Byron In Exile
Frederick Fucking Chopin
- Joined
- May 3, 2002
- Posts
- 66,591
Yes, really. The Federal Reserve Note is a promise to pay. It is loaned into existence and draws interest as long as it circulates.Not really. They are non-interest bearing, and they do not meet the legal definition of a note in that they no longer say how they are to be redeemed and they are no longer a promise to pay in "lawful money" as required by law. See USC 12 Section 411:
Federal reserve notes, to be issued at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for the purpose of making advances to Federal reserve banks through the Federal reserve agents as hereinafter set forth and for no other purpose, are authorized. The said notes shall be obligations of the United States and shall be receivable by all national and member banks and Federal reserve banks and for all taxes, customs, and other public dues. They shall be redeemed in lawful money on demand at the Treasury Department of the United States, in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, or at any Federal Reserve bank.
There's a reason for the term "lawful money," it's in the Constitution Article I Section 10, "make anything but gold or silver coin a tender in the payment of debts."
That's certainly true enough.Fact is a Federal Reserve Note is not lawful money as it is defined in the Constitution.