Talk about love of retro money.
The Palmetto Scoop in South Carolina has this bizarre report
South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way.
Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls "the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin" in South Carolina.
If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.
Why was this bill introduced in the South Carolina House of Representatives? The Republican representative is concerned about the viability of the American economy.
Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to "function through gold and silver coinage" and give the state a "base of currency" in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system.
"I’m not one to cry 'chicken little,' but if our federal government keeps spending at the rate we’re spending I don’t see any other outcome than the collapse of the economic system, Pitts said.
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UPDATE: As this story makes the rounds, The Hill Newspaper links to the proposed legislation
Anti-government sentiment has found a new expression in South Carolina, where state Rep. Mike Pitts (R) has introduced a bill to replace federal currency in the state with gold and silver.
You can read the text of the legislation here. Of course, in the unlikely event that the bill becomes law, it would probably be ruled unconstitutional, since the federal government has the constitutional mandate to coin legal tender for "all debts public and private."
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CBS News' 'Political Hotsheet' adds the following
Mike Pitts (R-SC House of Reps)
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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."
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In other major news today, the following actions were announced around the country
The State of Mississippi will try to re-introduce Elvis Presley as its favorite son. State officials said that news of Elvis' demise have been greatly exaggerated and, in fact, Elvis has been alive and well for decades, performing at various Las Vegas casinos.
Simanca Osmani, Cagle Cartoons (Brazil), Buy this cartoon
The Ford Motor Company has definite plans to re-introduce the Edsel. Given Toyota's recent recall problems, the company's president said that this was a golden opportunity to gain market share. The Edsel, he reminded reporters at the press conference, never really got a fair shake in the late 1950's.
J.D. Crowe, Mobile Register, Buy this cartoon
The company which has the contract of demolishing Giants Stadium in New Jersey made a stunning announcement earlier today: Mob Boss Jimmy Hoffa had been living under the end zone in a lavish underground condominium and when workers discovered his hiding place, they contacted ace investigative journalist Geraldo Rivera of FOX News. When Rivera approached Hoffa, the mobster said, "What took you so long?" Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said that Friday, February 19th will be celebrated as 'Jimmy Hoffa Day' and there will be a ticker tape parade welcoming Hoffa as a respected model citizen of the city of Detroit. Hoffa declined comment.
Mike Lane, Cagle Cartoons, Buy this cartoon
Milli Vanilli will be inducted into the Pop Music Hall of Fame in Wichita, Kansas next week. Their supporters insisted that the group was deserving of this honor and that their past reputation was only a result of some youthful indiscretions. And, yes, they could really sing too.
Milli Vanilli, Girl, You Know It's True
Finally, famed plane hijacker D.B. Cooper -- who disappeared without a trace in 1971 by parachuting from an airplane with $200,000 in ransom money -- was found alive in Portland, Oregon. He turned himself in to authorities on his own volition. A brilliant investor on Wall Street all these years, the $200,000 Cooper took almost four decades ago had ballooned to $12 trillion. It was his patriotic duty, Cooper insisted, to pay off the national debt once and for all and help the country in times of economic recession. Doing so would enable passage of expensive new policies like Healthcare Reform. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was dumbfounded and pondered his next move.
A 1972 FBI composite drawing of D. B. Cooper
So, what's the news in your neck of the woods? Anything exciting happening out there?
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Crossposted at Docudharma
