Bitcoin mentioned at congressional hearing.

[Bitcoin Swami]

Was watching this and the guy said something about bitcoins around 20 minutes 30 seconds

Ron paul was listening, wonder if he knew what he was talking about.

http://mfile3.akamai.com/65722/wmv/sos1467-1.streamos.download.akamai.com/65726/hearing0913112pm.asx

[BitcoinPorn]

Ron Paul schedules House hearing to push gold standard



http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/09/ron-paul-schedules-house-hearing-to-push-gold-standard/

Texas congressman and GOP presidential nomination hopeful Ron Paul is:

(a) chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, and

(b) an outspoken proponent of the gold standard.

Put those two interests together, and you have a subcommittee hearing scheduled for Tuesday on H.R. 1098, the Free Competition in Currency Act of 2011, a bill that would allow for gold and silver to be used as currency.

In a statement, Paul said that America’s current “pure fiat currency system” is part of what’s caused the current economic crisis—which explains the need for a bill like H.R. 1098.

The bill would remove taxes from gold and silver and repeal federal legal tender laws to free up the metals for circulation, a move which, Paul said, would allow “the American people … to have a choice of currencies to protect themselves and their families from the poor decisions of government.”

?

[hugolp]

The law also removes legal tender laws so it would be great for Bitcoin.

Ron Paul schedules House hearing to push gold standard



http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2011/09/ron-paul-schedules-house-hearing-to-push-gold-standard/

Texas congressman and GOP presidential nomination hopeful Ron Paul is:

(a) chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology, and

(b) an outspoken proponent of the gold standard.

Put those two interests together, and you have a subcommittee hearing scheduled for Tuesday on H.R. 1098, the Free Competition in Currency Act of 2011, a bill that would allow for gold and silver to be used as currency.

In a statement, Paul said that America’s current “pure fiat currency system” is part of what’s caused the current economic crisis—which explains the need for a bill like H.R. 1098.

The bill would remove taxes from gold and silver and repeal federal legal tender laws to free up the metals for circulation, a move which, Paul said, would allow “the American people … to have a choice of currencies to protect themselves and their families from the poor decisions of government.”

?

[jjiimm_64]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

[ctoon6]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

in school they teach that it had to do with people buying things on credit/margin if you are talking about investments. then being unable to pay, thus banks collapse, no FDIC, then more people loose money.

[TiagoTiago]

Did he really meant Bitcoin, or was it just "bit coins" as a generic term for digital currencies without him even knowing about Bitcoin itself?

[nhodges]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

Here's a little bit about what happened when we moved from the gold standard to the oil standard and why the only currency you can purchase oil (at the commodity-trade level) with is the US dollar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oARBdBtGenM

[BTCGameMaker]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

The way I read it is, the bill doesn't create a gold standard, it simply allows it to be used as currency.  Also I would argue that the depression had more to do with the federal reserve shrinking the money supply which had nothing to do with the money supply.

That being said, I would say there is nothing more detrimental to an economy than an unregulated and unelected body that can print money out of thin air on a whim and that's what the Federal Reserve is now.  The Federal Reserve is no more a part of the government than Federal Express is.

[mizerydearia]

In one slide at 11:30ish

Now, the promise to pay a dollar has been broken, and
The broken promise to pay a dollar has become a dollar!
Our money is now defaulted promissory notes

14:25+ cat/dog reference to explain fraudulent us dollar is quite interesting

House Resolution 1098

2nd speaker that referenced 'bitcoins' is Dr. Lawrence H. White.

[julz]

I only know of this mention at 21 min:

So removing legal tender status from US treasury coins and Federal reserve notes more generally would simply broaden the freedom to denominate debt contracts in whatever people want, not just dollars, not just gold, but they might want silver, they might want to say the debt is only discharged by cheques or wire transfers of dollars,
or it could be silver coins, or it could be units of foreign currency, claims denominated in consumer index bundles, or wholesale commodity bundles, (ah) or it could be Bitcoins.

Was that the only one?

[nhodges]

In one slide at 11:30ish

Now, the promise to pay a dollar has been broken, and
The broken promise to pay a dollar has become a dollar!
Our money is now defaulted promissory notes

14:25+ cat/dog reference to explain fraudulent us dollar is quite interesting

House Resolution 1098

2nd speaker that referenced 'bitcoins' is Dr. Lawrence H. White.

I was trying to find more information on the gentleman, thanks!

[evoorhees]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

You've been misinformed. To the extent that the gold standard "caused" the depression, it was because the government had printed and spent more money than the corresponding gold reserves, and thus creditors opted to take possession of the gold instead of dollars, causing a run on the bank type of situation. This is what happened to Britain as it entered its great depression. In other words, gold forces fiscal discipline, and when politicians don't behave, the economic consequences are made clear early on.

Compare this with today, where politicians can print and print and print, artificially keeping prices from correcting and risking hyper-inflation by so doing. The consequences of their actions in these past several years have not yet been felt, fyi.

The gold standard doesn't hurt economies. It protects savings, property, and value. If you prefer a world in which politicians perpetually steal your money by simply printing more of it (thus driving prices up which you pay), then you'll be antagonistic to a gold standard.

And your claim that "any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies" is very wrong. Mainstream media and government economists will tell you that, but economists who aren't fools will not. If you'd like an excellent article on this topic, written by Alan Greenspan himself (back when he wasn't a fool in the 60s), check this out... it might just blow your mind:  http://www.constitution.org/mon/greenspan_gold.htm

[error]

The real problem with the gold standard, or things like it, is that it makes it harder for governments and central banks to rip off their own people. Take any example of an economic crisis from U.S. history -- or even the world -- and if you study it carefully you will find that it was government attempting to screw with the money at the root of it.

(I'm waiting for some smartass to provide a counterexample. Go.)

[WiseOldOwl]

hhmmmmmm.   but didn't the gold standard help drive us into a depression because the gov couldn't print money to help the deflation that caused the depression?

so now I am torn.  I want the law so as to help bitcoin...  but dont want the law because any economist will tell you that the gold standard hurts economies.

Here's a little bit about what happened when we moved from the gold standard to the oil standard and why the only currency you can purchase oil (at the commodity-trade level) with is the US dollar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oARBdBtGenM

+1
OPEC Money

[LightRider]

And just 30 minutes later, some asshole says that "greed is part of the human condition". Blaming us for the bullshit that religion, government and bankers have perpetrated on human beings for centuries.

[phillipsjk]

(I'm waiting for some smartass to provide a counterexample. Go.)

Well, you have pretty much set up a tautology there. I have to come up with an economic crisis not directly related to government intervention in the economy. My first though it that the security theater since 9/11 may have dragged down the economy, but there are too many variables to say if it had an effect either way.

One major crisis since then was the collapse of the housing bubble. I would argue that the government was taking a largely hands-off approach. It was private corporations messing with the money supply through credit default swaps. Of course, it could be argued that corporations form part of the government and that the US is actually a Facist Corpratist state (bringing the tautology full-circle).

Edit: double checked the definition of Facism.

[hugolp]

(I'm waiting for some smartass to provide a counterexample. Go.)

Well, you have pretty much set up a tautology there. I have to come up with an economic crisis not directly related to government intervention in the economy. My first though it that the security theater since 9/11 may have dragged down the economy, but there are too many variables to say if it had an effect either way.

One major crisis since then was the collapse of the housing bubble. I would argue that the government was taking a largely hands-off approach. It was private corporations messing with the money supply through credit default swaps. Of course, it could be argued that corporations form part of the government and that the US is actually a Facist state (bringing the tautology full-circle).

Freddie and Fannie are not government entities?

Also, even when they were private banks offering the money, they are largely subsidized and incentivized to expand the money supply by the government.

I dont understand how anyone can say the government has taken a hands-off approach when we live under a monopolly of money.

[phillipsjk]

I just rember our right-wing prime-minister defending banking regulations he wanted to relax (such as allowing longer mortgage terms).

I am fairly left-wing. I never thought that I would see the US Nationalizing the banks in my lifetime (that is so left wing I didn't really advocate for it)

Edit: Governments largely have a monoply on dispute resolution too: government intervention!

[hugolp]

I just rember our right-wing prime-minister defending banking regulations he wanted to relax (such as allowing longer mortgage terms).

I am fairly left-wing. I never thought that I would see the US Nationalizing the banks in my lifetime (that is so left wing I didn't really advocate for it)

Edit: Governments largely have a monoply on dispute resolution too: government intervention!

Im fairly left-wing as well. Not all left-wings are authoritarian.

[cablepair]

This "Free competition in currency act" will never pass.

Although it would be good for Bitcoin in some ways, it is a preposterous idea that would never work.

U.S. Federal Reserve Notes are backed more on our economics than on anything else, and if our government allows other "Free competition" it would basically make our money worthless. Our money is worth what it is because it is our money, and it does not take a genius to see that this kind of thing is really not in our country's best interest. Ron Paul only mentioned Bitcoin because it fits into his fundamentalist agenda. He is an extremist and although his small group of supporters are really loud and good at making themselves look big, when it comes down to it, they are a small group who carry little votes.