Ron Paul questions whether there's gold at Fort Knox, NY Fed

[babylonsister]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/116341-ron-paul-plans-bill-to-audit-us-gold-reserves


Ron Paul questions whether there's gold at Fort Knox, NY Fed
By Michael O'Brien - 08/30/10 10:21 AM ET


Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he plans to introduce legislation next year to force an audit of U.S. holdings of gold.

Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve and U.S. monetary policy, said he believes it's "a possibility" that there might not actually be any gold in the vaults of Fort Knox or the New York Federal Reserve bank.

The libertarian lawmaker told Kitco News, a website tracking news about precious metals, that an audit was necessary to determine how much the U.S. maintains in gold reserves in case the government were to use gold to back the dollar.

“If there was no question about the gold being there, you think they would be anxious to prove gold is there,” he said.


snip//


The gold reserves, which Paul's new bill would audit, are generally seen as a guarantee on a nation's currency, but the U.S. moved the dollar away from being tied to the price of gold in 1972.

Paul stopped short of calling for the reinstitution of the gold standard and instead called for the government to allow the use of hard currency — gold and silver tender — alongside the use of the dollar.

"If people get tired of using the paper standard they can deal in gold or silver,” he said.

:wtf:

[KamaAina]

1. zOMFG! The black helicopters took it all away to the secret vaults in Zurich!!!

:tinfoilhat:

[elehhhhna]

2. he's a nut. nice guy, and some good ideas, but golly what a goof.

[Ohio Joe]

5. Sorry, he is not a nice guy and a goof, he is a racist douchebag - nt

[SoxFan]

7. No, his ideas are foolishness

His economic policies would shred the safety net and dismantle the entire New Deal legacy.

His foreign policy is Taft-style isolationism; kiss the Peace Corps and any sort of international cooperation goodbye.

The environment? Well, if the market supports drilling for oil on the National Mall, who are we to question it...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. Yes, no, no, and yes.

Respectively.

[SidDithers]

12. He's absolutely not a nice guy...

he's a homophobic, misogynistic ass.

Sid

[cynatnite]

3. The Ferengi will be very upset. n/t

[Ikonoklast]

4. A gold standard would kill a modern economy.

He is so backwards-looking it isn't funny.

Might as well base a currency on soybeans. Gold is nothing but a commodity.

[customerserviceguy]

6. On the surface, this looks nuttier than squirrel turds

But it gets him headlines to actually push for such an audit. That's where his payoff comes.

Either one of two things happens:

1) An audit is done, the resultant value is compared to the amount of money in circulation, and is found woefully lacking, pushing tea party fears to the front burner.

2) The Obama Administration steadfastly refuses all requests, demands, and pressure for an audit, proving "they have something to hide".

Ron's way more savvy at how to play the game than Rand, but his boy is going to benefit from this, one way or the other.

[Lasher]

8. I question whether there is a brain in Ron Paul's head.

And you know what, he in the past called literally for a return to the gold standard, nutty as that is. He's just fine-tuning his bullshit to attract gullible followers, so as to make it seem his head is not really spinning after all.

[Scurrilous]

LOL

Whatta nut.

[Terry in Austin]

9. Hard currency

Sounds like it should refer to metal, but that's not what it means -- a bit of ignorance Paul & Co. are only too happy to exploit.

The only thing hard about gold and silver is making them serve as a currency for an economy this size.

It's about money supply -- the 19th century saw a 23 year long depression that was due in part to inadequate money supply, since money in those days was limited to gold and silver tokens. The economy tried to grow, but there weren't enough tokens available to represent the wealth.

[rug]

11. Next, he'll ask to see the atoms in the atomic clock.

[valerief]

13. Does it really matter anymore? I just assume it's been pilfered and used

to build Dubai palaces.

[tanyev]

14. Goooooold!

Another Stephen Colbert sketch writes itself. Pity they're taking a break this week.

[The Northerner]

15. Well, the Constitution does allow for the use of gold and silver, right?

But I don't know how practical it'll be today.

[babylonsister]

18. Yes, maybe when it was written. But also yes, doesn't seem

like it'd be too practical today.

[Botany]

16. Anybody seen 007?

[lame54]

17. he's going to pull a reverse Geraldo

[The Second Stone]

19. I'm okay with an audit of the gold at Fort Knox

as long as Ron Paul and his idiot offspring have to conduct it themselves under armed guard.