South Carolina Republican Introduces Bill To Ban US Currency As Legal Tender In South Carolina

South Carolina might be a great state for the teabaggers. A bill was introduced in the South Carolina legislature would ban U.S. currency as legal tender:

South Carolina will no longer recognize U.S. currency as legal tender, if State Rep. Mike Pitts has his way.

Pitts, a fourth-term Republican from Laurens, introduced legislation earlier this month that would ban what he calls “the unconstitutional substitution of Federal Reserve Notes for silver and gold coin” in South Carolina.

If the bill were to become law, South Carolina would no longer accept or use anything other than silver and gold coins as a form of payment for any debt, meaning paper money would be out in the Palmetto State.

Pitts said the intent of the bill is to give South Carolina the ability to “function through gold and silver coinage” and give the state a “base of currency” in the event of a complete implosion of the U.S. economic system.

“I’m not one to cry ‘chicken little,’ but if our federal government keeps spending at the rate we’re spending I don’t see any other outcome than the collapse of the economic system,” Pitts said.

But one legal expert told The Palmetto Scoop that, even if it were passed, Pitts’ bill would quickly be ruled unconstitutional.

“It violates a perfectly legal and Constitutional federal law, enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, that federal reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private,” the expert said. “We settled this debate in the early 1800s. I appreciate the political sentiment but the law is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Unconstitutional? So  much for the meme that the far right believes in strictly following the Constitution. The Constitution which the far right follows is one which exists in their heads, not the one written by the Founding Fathers. Pitts had his answer:

Pitts, however, dismissed that claim, saying that “adherence to the Constitution is a two-edged sword. The federal government has consistently violated the Constitution, especially the 10th Amendment and Commerce Clause.”

As I said, the right wing has their own version of the Constitution.

Banning fiat currency is a first step towards attracting the teabaggers to the state. The next step might be to ban standard English spelling of words.

7 Comments

  1. 1
    Joy Green McGann says:

    RT @ronchusid: S.C. Repub Introduces Bill To Ban US Currency; Teabaggers should love it. Next they need to ban proper spelling http://bit.ly/aMn4OG #p2

  2. 2
    Martha says:

    That money in your pocket is worthless.
    Silver and gold have value unlike the paper fiat moeny we now are tricked with. The coins are LEGAL tender in the Constitution. I think thats the same one you are reading.

  3. 3
    Ron Chusid says:

    If it’s worthless you might send me any money in your pocket. People are happy to take the paper money meaning that (at least for now) it does have value.

  4. 4
    Alexis Zinya says:

    MT @ronchusid S.C. Repubican introduces bill to ban US currency; next they need to ban proper spelling http://bit.ly/aMn4OG #p2

  5. 5
    Walter Levin says:

    Blog: » South Carolina Republican Introduces Bill To Ban US Currency As … http://bit.ly/acynsi

  6. 6
    maryyooch says:

    Teh crazy never stops in South Carolina. Maybe we should just turn it into a permanent Nut House for all the Wingnuts. That way, the can secede from the Union and we won’t have to deal with them anymore.

  7. 7
    Leslie Parsley says:

    Great idea maryyooch. I wonder if fat stimulus checks that were initially shunned are considered paper.

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