Montana State Rep. Bob Wagner

A bill being considered in the Montana Legislature blasts the Federal Reserve's role in America's money policy and permits the state to conduct business in gold and silver instead of the Fed's legal tender notes.

Montana H.B. 639, sponsored by State Rep. Bob Wagner, R-Harrison, doesn't require the state or citizens to conduct business in gold or silver, but it does require the state to calculate certain transactions in both the current legal tender system and in an electronic gold currency. It further mandates that the state must accept payments in gold or silver for various fees and purchases.

While Wagner was unavailable for comment, the bill's language clearly alleges the nation's current financial system, with its reliance on the private Federal Reserve system for money supply, is a danger to American freedom.

"The absence of gold and silver coin, whether in that form or in the form of an electronic gold currency, as media of exchange," the bill states, "abridges, infringes on and interferes with the sovereignty and independence of this state … and exposes this state and Montana citizens, inhabitants and businesses to chronic problems and potentially serious crises that may arise from the economic and political instability of the present domestic and international systems of coinage, currency, banking and credit."

(Story continues below)

Further, the bill states, relying only on the depreciating legal tender issued by the Fed subjects citizens to "losses in purchasing power" inflicted by the government, a dilemma the bill says amounts to the "incremental confiscation" of property by government in violation of the U.S. Constitution's protections for just compensation and due process.

The Fifth Amendment states, "No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

Critics of the current financial system argue that using Federal Reserve notes as legal tender, rather than gold- or silver-backed currency, means the value of Americans' money – and thus their "property" – is siphoned away by inflation, a process perpetuated by the government's reliance on legal tender. Gold and silver, critics say, don't lose their value on the whims of the Federal Reserve.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, even favors abolishing the Fed's system of fiat currency to return to dollars backed by gold.

"Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar," the Texas Republican said. "Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy.

"How long will we as a Congress stand idly by while hard-working Americans see their savings eaten away by inflation? Only big-spending politicians and politically favored bankers benefit from inflation," he said.

Wagner joins legislators in several other states encouraging their respective governments to reconsider accepting gold as a form of payment. Indiana's S.B. 453, Colorado's H.B. 09-1206, Missouri's H.B. 0561, Georgia's H.B. 430 and Maryland's H.J.R. 5 are among the gold currency bills introduced just this year in various legislatures.

Montana's H.B. 639 has been referred to the Legislature's State Administration Committee.

Related offers:

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve"

"The Fed: Fraud of the Century" – Unconstitutional cartel literally creates problems it was supposed to prevent

"Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Money System and How We Can Break Free"

"$700 Billion Bailout": What it means to you, your money, your mortgage and your taxes

"Bailout: What the Rescue of Bear Stearns and the Credit Crisis Mean for Your Investments"

"Bailout Nation: How Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy"

Chain of Blame: How Wall Street Caused the Mortgage and Credit Crisis"

"Hope of the Wicked: Master Plan to Rule the World (book) "

"Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future from Economic Collapse"

Stop the bailout! Magnetic bumper sticker

Surviving economic meltdown in the age of Obama

Subscribe to Jerome Corsi's new weekly economic newsletter, Red Alert, for one year and, for a limited time get "The Obama Nation" free. (This offer applies only to annual subscriptions for $99.)

Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal

Previous stories:

Congressman: Audit the Fed's books

Financial fix? Abolish the Fed, says congressman

Fed says economy even worse than thought

Federal obligations exceed world GDP

Real budget deficit: $4 trillion

True deficit: $3.5 trillion

Unstimulated! Dow plunges 300

Trillions? Get ready for quadrillion

Stimulus still can't help Wall Street

Stocks reject Obama's plans

Fed borrowing could reach $4 trillion

Lawmakers in 20 states move to reclaim sovereignty

California prepares to stop paying bills

Stimulus-plan doubts push Dow under 8,000

Pelosi: Birth control will boost economy

Democrats now in control, say economy to get worse

Will Obama take a pay cut, too?

Obama adviser: White males need not apply

Fleeced! Obama's blanket 'stolen'

$1 billion allocated for batteries

NObama: Wall Street sees worst Inauguration Day

IMF warns of economic riots, police ready for civil unrest

GOP congressman: 'It is not your money'

How Paulson nationalized biggest banks in the U.S.