Libertarian Leanings

INTERVIEW: The 2024 Sound Money Index and Legislative Progress

Mike Maharrey:  

I am Mike Maharrey. I am a financial analyst and journalist for Money Metals, and I'm here today with Jp Cortez, the executive director of the Sound Money Defense League. How are you doing, Jp?

Jp Cortez:

Hey, Mike. I'm doing well. Thank you so much for having me on.

Mike Maharrey:

Well, you're welcome. I'm excited to talk to you about this because you guys just released the Sound Money Index for 2024 and very cool stuff there. But before we get into that, I would like for you to kind of give the audience a simple explanation. What do we even mean by sound money?

Jp Cortez:

Yeah, it's a great question. So what we mean here, we're talking about money that is subject to market forces and retains its purchasing power.

So this would be in the tradition of a Hayek or a Mises or a Rothbard. The US Constitution obviously explicitly declares gold and silver money. Article I, Section 10 says, "No state shall make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in the payment of debts."

So along with it being literally written into our firmware, our American software Code, it also presents two unique value propositions: The first reason why sound money is important is because it protects capital and it creates stability. Individuals and civilizations can thrive when sound money is instituted because uncertainty is reduced.

The rich world that we live in today did not happen by accident. This was several generations working extremely hard and accumulating wealth and then diverting or spreading that wealth through different infrastructure, through different things that we need to live a prosperous society the way we do today.

The second thing is that sound money acts as a bulwark against big government. This is a protection, a guardrail that handcuffs. It places golden shackles on a government that would otherwise spend recklessly.

Mike Maharrey:

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a great explanation and it's kind of sad because we've evolved to the point today where the Federal Reserve basically has a monopoly on money. Gold and silver became money over history through market forces. The people chose gold and silver to be money for a number of reasons.

Jp Cortez:

Mike, that's such an important point right there. Money is not brought by edict or by Congressional Declaration. No executive order can make something that isn't money, and we're seeing that play out in the market today.

Mike Maharrey:

So now we have the Fed and it essentially operates as a monopoly on money, and we've seen the results of it. I mean, the inflation, price inflation, that we've suffered through over the last couple of years. It's a direct effect of the reckless money printing that is possible because we have a fiat currency that's totally controlled by the government.

What we're seeing now is, we're starting to see some things going on at the state level to encourage sound money, and to at least reestablish that competition for currency, and maybe at some point undermine the Fed's monopoly.

That's kind of what the Sound Money Index is about and you just released the new edition. And can you just kind of explain what it is? I know it involves the states and the way they handle money in their legal structure, but what is the Sound Money Index tell us?

Jp Cortez:

It tells us a lot of things. The Sound Money Index is a yearly scorecard that we put out every year. The Sound Money Defense League, in conjunction with Money Metals Exchange, releases this report card every year that ranks all 50 states. This year, we have 14 different criteria to determine which state provided the best pro- sound money state or the most anti- sound money state based on the legislation that they've passed or haven't passed so far.

In this year's criteria, we're ranking these states using a number of different factors, including: the sales tax on precious metals and income tax, the state's general average tax rates, whether or not the state imposes a gross revenue tax, if the state has reaffirmed gold and silver as money, or if the state has, for example, invested state funds in reserve funds or pension funds in physical gold and silver held within the state, to name a few.

This is a very robust and very full-fledged index that covers a lot of topics. This year, the top has shifted. The top five states on this year's index are Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Arkansas.

While the bottom five states, Vermont, New Jersey, Maine, Minnesota, and California are states that have failed to, in many cases introduce legislation like this, and definitely failed to pass it.

Mike Maharrey:

Yeah, it's interesting. Looking at the rankings and you mentioned those top states, what are they doing? What can you do to, if you're in a state and you want your state to be among those top, what are the things that Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, New Hampshire, Arkansas, what are they doing right?

Jp Cortez:

Well, they're passing legislation to remove the biggest issue that keeps us from using gold and silver as money: that's the taxes. The friction into and out of the US dollar and into out of gold and silver is what keeps us from using gold and silver as money.

In Arkansas's case, these are states that have reaffirmed gold and silver as money and offered contractual protections so that contracts denominated in gold and silver must be paid in gold and silver, not a substitute like the US Federal Reserve note.

So these are states that have proactively reduced taxes, removed taxes removed frictions, removed onerous regulations, and other barriers to people using gold and silver as money.

Mike Maharrey:

And I guess that's politics, right? You have to do the fight. But I think it's interesting because really what you're talking about, if I'm understanding correctly, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but as states do this, as they lower taxes and elevate sound money in effect, they're opening up the market, right?

But I think it's important to note that really it's important these laws can be passed, but they don't really mean anything unless people take action. We need human action to take advantage of the environment in these states and kind of push the issue forward and actually utilize sound money. That's where the real, the kind of rubber meets the road, don't you think?

Jp Cortez:

Oh, yeah, I am in total agreement with you, and we see it every day. It's so heartening to see innovations in money.  There are smart people that are devoting time and money to figuring out how to fix America's broken money. On the gold side, we have fractional gold unlike we've ever seen before. We've got bills with gold inlaid in them. Some of the innovation happening on the gold and silver side as well as on the crypto side is really heartening.

These pieces of legislation, you're right, we're not talking about creating money here, necessarily, but what we are talking about is removing the barriers and removing all of the disincentives standing in the way of smart people continuing to move forward and create innovation within money.

Mike Maharrey:

Yeah, yeah, that's fantastic, a great way of putting it. So looking at this year's report and kind of comparing it to 2023, I noticed that there's a couple of states, you mentioned this that really moved up in the rankings. Look at Arkansas, they went from, looks like number 30 in 2022, now they're number five, and then we have Mississippi and they jumped from 43rd, so almost at the bottom all the way up to 16th.

What did specifically Arkansas and Mississippi do to make that big run up the states? And if you're in one of those bottom states, what can you encourage your state legislatures to do?

Jp Cortez:

Yeah, these are two case studies of states that have worked the process over years and through incredible grassroots, through immense grassroots pressure we have applied on the legislature, that is how policy gets passed.

So in Arkansas's case, this is a state that for many years we'd been in there trying to remove a sales tax at first, and in 2021, we finally removed the sales tax on precious metals in Arkansas on purchases.

This year a bigger bill, a more widespread and far-reaching bill was introduced, and then passed, using the momentum that we gained in 2021. This year a bill was passed to remove all tax liability on gold and silver. The state has removed all of the taxes that exist on the metals, and has preempted any future taxes that may be imposed in the future.

It's also a bill that reaffirmed gold and silver as legal tender, the value in that is the specific performance for contracts denominated in gold and silver.

In Mississippi's case, this is another case where for seven years we've been working that legislature trying to get hearings. This year, after several meetings with the legislatures and sponsors and caucuses and different members of the legislature, we finally got this bill passed to remove the sales tax.

So these are two states that have been case studies on how important the grassroots pressure is. Legislators hearing from the people in the state makes all the difference in the world. And so that's been a key part to our strategy, an invaluable part to the strategy.

Mike Maharrey:

Absolutely. You make a really good strategic point too. Thomas Jefferson once said that the ground of liberty is to be gained by inches. And we saw this play out in Arkansas and Mississippi where it started with a relatively small step forward and just getting rid of the sales tax, and then that foundation was set and then the grassroots was able to build on that and pass a more far-reaching bill in 2023.

So I think a lot of times people that are in political activism, they want to do everything at once. And I mean obviously I'd love to do everything at once too, but from a strategic standpoint, sometimes you have to take those small steps and then build on them as Jefferson said. So what are some other states that made improvements in the most recent legislative session?

Jp Cortez:

Arkansas and Mississippi are going to be the primary ones, the ones that moved the most, but that wasn't it as far as sound money legislative victories in 2023.

In Florida, I'm happy to say we passed HB 737. This is a bill that removes some of the restrictions on dealers. In many states, there are laws that say that dealers are not allowed to transact in cash, or that if someone comes and sells you an item, you have to write down and keep track of all sorts of personal information of the person who sold you this item.

And it's not just that, at the end of the day, you have to upload all of this information into a police database and who knows what they're doing with it.

Mike Maharrey:

Exactly.

Jp Cortez:

In Tennessee, we passed a bill this year, or two bills, Senate Bill 519 and House Bill 1479. These are bills, just like we were saying, where a state that has slowly worked its way along the process and last year, we finally passed a sales tax exemption.

These states have balance sheets full of risky ETFs and mutual funds and bonds and all sorts of third world debt, and many of them don't own a single ounce of gold to their name. So this was a very big deal happening in Tennessee, and other states are starting to introduce and pass legislation like this, seeing the success that we've had in Tennessee.

Mike Maharrey:

That's fantastic. I really like that approach from Tennessee as well. That's what we generally tell individual investors, that you want a diversified portfolio, and I think most good financial advisors would agree holding at least some precious metals in your portfolio is good. It's a hedge. So why shouldn't states do the same thing? Why should they face the risk of depreciating dollar assets?

So we're getting into the 2024 legislative session here real soon. Most state legislatures convene in January and their sessions tend to run through spring. So I guess you're about to get really, really busy, but there are some state assemblies that work year round, and I just saw that there is some significant progress in New Jersey. Can you tell us what's going on over there?

Jp Cortez:

New Jersey is not exactly known as a state that regularly repeals taxes. Both chambers are democratically controlled and there's a democratic governor.

New Jersey is one of only seven states in the country that still taxes precious metals. We have worked to introduce legislation to end this tax over a couple of years. Unfortunately, we never received the hearing until this summer where we finally received a hearing in the assembly.

It passed out of the Assembly committee unanimously, and then it was heard by the Assembly and voted again, unanimously, 74-to-0 in favor of ending the sales tax. Last week before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, we were scheduled for another hearing.

I was actually on the ground. I went and testified in favor of the bill in Trenton last week, and I'm happy to say that before the committee, we received another unanimous vote, 13-0 in favor of this measure. So we're moving along the process now.

This would be a huge win. This is a state that is completely surrounded by states that have ended the sales tax on precious metals. So they're losing industry and tax dollars. People are leaving the state to buy precious metals. People are leaving the state to open precious metals businesses.

It also gives people another opportunity, or another avenue, to save their wealth. In New Jersey's case, stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, real estate, none of these assets are levied a sales tax when you purchase them. That's because there's a capital gains tax on the backend because they're assets held for resale. Gold and silver are the same.

In an environment where home ownership is becoming ever increasingly out of reach and people are running out of options where they can save their money and be confident that the value of their dollar will hold, removing sales tax from the purchase of precious metals would be a huge win for New Jersey savers and investors. And it's looking like that's going to happen.

Mike Maharrey:

Yeah, the thing that really surprised me, as you said, it's a little bit surprising to see something like this moving in New Jersey to start with, but the lopsided votes in favor of repealing this tax are what really surprised me. And as you mentioned, 74-0 in the Assembly, you don't see a lot of unanimous votes for anything in a legislature. So that's really makes me feel optimistic.

You've used this analogy in testimony that you've given before state legislatures, and I love it. If you walked into a bank and you're going to go change a $5 bill for five ones, imagine if they charged you a tax to do that. In effect, that's what they're doing with taxation on precious metal bullion, which is, in fact, money. It's been money. Gold's been money for 5,000 years, and I think that's a really good point to make.

It's not only bad policy, it's not only pragmatically bad, there's utilitarian reasons. It's just dumb. Don't you think?

Jp Cortez:

Absolutely. You are completely right. Taxing the exchange of $1 for four quarters would be asinine. We would all know that. But for some reason, there are still a couple of states in the union who insist on taxing this exchange.

I think for me, in New Jersey, the progress we've had, and even in other states, for example, in Hawaii several years back, we passed legislation out of several committees before ultimately getting clipped by the end of the legislature. But there are what would be called "blue states" that are introducing legislation that is still actively moving along the process, which tells me that sound money is not a partisan issue.

Everyone is equally, maybe not equally, but everyone is harmed by the devaluation of the dollar, right? This isn't red and blue, this isn't Republican and Democrat. Everyone is harmed by this, it's no longer a partisan issue. I'm happy to say that these days I feel just as confident walking into a deep blue state and trying to get sound money legislation passed as I do in some of the deep red states.

Mike Maharrey:

So let's wrap up on this one. As we move into 2024 and we start kicking off state legislatures here in the next few weeks, where do you see some hope for progress in the next session?

Jp Cortez:

I'm very excited about 2024. In 2023, this past year, we were in 25 states that introduced 50 different pieces of legislation that do a variety of different things and several of which passed. So I'm very hopeful that all across the country, legislative projects like this are going to be introduced.

Vermont is a target state for us. New Jersey, Maine, of the seven states that still impose sales tax on precious metals purchases, five of them have introduced legislation to end the sales tax.

I am so hopeful for 2024 and I expect another good year of sound money legislation moving forward.

Mike Maharrey:

That's exciting. So let people know where can they track your work. Where can they find the Sound Money index and all the stuff that they need to know to get involved in this issue?

Jp Cortez:

The Sound Money Defense League, you can go to the check out our website SoundMoneyDefense.org. Money Metals Exchange is actually where the full index is published. So you can find the index at MoneyMetals.com

My name is Jp Cortez, my Twitter is @JpCortez27. I regularly post legislative updates. If there are any upcoming votes or hearings. I am pretty on top of making sure the news gets out.

Also, on the Sound Money Defense League's homepage, there is an email signup list where we ask you to put in your email and your zip code. That way we can segment our list so that if there is something happening in your state, we send out state-specific hearing alerts and key members of the legislature to contact with their contact information.

So if you're interested, if you're in one of these states, please make sure that you're signing up for the email list to make sure you're getting the most up-to-date updates and news alerts on sound money legislation happening in your state.

Mike Maharrey:

Outstanding, and I can't emphasize this enough, having done a little bit of legislative policy work myself, don't underestimate the of your phone call or your email to your state representative and your state senator. It's not like calling Congress.

You call Congress, you talk to an intern, you don't know that your congressman ever even got the message, and you get a form email back. State legislatures are very different, and these folks are not used to getting a bunch of phone calls on a specific bill or a specific policy issue.  So if they get 10, 20 phone calls on a piece of legislation, it definitely influences them. So get involved and take that opportunity. You can take five or ten minutes and make a big difference for the progress of sound money here in the United States.

Absolutely appreciate the work you're doing, Jp. Appreciate you taking the time to chat and we'll look forward to hearing from you again as we move into the new year.

They Don't Work for Us

We have a problem, and everybody knows it.  Our representatives in Congress don't work for us.  They are not just unresponsive to will of the voters, they flat out ignore the voters most of the time.

Take the issue of border security.  A recent Fox News poll showed that 71% of voters believe that border security is not strict enough.  This is up from a low of 60% in 2013, but down from a high of 76% in 2010.  Despite the a consistent majority in favor of stricter border security, under Joe Biden the invasion of illegal aliens crossing the southern border from Mexico is setting records.  On Monday, December 21st, there were 14,509 encounters at the southern border by federal law enforcement.  It's a new single-day record.  Meanwhile the crisis continues with no end in sight.  If anything, it's getting worse.

It's just one example, a big one, but it begs the question.  What can we do to make our government pay more attention to the voters?  We get the occasional lip service about campaign finance reform and keeping the money out of politics, but it amounts to Congress defining who may legally bribe whom in the legislation that attempts to discourage contributions from the other party's base of support.  It's a game the voters are not really a part of.  Can we realistically expect those on the receiving end of all the money to enact effective reform?  Besides, campaign finance is only part of our problem.

Key point:  Our representatives in Congress work for the people who pay them.  What we the taxpayers pay them isn't even chump change compared to what the special interests are willing to pay.  A newly elected Senator will receive an annual salary of $174,000 per year from the taxpayers.  Consider the 2022 Georgia Senate race between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker.  The total spent on campaign advertising in that race alone was $338.5 million.  So, who gets the Senators' attention?  Imagine a constituency willing to spend upwards of $150 million to get their man into the Senate.  And now try to imagine that they expect nothing in return.  

Yes, there are honest and patriotic representatives, but even the best of them cannot escape the economic reality that they need campaign contributions to stay in office, and campaign contributions always come with at least some expectations.  But it goes well beyond campaign contributions.  Here is Matt Gaetz in a @Timcast interview describing what awaits the incoming freshmen congressmen and congresswomen at Freshman Orientation.

"I think the most corrupt foray into this is Freshman Orientation."

8\ @Lukewearechange asked the question many people want to know, the answer isn’t but is what you’d expect

Another uncomfortable truth about what it’s like as a Freshman to come into DC and how lobby tries to instantly capture you, if that doesn’t work it progresses to attacks. pic.twitter.com/5XHe7Do1VA

— TrashDiscourse (@TrashDiscourse) October 4, 2023

"If you're part of the prevailing way of thinking, the national security state, the neoconservative world view, There's an entire infrastructure there to, like, build out your career.  There are endowed professorships, there are think tanks that are ready to give you 6-figure jobs, there is like a career progression of jobs on the Hill.  But if you think differently, you're kind of hunted.  You're hunted, cancelled, they do everything to compromise you, and if that doesn't work they try to destroy you."

9\ Matt goes into further detail about how if you just go along and get along, it will be a very easy road and smooth sailing as it can be. This is also very enticing as you think about it. So when you see fighters out there, consider these things.. pic.twitter.com/sifaaTMJBA

— TrashDiscourse (@TrashDiscourse) October 4, 2023

Think of it.  An entire infrastructure in place to guide the careers of our representatives – so long as they're willing to go with the program.

And the infrastructure is there for others, not just Congressmen and Senators.  There is the administrative state.  The Department of Justice, the CIA, the FBI, and the IRS have all been enlisted in... what?  The new world order?

Take James Comey.  He was a U.S. Attorney in the Bush administration, rising to the position of acting attorney general when John Ashcroft was incapacitate.  During that tenure he launched the investigation into who leaked the identity of CIA employee, Valerie Plame.  Almost immediately after Comey appointed his purported pal Patrick Fitzgerald as special counsel, the the individual who leaked Valarie Plame's identity came forward.  When Richard Armitage from the State Department admitted to the lead, Fitzgerald determined that his action was not a crime.  The investigation went forward anyway, with no underlying crime, and finally ended with the conviction of the Vice President's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, for lying to the grand jury.

In 2005 Comey's career path took him from the DOJ to Lockheed Martin Corporation where served as general counsel, and then to the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates.  During that time he earned several million before returning to the DOJ as head of the FBI.  It was there that Comey orchestrated the "exoneration" of Hillary Clinton for her blatant mishandling classified information in the email scandal, and the persecution of President Donald Trump for "colluding with Russia" to steal the 2016 presidential election.

The purchase of our government officials is not limited to just the ones who are elected.

There is a huge imbalance between what we taxpayers pay for our representation and what the special interests pay for their representation.  The money from us taxpaying voters goes directly to our representatives in the form of salaries and perc's.  The special interest money goes indirectly to our representatives by going to election campaigns.  Or it may be delayed compensation in the form of post-congressional careers.  But ultimately that money benefits the representatives one way or another.

Under the current scheme of things the taxpayers, voters, and citizens are under-represented.  Congress and special interests team up to hide that fact as best they can.  That's why government and corporate interests are hellbent on censorship.  "Disinformation" and "misinformation" have to be suppressed so that voters won't get the "wrong" idea.  When you think of the hundreds of millions spent on political campaigns, realize that its purpose is mostly to deceive and manipulate the voters.  Lying while on the campaign trail is the normal, accepted practice.  Censorship is an easy and final way to prevent the voters from finding it out just how badly they're being deceived.

Think of the voters as people not to be listened to, but people to be manipulated.  Special interests provide the money and means to do it.  It has gotten to the point where the DOJ, the intelligence agencies, the media, and high tech have united in a campaign to deny half of America, the Trump supporters, their voice in government.

We need major reform in three areas.  Taxes, federal employment – including employment of elected officials, and election campaigns – including the way they're financed.  In the coming days and weeks I'll have my suggestions of how we might approach each of them.

Fed Eyes Easing as Rep. Mooney Demands Answers on Gold

By Mike Gleason, Money Metals Exchange

A long-awaited dovish pivot by the Federal Reserve is helping to push precious metals markets in a bullish direction this week.

On Wednesday, Fed policymakers left their benchmark interest rate unchanged as expected. But the comments that followed from Jerome Powell and company took markets a bit by surprise. Powell struck a dovish tone as he telegraphed three rate cuts in 2024.

Traders are anticipating a strong likelihood of even more cuts. And according to trader and market commentator Gareth Soloway, the Fed may be under political pressure ahead of the 2024 election to keep the economy propped up and the government’s borrowing costs down.

Gareth Soloway: Jerome Powell was basically as dovish as he has ever been. He talked about three rate cuts next year. Now, what's amazing about this is that as soon as he said three rate cuts, the market said, no, no, no, no, no. We're going to price in six rate cuts. So, a whole basically 150 basis point in rate cuts next year, even though CPI, Consumer Price Index inflation is still between 3.0 and 3.5%. So, we're well above what the Fed has talked about at 2%. But you have to wonder, is part of this election type stuff? Are they trying to just bring it back into not crash the economy in 2024 going into the elections, or is it something to do with the U.S. debt? If the U.S. debt is at $34 trillion and interest rates were to stay where they were, this country literally would be bankrupt much, much faster. And that's arguably saying, is it even already bankrupt?

Expectations for looser monetary policy in 2024 weighed on the U.S. dollar and lifted gold and silver. As of this Friday recording, gold is gaining 1.8% for the week to bring spot prices to $2,044 per ounce – now back to within striking distance of new highs. Silver, meanwhile, shows a weekly advance of 4.2% to trade at $24.18 an ounce.

Turning to the platinum group metals, which have been hammered down in recent weeks, their fortunes turned around in a big way on Thursday. Platinum surged 5% while palladium spiked a staggering 15% on the day. For the week, platinum is up 2.6% to come in at $958. And finally, palladium is surging again here today and is posting an impressive weekly gain of 24.4%, or nearly $250 to command $1,220 per ounce.

On the sound money front, a new national scorecard exposes Vermont, New Jersey, Maine, and Minnesota as America’s absolute worst states for sound money...and Wyoming, South Dakota, Alaska, and New Hampshire as the best.

Money Metals Exchange has just published the 2024 Sound Money Index.

The index ranks all 50 states in this increasingly important public policy area, evaluating sales and income taxes on precious metals, whether a state affirms the role of gold and silver under the U.S. Constitution, the existence of gold or silver in state pension funds or reserves, and regulations that harm or otherwise punish precious metal dealers and investors.

Notable changes on the 2024 Sound Money Index include Arkansas’s meteoric ascent from 30th to 5th place as well as Mississippi’s leap from 43rd to 16th place.

Arkansas ended all income tax liability on the monetary metals, reaffirmed gold and silver as legal tender, and prescribed that state courts should require specific performance when enforcing contracts denominated in gold and silver.

Meanwhile, after a multi-year legislative effort, Mississippi canceled all sales taxes on precious metals. The Magnolia State became the 43rd state in the country to remove taxes on purchases of gold and silver.

Sound money victories were also seen in Florida, Tennessee, and other states.

This year’s Index includes a new criterion: gross revenue tax. It is levied against the total sales of businesses in a handful of states. It ignores whether a business category has high or low gross profit margins.

A gross revenue tax on bullion transactions is especially unfair. That’s because, except with respect to those fraudulent “rare coin” dealers you see advertising on television, most precious metals dealers like Money Metals operate on extremely small profit margins.

These margins are similar in scale to those on transactions involving real property, investments, or other goods sold by brokerages, which are usually exempt from state gross revenue tax schemes in the first place.

Oregon passed legislation in 2023 joining the vast majority of states that have exempted precious metals dealers from gross receipts tax or which don’t impose this tax at all. However, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Delaware all lost points on the 2024 Sound Money Index for their controversial gross revenue tax regimes.

At the national level, sound money efforts are also ongoing despite deep-seated institutional resistance on Capitol Hill. Alex Mooney of West Virginia is leading the charge in the House of Representatives to audit the Federal Reserve. He is also pushing to recognize gold and silver as legal tender and end discriminatory capital gains taxation on bullion – which the IRS wrongly puts under the “collectibles” umbrella.

This week, Congressman Mooney wrote to Fed Chairman Powell demanding answers concerning the central bank’s recent actions in the gold market. He specifically wants to know whether the Fed has engaged in interventions to affect prices.

He also seeks to get to the bottom of whether the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been repatriating gold to Germany’s central bank or others that are suspected of having made the request.

The Fed recently refused to respond to inquiries from the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee about whether any foreign gold had been repatriated this year. Some doubts have been raised about the status and security of foreign gold vaulted with the New York Fed and whether it is unencumbered.

Given the recent attempts by U.S. authorities to freeze gold assets held by Russia, Venezuela, and other state-affiliated actors deemed hostile, the U.S. central bank isn’t exactly a safe haven. Nor is the U.S. currency – or any fiat currency for that matter.

Over the past couple years, central banks across the globe have scooped up gold bullion for their reserves at record rates.

Individual investors haven’t been all that enthusiastic about buying bullion for themselves. Higher interest rates on cash instruments and a rising stock market have combined to diminish some of the perceived appeal of hard assets. But that could change next year as the Fed pivots toward rate cuts and the economy potentially dips into recession.

 

Mike Gleason is a Director with Money Metals Exchange, a precious metals dealer recently named "Best in the USA" by an independent global ratings group. Gleason is a hard money advocate and a strong proponent of personal liberty, limited government and the Austrian School of Economics. A graduate of the University of Florida, Gleason has extensive experience in management, sales and logistics as well as precious metals investing. He also puts his longtime broadcasting background to good use, hosting a weekly precious metals podcast since 2011, a program listened to by tens of thousands each week.

SCOTUS Case on Sackler Cash Shines Light on Warmington’s Record as Oxy Lobbyist

By Kenneth Rapoza, NH Journal

When the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case earlier this month challenging a proposed Purdue Pharma bankruptcy settlement paying billions to families harmed by the opioid crisis the company helped create, Justice Elena Kagan summed up the court’s dilemma.

“Among people who have no love for the Sacklers, among people who think that the Sacklers are pretty much the worst people on Earth, they’ve negotiated a deal which they think is the best that they can get,” Kagan said.

The Sackler family still owned Purdue Pharma when it flooded the U.S. with Oxycontin, and one person who worked for them at the time now wants to be the Granite State’s governor: Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington.

A veteran of the Obama White House like Kagan, Warmington is a Democrat and an attorney. As The Keene Sentinel and the Daily Beast have previously reported, when the Sacklers were pushing opioids to doctors’ offices and medical clinics, she was testifying before the New Hampshire legislature in 2002.

“I’m from the law firm Shaheen & Gordon, and I have been retained to represent Purdue Pharma, the maker of Oxycontin,” Warmington told the Senate Committee on Executive Departments and Administration during a hearing on HB 1218. When Sen. Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) asked if she “would consider Oxycontin, a well­-known drug, to have a high potential for misuse or abuse,” Warmington defended her client’s product and blamed media coverage.

“To say that Oxycontin has been abused, it certainly has been — in the press,” Warmington told the senators. “I think that we can all say that [Oxycontin] is a drug of abuse, as are all narcotics.”

[...]

Years — and untold earnings from the Sackler family — later, Warmington is now running in the Democratic gubernatorial primary as a self-described “health care advocate” and lifelong health care attorney. And she is promising to end the fentanyl crisis in the state.

Read the rest here.

Reminiscing at Libertarian Leanings

                        "Hey guys! I got my thumb out!"

While browsing the Libertarian Leanings archives, I ran across this gem from nineteen years ago.  It was October of 2004, during the presidential election campaign featuring Democrat John Kerry running against incumbent President George W. Bush.  The Kerry campaign routinely publicized photos of Kerry engaged in athletic activities, thus highlighting his youth and virility.  There were shots of Kerry riding his racing bicycle, wind surfing, and... this one.

Here is John Kerry playing football.  Kerry is playing center, having just hiked the football, presumably to a shotgun formation quarterback not shown in the picture.

The Bush supporting Captain's Quarters blog, which later became Hot Air, opportunistically picked up the picture and made it the subject of a caption contest.  The results of the contest have been lost, but Libertarian Leanings did pick a winner!  I still consider it the all-time winner of all caption contests!

However, as with all those things that John Kerry claimed in his bid to unseat Bush, it is questionable as to whether he ever really did get his thumb out.

DOJ to Charge Journalist Steve Baker Over Jan. 6

By Joseph M. Hanneman, The Epoch Times

Journalist Steve Baker of Blaze Media, who captured some of the most dramatic news footage at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been ordered to surrender to federal authorities on Dec. 19 on as-yet-unknown charges.

Mr. Baker, whose Jan. 6 videos and photos have appeared on HBO and the BBC, as well as in The New York Times and The Epoch Times, told his followers on X, formerly Twitter, that his North Carolina attorney notified him on Dec. 14 that he would be arrested.

He said in March that he had been warned that his aggressive Jan. 6 coverage had gotten noticed at the Department of Justice, "and they're not happy about it at all."

[...]

"Steve Baker's involvement in the OathKeepers 1 trial, his blogging, and subsequent investigation exposed crucial false testimony from key government witnesses," Mr. Geyer said in a statement to The Epoch Times. "Their false and implausible testimony played a pivotal role in wrongfully convicting the Oath Keepers."

Mr. Baker in October published a story at Blaze Media that alleged that Capitol Police CCTV security video shows that USCP Special Agent David Lazarus couldn't have witnessed an alleged confrontation between a group of the quasi-militia Oath Keepers and USCP officer Harry Dunn because Mr. Lazarus was nowhere near the scene at the time.

Read the rest here.

CNN's Abby Phillip tries to Shut Ramaswamy Up — To No Avail

Too bad for CNN, we’ll take the TRUTH on Jan. 6 mainstream. There is clear evidence that there was at the very least entrapment of peaceful protestors, similar to the fake Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot & countless other cases. The FBI won’t admit how many undercover officers… pic.twitter.com/SBuc6nnymg

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) December 14, 2023

A Perspective on Wisconsin Legislature's "Election Reform"

House Rules Committee votes in favor of sending impeachment inquiry against Biden to House floor

Nicholas Ballasy, Just the News

The GOP-led House Rules Committee voted 9-4 on Tuesday to send the impeachment inquiry resolution against President Biden to the House floor. 

Formal floor vote is scheduled for Wednesday.

Read the rest here.

The Impeachment Inquiry Explained

🚨 #BREAKING: Republicans Release Impeachment Inquiry Explainer Ahead of Vote pic.twitter.com/HYAiquVzA5

— House Judiciary GOP 🎄 (@JudiciaryGOP) December 12, 2023