Ron Paul is wrong on the US selling gold to pay off debts

[tangent4ronpaul]

In this case I have to agree with the OP and am DISGUSTED with how little we have in the gold reserve!

http://www.examiner.com/finance-exa...wrong-on-the-us-selling-gold-to-pay-off-debts

Recently, the question of selling the nations gold reserves and other assets to pay off our massive $14 Trillion in debt came to the forefront of discussion amongst economists and some legislators. On May 17th, Congressman Ron Paul was asked about the scenario of selling our gold reserves to help pay on the nations debt, and he responded that it would it would be a 'good and moral decision'.
[...]
Unfortunately, the argument to sell our nations assets, in this case, our gold and silver reserves is a short-term solution with very limited reward. At this time, there is 147.3 million ounces in reserve according to government data going back to 1975. At todays spot price, the value if sold would come to $220.95 Billion dollars, which would cover between 2-3% of the national debt.

So, selling our gold reserves would not only leave us without a credible asset to perform as emergency money should the dollar collapse, and the nation starting over, but the Federal government would still owe more than $14 Trillion to debt holders around the world with little to offer as collateral.
[...]

 

[qh4dotcom]

Unfortunately, the argument to sell our nations assets, in this case, our gold and silver reserves is a short-term solution with very limited reward. At this time, there is 147.3 million ounces in reserve according to government data going back to 1975. At todays spot price, the value if sold would come to $220.95 Billion dollars, which would cover between 2-3% of the national debt.

So, selling our gold reserves would not only leave us without a credible asset to perform as emergency money should the dollar collapse, and the nation starting over, but the Federal government would still owe more than $14 Trillion to debt holders around the world with little to offer as collateral.
[...]

What about the unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare plus all the guarantees the government has made? It's probably 0.2%, not 2%

 

[jrskblx125]

If they carried through a sell off process wed publically see how much gold we actually have in reserves.

 

[LibertyMage]

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogs...mic+Trend+Analysis)&utm_content=Google+Reader

Ron Paul Says Sell Gold to Pay Down National Debt? No Chance

People have been sending me an article all evening that says Ron Paul proposes selling gold to pay down the national debt. The article is nonsense and it took me all of 5 seconds to spot the error.

Somehow the New York Sun confused Ron Paul with some clown I have never heard of named Ron Utt, or the Sun misrepresented a statement Paul made.

Please DON'T consider Selling Gold at Fort Knox Emerges as Next Big Question in Debate on Federal Debt Limit

The next big question on the federal debt limit could be whether to start selling the government’s holdings of gold at Fort Knox — and at least one presidential contender, Ron Paul, has told The New York Sun he thinks it would be a good move.

The question has been ricocheting around the policy circles today. An analyst at the Heritage Foundation, Ron Utt, told the Washington Post that the gold holdings of the government are “just sort of sitting there.” He added: “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”

His comment came in the wake of not only the government having reached the statutory debt limit of $14.29 trillion but also the release of a report by the Heritage Foundation of a report on asset sales. The report outlined how a “partial sales of federal properties, real estate, mineral rights, the electromagnetic spectrum, and energy-generation facilities” might garner the federal treasury $260 billion over the course of the next 15 years.

Amazingly this nonsense is circulating, and even more amazing is the fact that several bloggers believed the story.

The most ridiculous of the lot comes from Trader Dan's Market Views

Those of you out there who believe that Ron Paul can do no wrong, would be well advised to read his comments proposing that the US sell some of its gold reserves to pay its debts.

Chalk up a hair-brained idea from the Congressman from Texas. While we are at it, why not just sell off the Brooklyn Bridge, Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Everglades. And to think that I actually believed he was very solid on monetary matters.

The Republican party, which by the way has control of the House of Representatives, could simply refuse to raise the debt limit and insist on obtaining strict spending cuts to get the US economic house in order but that would require something that most of our elected representatives do not have. AFter all, all spending bills are required to originate in the House. If the House does not approve the spending bill, the money cannot be spent.

Instead the proposal reeks of the same sort of desperation seen by spendthrifts who end up scouring their old dresser drawers and boxes in their closets looking for family heirlooms and other valuables to go hock at the local pawn shop. The very fact that this idea is actually floating around out there fills me with complete disgust and disdain for the political class. These damn fools spent us all into the toilet and now are considering having to sell what belongs to the US citizenry to cover their rear ends.

Ron Paul--Buy Gold




The above video is the real Ron Paul. I sense a huge apology coming from the New York Sun and others who actually believed this Ron Paul sell gold to pay down the debt story.

The US dollar should be backed by gold and Paul has advocated a 100% gold backed dollar. That is vastly different than selling gold to pay down the national debt. How can you have a 100% gold backed dollar if you sell all the gold?

Either the Sun has confused Paul with Utt or it has confused what Paul is saying, and so have others that bit on the story.

Addendum:

I have read the Sun article several times now looking for other possibilities. The only other thing I can come up with is the possibility Paul may have said something to the effect of wanting the government to mint and sell more gold coins, but that does not equate to selling gold reserves to pay down debt.

Thus, I keep coming back to the thesis that the Sun is inadvertently mixing statements of Ron Paul with Ron Utt or the Sun has misinterpreted or worse yet, hugely misrepresented a statement Paul said.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

 

[Verrater]

AS far as I remember he was talking about liquidating government assets, including the gold.

 

[Yieu]

Perhaps the reason he said it is so that so-called "normal" people in news would attack back saying that's a horrible idea, to which he can retort, "Oh, so you like us having gold? Why is that? Do you want a gold standard or something?"

I think that would be brilliant. He could make people in news who would normally be against gold start thinking about gold in a positive light and use that to his advantage. Reverse psychology works sometimes. Like saying, "Oh, I don't think Ron Paul is a candidate you would like, he would change things too much because he doesn't want to keep the status quo."

 

[wizardwatson]

AS far as I remember he was talking about liquidating government assets, including the gold.

That's how I see it too, probably the Sun article is taken what he said out of context.

 

[tsai3904]

The article in question by the NY Sun didn't even have ONE direct quote from Ron Paul. I agree with Mish that "the Sun is inadvertently mixing statements of Ron Paul with Ron Utt or the Sun has misinterpreted or worse yet, hugely misrepresented a statement Paul said."

 

[Agorism]

All government assets should be liquidated.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Do we even have $220.95 Billion dollars in the gold reserve? - Paul has asked repeatedly to see it and for an audit - and been repeatedly rebuffed. Maybe that was his point - if we had to sell it, they would have to show it? Right?

 

[isrow]

RP is calling TPTB's bluff. It's classic. The gold probably isn't there or belongs to someone else other than the US gov't, so it would have to be revealed it's a big lie that has been going on for forty years. If it is free and clear why do the PM haters need to hold onto it anyway, it's a "barbarious relic" right? Pay domestic creditors, preferably tax returns of willing parties, and let the gov't keep pay down their fiat debt. That's fine with me. RP is a chess master that is getting ready to mate.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

BaBump!

 

[specsaregood]

RP is calling TPTB's bluff. It's classic. The gold probably isn't there or belongs to someone else other than the US gov't, so it would have to be revealed it's a big lie that has been going on for forty years. If it is free and clear why do the PM haters need to hold onto it anyway, it's a "barbarious relic" right? Pay domestic creditors, preferably tax returns of willing parties, and let the gov't keep pay down their fiat debt. That's fine with me. RP is a chess master that is getting ready to mate.

Hell, even if they were gonna to seriously consider selling it, first thing congress would order is an audit to verify how much there is to sell.

 

[Epic]

In this case I have to agree with the OP and am DISGUSTED with how little we have in the gold reserve!

Classic we=government fallacy.

The government needs to sell the gold. I don't want the government getting richer - I want individuals non-governmental human beings purchasing the gold, and then likely profiting in the future.

 

[Cap]

RP is calling TPTB's bluff. It's classic. The gold probably isn't there or belongs to someone else other than the US gov't, so it would have to be revealed it's a big lie that has been going on for forty years. If it is free and clear why do the PM haters need to hold onto it anyway, it's a "barbarious relic" right? Pay domestic creditors, preferably tax returns of willing parties, and let the gov't keep pay down their fiat debt. That's fine with me. RP is a chess master that is getting ready to mate.

Exactly! This is a brilliant ploy by Ron. Doesn't anybody remember when Ron wanted to audit Ft. Knox? This is frickin Ron at his best. The man is a genius.

 

[ctiger2]

AS far as I remember he was talking about liquidating government assets, including the gold.

I've never heard Ron mention selling gold. But Ron Utt has: http://www.newsmax.com/US/gold-Heritage-fortknox-debt/2011/05/16/id/396540

 

[Acala]

The gold, taken by force from the public and given to the Federal Reserve Bank, should be given back to the people from whom it was taken. Since that is a practical impossibility, it should be taken from the Fed and put back into circulation through direct sale to the public.

The US government is NEVER going to use that gold to institute a legitimate gold-backed currency. The most they will do is perpetrate some kind of fraud with it. Get the gold out of the hands of the government - the sooner, the better.