Oh brother, we’re still talking about this? I thought we hashed this out months ago.
http://moslereconomics.com/2011/01/20/joe-firestone-post-on-sidestepping-the-debt-ceiling-issue-with-coin-seigniorage/

United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. 31 USC 5103

The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time. 31 USC 5115(k)

The Secretary shall credit the coinage profit fund [now called Mint Public Enterprise Fund] with the amount by which the nominal value of the coins minted from the metal exceeds the cost of the metal… The Secretary shall deposit in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts excess amounts in the coinage profit fund. 31 USC 5111(b).

unless power is seceded to them

minor edit: “unless power is ceded to them,” not “seceded.” Feel free to delete this after making change.

If this radical nihilistic tactic works, it will basically stand the entire principle of our Constitution on it is head.

Don’t worry, we have a president who is a constitutional scholar — and defender. /s

Oh I never get tired of being reminded of that.

Gold broke $1,500 Dollar is sinking. Moody and S&P downgrade USA credit, so congress wants to use extortion to get their way and down size government further. Tax the poor give the rich who killed the global economy a free ride on our back. Deficit reduction will reverse the anemic recovery.

Gawd..I read bullet-proof platinum coins..

All of Cantor’s grandstanding kabuki is part of the “deal” that is already agreed to by Barryco. Republicans make a big ruckus and Barry will say “fear them” “fear them”..you don’t know how hard it is to do what I do..blah frikkin’ blah…then he’ll sign-off on their terms. That’s their MO.

$1500/oz gold is a round #, like winning 20 games, batting .300, rushing for 100, passing for 300.

It’s been hovering near that for weeks and months. Silver prices have risen much faster and steeper. Not many can buy gold or have it to sell, many can buy silver and have a lot of it to sell bc they need cash. Metals dealers are willing to part with their cheap cash in exchange for the precious bc they know it’s going up more. And more. Both.

But S&P didn’t downgrade US credit rating: you mean the ‘shock news’ threat is being used to cutcutcut.

Don’t forget the third branch among equals, the Justices Supreme, five of whom, when the cat food runs out will rule we can eat shit.

well, well, no. wait now, jon. you just hold on there one second now. The House is The People’s House, see? So whomever controls The House is most important ’cause the people, in gthis country anyway, are most important. That’s the beauty of The Constitution. So whomever controls the House can do whatever they want. The Founders were genius. Power to The People!! Power to The House! Power to The Boner!

and die.

I don’t want to be rude, but it’s “whoever controls” (subjective case). I had to say something because in the last couple years I’ve seen this error more and more often on the Internet.

You all are having to much fun!
Grin

Agree and it’s not even what Fowler calls ‘elegant variation’. It often shows up wrong because it ‘sounds’ right: ‘Give the freedom to whomever will use it.’

Fuck Cantor. Obama and Mark Zuckerburg are buddies now. We’ll just base the valuation of the dollar on Facebook and print Farmville dollars.

Well there goes the retirement age to 80 and now medicares just goes into a wall street coffer.

Fuck Amurrkha.

I’m nonplussed. And maintaining the option of “exile”.

536 people to dictate the laws and structures of government for a nation of 300 Million is a bad joke.

The status quo is the current debt limit. To change this status quo, you will need:

“either need broad concessions or to definitively win the support of the public in a series of elections to gain full control of the House, Senate, and Presidency”

They are working on the broad concessions, since they obviously haven’t definitively won the support of the public (lost the house).

Your idea of status quo is flawed, the status quo was never debt limit equals infinity, it is whatever was previously passed.

That’s pretty much what I thought as soon as I read it.

The deal is done–it’s all theater right now.

I’m flummoxed about how blocking the debt ceiling increase would stand the Constitution on its head — an intriguing take, nonetheless, even if more style than substance.

But suppose it does raise Constitutional questions, then should there be an urgent request for relief directly from SCOTUS? The advocates might not like the response, and it would only tip the scales further in the wrong way, I think.

It’s not just the House, either. There is also talk of a filibuster in the Senate to stop the increase — plausibly just a right wing effort to smoke out blue dogs again, part of the run up to 2012. There will be more of those efforts going forward, as well.

If this radical nihilistic tactic works, it will basically stand the entire principle of our Constitution on it is head. Instead of our system’s veto points being used to favor maintaining the status quo, therefore requiring decisive political wins to enact partisan changes, the veto points will now be the tool of a minority to threaten reckless destruction in order to force sweeping change, despite failing to win elections.

Only when that minority is Republican and the policy changes benefit the most wealthy, of course!

One wonders if any Republicans ever take a civics class…

I was working at the polls one year with a Republican, of course, who did not know that we re-elect the entire house every two years and one third of the senate every two years.

How does one not know something like that? He even went to decent schools, was a lawyer and prosecutor… good grief!!!!

Gonna be a lot of catalytic converters stolen from cars now. $1800/ troy oz for platinum. Geez. Maybe I’ll cash in the bins of platinum scrap accumulating in my garage.

If you read the constitution and compare it to current reality you see gaps you can float a super tanker through. “Experts” will explain that the constitution is a “living document” which means that even though it still says exactly what it always said its “meaning” is infinitely flexible and changes over time to remain relevant. Further, there are only nine people in the world with sufficient wisdom to fully understand what the document is saying today. This must be true. I never would have guessed that the constitution was telling me that corporations are people and money is speech.

You may believe what you wish. I believe the constitution is actually a dead document. A museum piece.

Cantor, nonetheless, is tightly packed with shit. The people who would be hurt most by default are the people who own him. The debt ceiling will be raised or eliminated no matter what and Cantor knows that. So does Obama and every literate human being that is paying attention. We are witnessing bad political theater (worse even than the “health care debate”) which will end with the destruction of the New Deal.

THE DEMOCRATS AND THE REPUBLICANS ARE READING FROM THE SAME SCRIPT. When you go to the movies you intentionally suspend disbelief so you can get involved in the story. This is not a movie. This is real live theft of your pension and your livelihood.

Ha ha, that’s the trick. It only takes one or a handful platinum coin to cover the deficit (or all publicly held debt, but that seems excessive). There’s no legal or economic relationship between a coin’s metal value and its denomination for legal tender purposes, were it otherwise, a $1 dollar coin would be only be “worth” 12 cents. And while most coin designs and denomination are set by congressional statute, the Secretary gets to determine a platinum coin’s face value. The Federal Reserve buys coins at face value, not metal value, so deposit a $50 1 oz gold piece, and in return you’ll get $50 in deposits or cash.

2011 series Platinum Eagle coins scheduled for release next month will have a face value of $100. The Secretary can call an audible by approving the coin design (I like the one with only the girl and a dove) subject to a small revision–following “$100″ add the word “billion”.
http://news.coinupdate.com/platinum-eagle-design-candidates-reviewed-by-cfa-0598/

If this jumbo coin were minted per Secretary’s “amended” design, each 1 oz coin Tsy deposits with the Federal Reserve– I can’t imagine more than a dozen or so– would net Tsy General Fund nearly $100 billion (minus, as you note, $1800 per coin for the cost of platinum).