, which states that, “No State shall… coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts”. It largely derives from a bill written by Dr. Edwin Vieira for state legislators in New Hampshire a few years ago.
Dr. Vieira says of HB 639:
This legislation provides the citizens of Montana with the option of conducting their financial transactions with their State government on the basis of an alternative currency consisting of gold and silver, rather than Federal Reserve Notes. It establishes a mechanism through which—to the degree the State and her citizens deem prudent—the State can separate her own financial transactions from the Federal Reserve System; and, eventually, based upon the State’s action, Montana’s private economy as a whole can move away from dependence on the Federal Reserve System, too.
Four expert witnesses were live via speakerphone at this hearing: Edwin Vieira, Larry Parks, G. Edward Griffin, and James Turk.
After an opening statement by Montana State Representative Bob Wagner, Dr. Vieira testified.
Once he was finished Larry began his testimony. He delivered a condense version of Collapse of the Dollar, coming in at approximately 57 minutes. The testimony was accompanied by a powerpoint presentation, which was shown to the committee on a projector.
After that James Turk fielded some questions from committee members, and numerous Montana citizens made short statements in support of the bill. There were no opponents. Unfortunately G. Edward Griffin was not able to testify due to time constraints, but he called Larry shortly after the hearing ended to congratulate him on giving such an excellent presentation, and to tell him that he wants to help him get the video seen “by millions of people if we can.”
Larry has told me that in fourteen years of trying to get legislation like this passed at the state level their message has never been this well received, and that there has never been a better chance for passage.
Once you see the video of Larry’s presentation I think you will see why.
He e-mailed me yesterday saying that “the vote to let the bill out of committee so that the Montana legislature can vote on it is coming up any day.” He also said, “Assuming the bill gets out of committee, it will be voted on within 35 days.”
The plan is to get this video seen by as many people in Montana as possible, as quickly as possible. When and if the bill makes it out of committee it is imperative that it is seen by ALL state legislators in Montana before it is voted on.
Again, you can view it here:
http://montanasoundmoney.org/parks.html
Please spread this link everywhere you can!
If we can get this bill passed in Montana, there is no doubt that this will greatly increase the chances of it passing in other states.
Daily Paul member Shawn4Liberty says, “If you are in Montana call the Legislative Switchboard @ (406)444-4800 and leave a message for the State Administration Committee to vote yes on HB 639 and move it to the Floor for further action. If you have already called, tell your friends and family to call and push this important Bill forward for a Floor vote… Be firm, polite, and brief… Remind them this is NOT a partisan bill and it deserves to have a thorough debate and MUST be passed to secure Montana’s prosperity.”
Finally, please consider making a donation to FAME by clicking the PayPal link on that page. FAME is working hard to get these bills passed at the state level all over the country, and they rely on donations to finance their efforts. Their funds are currently lacking severely, despite the incredible work they are doing, mainly (I believe) because most people are unaware of their existence and what a good job they are doing. Hopefully this will change that.
“My old friend Larry Parks has done the nation a valuable service by exposing how even Alan Greenspan, the ‘man behind the curtain’ in America’s monetary OZ, knows that the Federal Reserve is an unaccountable bureaucracy that enriches special interests at the expense of working Americans and our nation’s economic security. I highly recommend this work to anyone who wishes to understand the dangers of our fiat money system and the reforms necessary to ensure the dollar is once again ‘as good as gold.” – Ron Paul, on Larry’s book “What Does Mr. Greenspan REALLY Think?”
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