In what may one day be heralded as the formal proposal that
proverbially started it all, the Commonwealth of Virginia introduced
House Resolution No. 557 to establish a joint subcommittee to "to
study whether the Commonwealth should adopt a currency to serve as an
alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in
the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve
System." In other words, Virginia will study the fallback plan of a
"timely adoption of an alternative sound currency that the
Commonwealth's government and citizens may employ without delay in the
event of the destruction of the Federal Reserve System's currency" and
avoid or "at least mitigate many of the economic, social, and
political shocks to be expected to arise from hyperinflation,
depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the
Federal Reserve System." Most importantly as pertain to the
currency in question, "Americans may employ whatever currency they
choose to stipulate as the medium for payment of their private debts,
including gold or silver, or both, to the exclusion of a currency not
redeemable in gold or silver that Congress may have designated 'legal
tender'." Whether this resolution will ever get off the ground, and
actually find that the world is at great risk should gold not be
instituted as a backstop currency, is irrelevant. The mere fact that it
is out there, should provide sufficient impetus to other states to
consider the ultimate Plan B.
We urge all legislators to carefully read this resolution.
Full proposal (pdf):
