In article <
ht0d795be3ur6gqfp...@4ax.com>,
ASt...@elgereth.com
says...
>
> On Sat, 2 Nov 2013 14:42:31 +0000 (UTC), Guy Fawkes <
No_email...@wahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Matt Warner <Ma...@gmail.com-spam> wrote in
>>
news:l52cu...@news6.newsguy.com:
>>
>>> On Sat, 2 Nov 2013 04:26:05 +0000 (UTC), Guy Fawkes
>>> <
No_email...@wahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> BTW, where the fuck do you think gummint gets it's money from anyway?
>>>
>>> All gummints print money.
>>
>> Oh I see, a moron.
>> Money is paper.
>> Money in and of itself is meaningless.
>> It is a convenient measure of wealth.
>
> That wasn't always so, Guy.
> There was a time when monetary notes stated 'Will Pay To Bearer On Demand.'
> There was gold to back up the money. You can thank the Nixon admin for
> eliminating the gold standard.
>
You're off by several decades *and* several presidencies:
The Constitution requires US currency be minted in gold and silver.
Article 10: ''No state shall emit bills of credit, make any thing but gold
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts, coin money.'' The Founding
Fathers knew that irresponsible govts print paper money, backed by nothing,
overspend and devalue the currency, causing "inflation", and destroying the
economy. That has been happening for decades and is accelerating at a
tremendous rate NOW.
When the govt began issuing paper money it was backed by real gold and
silver.
In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created by Congress; a private
company, owned by member banks, and controlled by the bankers. The bank notes
were redeemable for gold/silver.
In 1933, FDR stopped the minting of gold coins and paper money was no longer
backed by and redeemable for - gold. You couldn't even own gold, that was
illegal. You had to return it to the Treasury for paper money. But
"collectors" could keep their gold coins. But they were no longer usable
currency...just like you can't go in a store today and buy bread with a gold
coin! Federal Reserve Notes are not backed by, or redeemable for gold/silver.
The mint made silver coins through '64, then reduced the silver content to
50%, and then finally in 1970 silver coins ceased. This was due to inflation
(we were warned it could happen by Thomas Jefferson, see first paragraph). In
1971, the govt ceased allowing foreign banks to redeem US dollars for gold.
This was when the gold standard ceased.
http://askville.amazon.com/USA-gold-standard/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=
61730078
From the FAQs page of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond:
When did the United States go off the gold standard?
H.J. Res. 192, approved by President Roosevelt on June 5, 1933, provided that
obligations payable in gold or specific coin or currency are contrary to
public policy, and that those obligations could be discharged dollar for
dollar in legal tender. After that resolution was adopted, currency of the
United States could not be converted into gold by United States citizens, but
the Treasury would convert dollars into gold for foreign governments as a
means of maintaining stability and confidence in the dollar. Because the
dollar was no longer freely convertible, one could consider that the United
States was no longer on the gold standard at that time.
http://www.richmondfed.org/faqs/gold_silver/
As of 2013 no country used a gold standard as the basis of its monetary
system, although some hold substantial gold reserves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_standard
Ooh: yet another "Conspiracy Theory." <chuckle> ;)
See `Fort Knox: Secrets Revealed' on the History Channel
http://hft.history.com/videos/fort-knox-secrets--revealed
Also; from The Numismatic News:
Gold all there when Ft. Knox opened doors
Posted on September 15, 2009 by NMN
America's gold bullion depository at Ft. Knox, Ky., was built in the 1930s to
be impregnable to enemy invasion, but 35 years ago on Sept. 23, 1974, it was
invaded by 120 members of a press contingent that I was part of, and a dozen
members of Congress and representatives of the Mint and Treasury Department.
It remains a gold-letter day for those who made it to the "A" list and
attended, and a bitter day for those who were not allowed into Ft. Knox, but
even more so for the journalists who had relentlessly argued, publicly, that
the visit would never be allowed in the first place because the government
had secretly trucked the gold out.
Even for the jaded, the experience was nothing short of amazing.
Visiting Ft. Knox, then as today, is virtually unheard of. The Treasury and
the Federal Reserve, both of whom serve as co-administrators of the facility,
have a strong policy against it. Dozens of requests are turned down annually.
Even former Presidents are denied entry.
Visit turn-downs were efficient and specific: "The Depository is a classified
facility. No visitors are permitted, and no exceptions are made."
No one from the public other than President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who made
an inspection trip in 1943, has been inside before or since, the 1974
occasion.
Reversal of this policy on a one time only basis came as a result of a series
of peculiar events that resulted in a congressional demand for an audit of
the bullion depository, and a first-hand viewing of the gold deposited there.
Prior to Ft. Knox, centralization of the nation's gold supply in New York was
policy until it was recalled that the British seized it during the
Revolutionary War and Nazi forces might try to do likewise.
It was determined that a military reservation was needed to act as protector,
and that the nation's gold and silver reserves would be separated. West
Point, with the nearby U.S. Military Academy was chosen for silver; for gold
it turned out to be the Ft. Knox military reservation outdid Lexington, Ky.
About a year and a half was taken in a project that included 16,000 cubic
feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing
steel, and 670 tons of structural steel.
Gold was transported by caravan across eastern America, reported afterwards
in the daily newspapers who marveled at the ingenuity of the building, its
interior vaults and symbolic meaning of the original secure location.
The cost of construction was $560,000 and the building was completed in
December 1936.
By the end of the Truman Administration in 1952, some $2 billion in gold had
been repatriated abroad to our allies. Suspecting that this was not the whole
story, the incoming Eisenhower Administration was faced with demands for an
investigation and promptly conducted one.
An advisory committee was organized under the directorship of Treasury
Secretary George Humphrey, and with the consultation of former Treasury chief
John Snyder. Rules were formulated and an audit conducted.
Reporting to the President, the committee said it "was impressed with the
evidence of the adequacy and effectiveness of the audit and controls methods
that are being followed ... Your committee has no reason to doubt the
accuracy of the Treasury's accounts." For two decades, the result of this
audit was accepted.
Vaults were sealed after that audit in 1953.
Vault doors containing this gold really are little more than compartments
within the giant vault. They have been sealed with a special tape designed to
show breakage and tampering. Hot sealing wax covers both ends, holding them
to a card that was signed at the time of the dealing by three representatives
of the government.
One persistent rumor that there was no gold left in Ft. Knox resulted in the
first opening of the depository to the public in 1974. The cause: Dr. Peter
David Beter, a Washington attorney, whose book "Conspiracy Against the
Dollar," makes an attack on international monetary reform and the Rockefeller
interests.
Beter charged that "powerful Americans have secretly permitted $20 billion
worth of gold to be removed from Ft. Knox." The weekly publication National
Tattler picked up the story, blazed it into headlines, and members of
Congress soon began to receive inquiries from constituents.
Ed Busch, of WFAA Radio, Dallas, Texas, gave Beter a forum to continue with
his charges. The Treasury initially refused comment, not wishing to dignify
the charges by way of rebuttal. Soon, however, congressional pressure for an
answer mandated a statement, made informally, that Beter's view was
"ridiculous."
Heightening suspicion on the part of Beter, and others, was the continued
refusal by the Treasury to open the facility for inspection by anyone --
including members of Congress.
Reason for this was well-explained by Mint Director Mary T. Brooks, whose
Mint bureau had full charge over the depository facility. "The policy against
visitors is longstanding," she commented in an interview with me in 1973.
Security, to be sure, was a dominant factor, but in the minds of some, there
could be only one reason: something to hide.
For me, the trip to Kentucky was a long one. Signs up for Ft. Knox press
contingent were all over the Louisville airport. Ft. Knox personnel handling
the press were present (not terribly large). An army bus awaited to take us
to the depository located on the military reservation.
Among those on the bus besides me: Clifford Mishler [then a senior editor at
Numismatic News, now ANA president], Robert Simon of the Chicago Sun Times
and Bill Barnhill of The Tattler (which started the whole Ft. Knox expose).
Joining later: Margo Russell, editor of Coin World, and Jim Miller, publisher
of COINage. My position was unique -- a freelance writer then taking a day
off from law school to have a story of a lifetime.
My notes from that day reflect the times: gas at 50.9 cents a gallon. (It was
priced 9 cents higher in New York).
Soon, a sign was visible on the road: Ft. Knox: Home of the 194th Armored
Brigade. Traveling along Brandenburg Road turnoff, which leads into the
military reservation, there are some railroad spur lines, rusted and weed
infested, indicating lack of use. I remember thinking, the gold didn't get
out that way.
As we moved still closer to the fort, however, the spur lines criss-cross the
entire area and these aren't rusted, or weeded, and seem to be well used. I
started to wonder.
Helicopters and small aircraft seemed to be in the air all the time.
The bus turned on to Bullion Blvd. The bus continues until it runs into the
perpendicular "Gold Vault Road." One hundred yards, or so, up is Ft. Knox
Bullion Depository.
At the entrance to Gold Vault Road was a sign and a large speaker. The sign
states in bold, large capital letters:
HALT. STATE YOUR BUSINESS IN LOUD SPEAKER. DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT PERMISSION.
Inside, I met up with Charles Stahl, president of the Economic News Agency
and publisher of Green's Commodity Market Comments. I asked him what would
happen if no gold was to be found. Stahl said that the price of gold on the
free market would rise.
"But there's no way it's not here," he said, noting in addition that it was
not even the world's greatest hoard.
"There's $60 billion in the Fed in New York," he noted, "the largest hoard
there contains 402 million ounces." Ft. Knox, he reminded me "has only 147
million ounces."
Recognizing Rep. Philip M Crane, R-Ill., I asked him why he had suggested a
tour of Knox.
"I suggested it because of rampant rumors that significant portions of our
gold reserves were gone," he replied.
"I suggested it to William Simon [Secretary of the Treasury] because, if
coupled with an audit, would serve to help gain confidence in the monetary
system.
"I'll be satisfied with the audit," he said, noting that there was a previous
one in 1953, just after President Eisenhower took office.
Crane noted he had held one of the 400-ounce brick (approximately 27 pounds)
and noted its worth of $65,000 on the free market.
"Exciting" was the way he put it. "It was impressive how much value can be
found in such a small package," he remarked.
Today, the value of the same bullion cube is worth over $360,000.
Ed Busch, of WFAA Radio questioned Crane closely.
Another member of Congress, Clair W. Burgener, R-Calif., on the House Banking
and Currency Committee, was among those present at Ft. Knox. In an interview
with me, he said it was both "interesting and educational and reassuring" to
have been there.
"Concern by some of my constituents," was the reason he cited for his
presence. "The audit is timely," he said, noting that it was "over 20 years"
since the last one.
"Personally," he said, "I'm convinced that only a conspiracy or a military
invasion could get the gold out of here."
Other members of Congress arrived for the tour.
Reporters drew sticks to see who went in first. The space is so crowded and
limited inside that only small groups could go in. Jim Miller and I were
chosen to go in with the congressional delegation.
The guards frisked everyone, including congressmen, with a sensitive metal
detector.
Maneuvering around the narrow corridors, the group entered a large staging
area and carefully examined the 20-ton steel vault door -- proclaimed
"impenetrable" by the guards.
There is a 104-hour time lock on the vault, and, usually, it is kept closed.
Since we went off the gold exchange standard in 1971, there was little call
for gold from the depository.
(Until Aug. 15, 1971, foreign governments could ask for physical gold in
exchange for U.S. Federal Reserve Notes at the rate of $35 a troy ounce,
necessitating physical removal.)
Entering the vault, which is the size of a comfortable four room apartment,
we saw a dozen compartments spread over two floors. Each was sealed with a
special tape designed to show if any forced entry had been made.
Mint Director Brooks took a scissors and prepared to cut the tape, breaking
the seal. She did so, and an officer opened the vault.
"I'm very happy to show the country that the gold is here," she declared.
"I knew it was here, of course." So did nearly everyone else who came, most
believing that the government would never show off an empty vault to the
press or public.
Seeing that much gold for the first time is overwhelming. Initially, the
glare from the light and flashbulbs on the shimmering metal is blinding
Rep. John Rousselot, R-Calif., was next to me and asked a guard about an
unsubstantiated rumor that Beter popularized: that there was an escape tunnel
from the building that was used to take out gold bullion.
Indeed, Rousselot was told, there is a tunnel in the lower level. He asks to
see it and was rebuffed. An argument ensued going up the food chain to Mint
Director Brooks, who approves the visit. I stick by Rousselot's elbow and
take out my camera to start taking pictures.
"No pictures here," a Treasury official said.
"Why not?" Rousselot demands. "He's an American!" Pictures allowed.
We found the tunnel sealed and dated as the vaults are. Explained an official
from the depository, "All vaults have this type of escape device." It can
only be opened from inside the vault and has an intended use only when the
door is shut, the time-lock set and someone mistakenly trapped in the vault.
The escape tunnel is about the size of a sewer pipe, and as Rousselot and
other members of Congress noted at the time, it moves horizontally and can
only he crawled through with some degree of difficulty.
The seal was broken at the delegation's request, and the door opened.
Conclusion was that the tunnel -- which opens inside the depository building,
but outside the vault proper -- was not a viable means for anyone to try to
remove substantial quantities of gold. The escape could only be made outside
the vault, not the building itself.
For a coin collector visiting the facility, there was one terribly ironic
note. More than a quarter of the gold that was viewed appeared to be coinage
gold -- .900 fine, obtained from the melting of United States gold coinage.
It was difficult not to be struck by the irony of seeing the end result of
the destruction of so many formerly collectible coins.
http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/gold_all_there_when_ft_knox_opened_door
s
The above tour was documented in the above-linked History Channel episode.
>
> Since it was no longer being used to back the money, it was removed (read
> pocketed). One could probably make a very educated guess as to who (plural)
> got rich off this. Since 1971, our money has not been backed by anything of value.
> It is simply script.
>
Yada Yada Yada
>
>> If we say that an ounce of gold is worth 100 monetary units then each
>> monetary unit will buy a certain amount of stuff. If the gummint prints
>> lots of monetary unit without the wealth of the nation increasing then
>> shortly that ounce of gold will be worth 10,000 units and now that single
>> credit buys 1/1000 of what it did before.
>>
>> I give you Weimar Germany as the most egreious {SIC} example where it took