by Joseph P. Farrell, Giza Death Star:
We round out this week’s blogging about the pushback movement from the states with this story from Tennessee shared by K.M. This is another benchmark development as we’ll see in a moment, but first, the article:
Tennessee House Votes 98-0 to Allow State Treasurer to Acquire and Hold Gold to Protect the State
I want to cite significant portions of this article:
As inflation continues to terrorize the budgets of Americans and states alike, two Tennessee bills empowering the State Treasurer to invest state funds in physical gold and silver are moving quickly through the legislature.
TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/
House Bill 1479, introduced by Rep. Bud Hulsey, passed out of the House of Representatives on Monday with a 98-0 vote.
Senate Bill 519, the identical senate-side companion bill introduced by Sen. Frank Niceley, passed out of the Senate State and Local Government Committee today by a unanimous vote of 8-0.
The legislation defines “bullion” and “specie,” as well as explicitly stating that “subject to appropriation, the state treasurer may purchase and sell gold or precious metal bullion or specie that will be directly owned by the state, and in the custody of the state treasurer.”
Additionally, the twin bills would allow the state treasurer to “make and enter into contracts, trust instruments, agreements, and other instruments with a person to effectuate this section, including, but not limited to, financial institutions, accountants, auditors, attorneys, consultants, and other contractors.”
Lastly, the measure calls for “physical gold and precious metal purchased under these acts to be custodied by the state treasurer in a state depository, and maintained in a vault within the state depository’s banking facilities in accordance with accepted industry standards for secure storage, and within the geographical boundaries of Tennessee.”
States that help set up the infrastructure to protect state funds with the monetary metals will help further to bring gold and silver into use as an alternative to the inflationary paper-money system, as well as buttressing state funds, many of which are invested in risky paper assets. (Emphases added)
Notice that with the bills under consideration, we are now moving rapidly beyond merely establishing a bullion depository, but rather, that the state treasurer is being more or less ordered to place state assets at least partially in the form of bullion and specie, as a response to what are increasingly “risky paper assets.” This war against ‘paper” is further indicated by a special direction that the gold and precious metal are Physical and to be custodied “within the geographical boundaries of Tennessee” and within the state’s own vaults.
In other words, no certificates of deposit from Chase Manhattan, and no storing of the gold anywhere else but in a state owned and run vault.
That, folks, should tell you just how bad fedgimmick is being viewed. It’s Tennessee’s way of saying – quite understandably – we no longer trust you, at all.
But the part that most grabbed my attention with these measures was this passage: “the twin bills would allow the state treasurer to “make and enter into contracts, trust instruments, agreements, and other instruments with a person to effectuate this section…” What kind of instruments are in view here? Trust instruments suggest that a measure of permanence and administration is being sought, and that therefore, Tennessee is not viewing these measures simply as stop-gaps in response to a financial and/or political crisis of the moment. It is saying, in other words, not only “we no longer trust you, at all” but also “we will never trust you, again.” But what intrigues me even more is the open-ended ability, under the bill, for the state treasurer to “make … other instruments with a person to effectuate this section.” Person here could be an individual off the street, or, for that matter, a corporation or any other entity having a status in law as a “person.”
