Rumblings from Dixie! [><]

[Christians4LessGvt]

South Carolina Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Federal Currency

February 17, 2010 4:34 PM

South Carolina Rep. Mike Pitts has introduced legislation that would mandate that gold and silver coins replace federal currency as legal tender in his state.

As the Palmetto Scoop first reported, Pitts, a Republican, introduced legislation this month banning "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.

In an interview, Pitts told Hotsheet that he believes that "if the federal government continues to spend money at the rate it's spending money, and if it continues to print money at the rate it's printing money, our economic system is going to collapse."

"The Germans felt their system wouldn't collapse, but it took a wheelbarrow of money to buy a loaf of bread in the 1930s," he said. "The Soviet Union didn't think their system would collapse, but it did. Ours is capable of collapsing also."

The lawmaker believes that a shift to an economy based on gold and silver coins would give the state a "base of currency" should that collapse come. As one expert told the Scoop, however, his bill would likely be ruled unconstitutional because it "violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private."

In addition, since gold and silver regularly fluctuate in value, they could not easily function as stable currency.

But Pitts maintains that his state is better off with something he can hold in his hand and barter with as opposed to federal currency, which he described to the Scoop as "paper with ink on it." He says he resents what he considers the federal government's intrusions on states' rights.

Though he did not offer a timeframe, Pitts told Hotsheet that he anticipates a nationwide economic collapse "if our federal government continues the course it's been traveling under the previous administration and this administration."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/02/17/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry6217403.shtml

[Christians4LessGvt]

United States Constitution: Article I, section 10, clause 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".

[Christians4LessGvt]

Texas to challenge US greenhouse gas rules

Tue Feb 16, 2010

By Ed Stoddard

DALLAS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Texas and several national industry groups on Tuesday filed separate
petitions in federal court challenging the government's authority to regulate U.S. greenhouse
gas emissions.

Texas, which leads U.S. states in carbon dioxide emissions due to its heavy concentration of oil
refining and other industries, will see a major impact if U.S. mandatory emissions reductions take effect.

In December, the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
endanger human health, opening the door for the agency to issue mandatory regulations to reduce them.

Texas said it had filed a petition for review challenging the EPA's "endangerment finding" with the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Texas has also asked the EPA to reconsider its ruling.

"The EPA's misguided plan paints a big target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers
and the hundreds of thousands of Texans they employ," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.

The National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Petrochemical
and Refiners Association also said on Tuesday they filed a petition challenging the EPA in federal appeals court.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. iron and steel makers have also signaled they would file lawsuits.

Environmental groups said Texas should focus on building cleaner energy sources instead of filing lawsuits.

"Governor Perry should win an Olympic medal for taking the environment downhill," said Luke Metzger at
Environment Texas. "Global warming is the greatest environmental threat facing Texas and the planet
and Governor Perry's obstructionism puts the state at great risk."

Conservative Republicans like Perry have been sounding the alarm of job losses in the debate over
regulating greenhouse gas emissions -- a hot-button issue at a time of high joblessness and economic uncertainty.

The EPA is threatening to regulate carbon emissions if Congress does not. In June, the House of Representatives
narrowly passed a cap and trade bill that would allow industry to buy and trade pollution permits, but the legislation
has stalled in the Senate.

President Barack Obama would rather have Congress pass a bill that could provide more protections for industry
while also controlling pollution. But he is using the threat of EPA regulation to encourage lawmakers.

Some prominent Senate Democrats have predicted that comprehensive climate control legislation, including a
cap-and-trade mechanism, will not pass this year.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1661844120100216