(More in “My Backyard”!) Colorado looking at gold, silver currency
DailyHerald.com
Friday, February 17, 2012
Worried that the U.S. dollar may not be good as gold, some Colorado lawmakers are pushing a bill to legalize gold and silver coins as usable currency.
The bill would not lead to folks carrying gold nuggets in their purses and would have little practical effect.
Rather the policy proposal from a small group of conservative lawmakers reflects anxieties about the nation’s financial stability, the domestic consequences of the European debt crisis and chronic deficit spending in Washington.
“There are lots of concerns about the U.S. monetary system,” said the bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Kent Lambert of Colorado Springs. “Individuals and states ought to be increasing their gold reserves. There’s no way to maintain the value of anything if countries start a race to the bottom by inflating their currency to get out of debt.”
Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is among those who believe the nation should return to the gold standard, in which paper currency is guaranteed by precious metal.
“I am not a Ron Paul kind of guy,” Lambert said. “But that’s something I think is very legitimate that he brought up.”
The Rest…HERE
Utah legalized gold and silver as a currency option last year. And lawmakers in more than a dozen other states have proposed similar legislation on gold currency, said Rich Danker of the American Principles Project. The Washington-based conservative think tank favors a return to the gold standard.
“These bills offer a sound monetary alternative to the U.S. dollar, and they allow people to store their wealth in coins that will not decrease in value,” Danker said.
