Trade your dollars in for UNdollars…
Ordinarily, I try to stay away from easy targets like the congresswoman from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann. Describing her as right wing is unfair to conservatives and besides, it doesn’t do justice to Bachmann, who is so much more than that.
If you think of her as the illegitimate offspring of Lucy Ricardo — Lucille Ball’s famously daffy TV character — and the demented, paranoid Sen. Joe McCarthy, you’re in the neighborhood.
But I wouldn’t stay in that neighborhood very long.
However, given her latest crusade, I think I may have misunderestimated Bachmann. She is now championing a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar the president from abandoning the U.S. dollar as our national currency and instead adopting an international currency.
It states specifically:
“The President may not enter into a treaty or other international agreement that would provide for the United States to adopt as legal tender in the United States a currency issued by an entity other than the United States.”
Now, some might argue that such an amendment is ludicrous. For one thing, the president already can’t do that. It’s like proposing an amendment saying the president can’t jump over the moon.
But I think maybe that’s the genius of it. Conservatives haven’t been able to stop Barack Obama from doing the things he wants to do and promised to do and needs to do. So, to keep themselves useful, they’ve decided to stop him from doing what he would never do in a million years.
Personally, I think this is a very useful application of their time, energy and intellect.
Others have also seen the genius of the manuever, because Bachmann has acquired 30 House co-sponsors for her amendment. To Georgia’s immense credit, three Peach State congressmen are on the list. They are Paul Broun — who is probably upset he didn’t think of this one himself — Phil Gingrey and Tom Price.
In their next campaign, they can run as the brave opposition to things that could never and would never happen anyway. Without them, they can argue, our greenbacks would have been ripped from our wallets and purses and replaced with United Nation dollars, or UNdollars. And instead of dead presidents, the UNdollars would feature the likelinesses of former UN secretaries general.
Lincoln would be gone; Washington gone. It would no longer be all about the Benjamins. It would be all about the Hammerskolds, or even worse, all about the Boutros Boutros Ghalis.
I think Rep. Bachmann and her colleagues should be commended for working so diligently to save us from such calamity.
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219 comments Add your comment
Corporal
April 2nd, 2009
8:45 am
A couple of points:
1) You and I are much farther apart than I ever thought.
2) The President is already doing things unconstitutional.
3) She is much more attractive than Pelosi (Republican women usually are).
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
8:48 am
Can you say Nutcase? This lady is unbelivable. She makes Kathryn Harris look sane.
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
8:51 am
Corporal, what is the Presiden doing that is unconstitutional? Please offer us a list of your fears. Show us just how nutty you are.
I Report/ You Whine
April 2nd, 2009
8:57 am
This coming from someone who admires Nancy “Clueless” Pelosi.
ByteMe
April 2nd, 2009
8:57 am
You’re right, Jay. She’s way too easy of a target to waste space on. But she’s sooooo hot, do you have that picture of her in a swimsuit
Better to talk about something that Republicans were actually serious about, which was their “alternative budget”, the details of which were released yesterday and included — surprise! — tax cuts, non-discretionary spending cuts, and not much else about how to get ourselves out of this mess, except to cut government spending in a deep recession.
DB, Gwinnettian
April 2nd, 2009
8:59 am
“Bachmann has acquired 30 House co-sponsors for her amendment.”
Wow. That’s like, in the ballpark of the FairTax! woo hoo!
I Report/ You Whine
April 2nd, 2009
8:59 am
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is “quite open” to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.
“Ludicrous,” eh?
PJ
April 2nd, 2009
9:03 am
Corporal, as a women I am insulted that you would equate the looks of females against their abilities. What the devil does that have do to with the fact that Bachmann is a nut with a title. Most people in general would like to be thought of as attractive but no one wants to be thought of as dumb or a crazy.
Bachmann is the worst of her lot. She has gone as far as calling for an “orderly revolution” of the government. She barley won re-election because of her outrageousness yet she continues to rant like a manic. Minnesota is getting what it voted for by putting this lunatic women back in Congress.
Paul
April 2nd, 2009
9:03 am
First thing Congress should do is get that amendment passed to stop the epidemic of flag burnings that is sweeping our nation. Then they can take up that currency amendment. One thing at a time. Shouldn’t try to do too much at once…
Corporal
April 2nd, 2009
9:05 am
BDAtlanta:
Trying to be a dictator instead of a president. A “backlash” is coming. Stay tuned. If you want more …. Google it.
Wes
April 2nd, 2009
9:06 am
I know there are a lot of emotional issues here, but has anyone else thought it might be nice to have a currency that our government can’t devalue by printing new ones whenever a problem comes up?
Soothsayer
April 2nd, 2009
9:07 am
‘Misunderestimate’ tops list of notable ‘Bushisms’
Jay, you probably didn’t realize you were quoting the “clown prince” with a word that has entered the lexicon because of him.
Bubba
April 2nd, 2009
9:07 am
From the right-wing nutcase news organization CBS:
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s apparent openness to a non-dollar reserve currency roiled markets on Wednesday before he backtracked and said the dollar would maintain its current central role.
Geithner had said at a Council on Foreign Relations event that he was “quite open” to China’s suggestion to displace the greenback with an “international reserve currency.” China central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan had called for a global currency to replace the dollar, perhaps a “reserve currency” from the International Monetary Fund.
Californication
April 2nd, 2009
9:11 am
How about a balanced budget bill, don’t spend what you don’t have; or how about making it a law that they have to read a bill before voting on it. . Boy that sounds stupid.
Corporal
April 2nd, 2009
9:13 am
To PJ:
Don’t take it so personal.
I’m just saying I worked with both parties equally for almost 30 years and it used to be a standing joke … only it was true. There was no comparison (with a very few exceptions).
Republican women were (generally) more professional, more articulate, more polite, better educated, better organized, on time for meetings, trustworthy, better groomed, better dressed and yes more attractive.
It’s just the real world.
Shawny
April 2nd, 2009
9:14 am
Hang on a minute, bookman. Are you saying that our representatives in congress waste time on legislation that is a complete waste of time? The nerve of those people!
This particular legislation is a waste of time and doesn’t deserve the floor. However, there are many that are even more wastes of time. How very partisan (as usual) of you to pick out a republican to bash.
ByteMe
April 2nd, 2009
9:14 am
Whiner, your 8:59 indicates you really have no idea what you’re talking about on this topic. Just stop now or else at least do a little more research before popping off with an unattributed quote and a snide remark. Oh, wait, that’s all you do anyway. Carry on!
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
9:16 am
They are trying to get China and others to pay more into the IMF but the IMF is controlled by just a few countries with majority voting power.
Look, if you want China to help out you got to let them have a say in how the funds are used.
You don’t ask someone to pay for 30% of the cost of a venture but tell em they will only receive 2% of the say in how the venture is run. If we want them to play a bigger role in the IMF, then you have to treat them like adults. If not, I wouldn’t blame China for turning its back.
By the way, the dollar isn’t going away. Relax people, get a grip for crying out loud.
ByteMe
April 2nd, 2009
9:19 am
Shawny: this isn’t just “legislation”, but an attempt to amend the constitution to prevent something no one is interested in doing. You want to have those political hacks touch the constitution? Do you really think Phil Gingrey and Bachmann understand currency-related topics, let alone basic economics?
The Republican budget proposals should be enough to convince anyone with a little bit of economic sense that the wacky Republicans really have no clue about basic economics.
Bud Wiser
April 2nd, 2009
9:20 am
Wes, your comment is interesting indeed. However, I for one would feel very uncomfortable having the ‘value’ of a world/our currency dictated by a bean counter in Bonn, Beijing or Moscow. Although, seeing how American educated bean counters have in 2 1/2 months have already quadrupled our national deficit, it might not be so bad.
On a different front, BO is hard at work trying to legitimize his presidency by acting tough: LONDON – Juggling crises, President Barack Obama joined his South Korean counterpart Thursday in calling for a “stern, united” world response if North Korea goes ahead with a long-range rocket launch…
At least briefly, Obama pivoted from the economy to the intensifying crisis thousands of miles away.
Obama told Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday that the U.S. would consider the launch provocative and that the U.S. would seek punishment at the United Nations in response.
Wow. I bet the Chinese and N Koreans are shaking in their boots over that one.
Corporal Punishment
April 2nd, 2009
9:22 am
Corporal,
1) Do you think see is more attractive than Cynthia McKinney?
2) Do you think is more “constitutional” than say Diane Fienstien?
3) On relative scale of “hot” republican women, with Sarah Palin at the top and Rush Limbaugh in drag or Ann Coulter at the bottom, how would you rate this proud soldier of the defenseless American Greenback?
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
9:23 am
One thing to remember about the IMF, borrowing moey from the IMF is like borrowing money from the Mafia.
Remember the 1997 Asian bank problems? The IMF got involved. They put such strict strings attached to those lent dollars that those banks had no choice but accept common accounting practices and clean their act up. Look at the returns on Mutual Funds that were heavy in Asian stocks the last 10 years. Asian banks have been more secure than their Western counterparts: as we were making our banks riskier, they were making theirs safer.
A separate currency for IMF funds may not be a bad idea but I’ll need to read more about the proposal.
ByteMe
April 2nd, 2009
9:24 am
BDA: an IMF-backed “neutral” currency is going to be a non-starter once they figure out that currency traders are going to be able to massively manipulate the currency at will. The IMF cannot just raise or print unlimited funds to buy and sell the currency and will be politically constrained from selling too much of other currency they’ll have to hold to handle exchanges. So if traders want to do a run on the IMF-to-EU spread, they can force likely leverage enough money to do that and the IMF will be powerless to respond (and Europe will be too slow to respond on their end). It’ll truly screw with the markets. At least the dollar has the largest economy in the world behind it. I think we humor China until they figure out the problem with their proposal.
They’re just annoyed that they were sucking in dollars from us and it’s valuation is completely out of their control.
Mrs. Godzilla
April 2nd, 2009
9:24 am
Sarah Palin, Katherine Harris, Michelle Bachmann…….
The Three Stoogettes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gDXRfJhfgc
The Snark
April 2nd, 2009
9:24 am
Bread and circuses, bread and circuses …
Hillbilly Deluxe
April 2nd, 2009
9:24 am
I guess that would make me quite daffy too since I don’t see this as so ludicrous. There was probably a time when a Federal Reserve Board seemed far fetched and it hasn’t been very long ago when the idea of a European currency would have been laughed at. While I don’t think President Obama would try to do this, who is to say what might happen a few years down the road. Why not take care of a problem before it ever becomes a problem.
Corporal
April 2nd, 2009
9:26 am
Corporal Punishment:
Now you’re cooking. LOL !!!
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
9:28 am
Bud, it was OK for W to look all big and bad but you are upset that Obama is getting in people’s faces?
Don’t you righties like it when ‘Merica looks like the gunfighter with the biggest gun in town?
Bosch
April 2nd, 2009
9:31 am
Jay,
You forgot to put an eye roll guy
at the end of your column.
Sad thing is, lots of people (especially around these parts) believe such non-sense.
Bosch
April 2nd, 2009
9:33 am
Corporal,
So, how’s the revolution planning coming along?
Bosch
April 2nd, 2009
9:34 am
And I can’t keep my right-wing loony tunes straight. I remember Paul Broun doing something retarded a while back and was in the news, I just can’t remember what.
And let’s not forget – we all heard Phil Gingrey brown nosing old Rush a while back. That was about the most pathetic thing I’ve ever witnessed.
Dave R
April 2nd, 2009
9:35 am
Mrs. G, you have your own share of loonies on the left as well.
Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Barney Frank, etc.
fearless fosdick
April 2nd, 2009
9:36 am
Corporal .. Wasn’t it your hero, GWB who declared “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.”
Please help us. and outline what unconstitutional acts Obama is engaged in!
DB, Gwinnettian
April 2nd, 2009
9:38 am
the oftimes rational, levelhead HD asks:
Why not take care of a problem before it ever becomes a problem.
I’d say it’s mostly because this potential “problem” is being proposed to be pre-emptively cared for via the most legally intrusive, least reversible process possible–a Constitutional amendment.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is one place where I find American “conservatives” at the pinnacle of hypocrisy–while they claim to be standing astride history yelling “stop”, they can’t resist the urge to tweak our foundational document for the most trivial of reasons.
And this one in particular strikes me (and Paul, apparently) as Flag Burnin’ II: Electric Boogaloo.
Love to chat, but gots to run. Later, all.
Corporal
April 2nd, 2009
9:38 am
HEADLINE/CNN: “Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is shrinking …”
Caused by earth’s global warming?
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
9:39 am
You folks see Colbert doing the segment about Glenn Beck?
Funny the guy can cry one minute about the fear he has for our country and then tell an interviewer he is just an entertainer, a rodeo clown.
I think it must be quite hard being Glenn Beck. Someone should move sharp objects out of his reach.
fearless fosdick
April 2nd, 2009
9:41 am
Bosch
Yea, about Paul Broun he accused Barack Obama of being a Marxist with secret plans to take over the country, abolish all rights and rule as dictator just as Hitler did.
In fact JAY did a column on this nutcase in November and here is the exact quote by Broun.
It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he’s the one who proposed this national security force. I’m just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism. That’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it’s exactly what the Soviet Union did. When he’s proposing to have a national security force that’s answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he’s showing me signs of being Marxist.”
Bosch
April 2nd, 2009
9:42 am
Fearless Fosdick,
Corporal is busy planning a revolution while Dave R is planning a plan to secede from the Union – really, he’s busy right now.
Dave R.,
I suggest you google “Jesusland” that will give you a good starting point – although some of those States have now switched gears a bit.
Davo
April 2nd, 2009
9:42 am
What’s the matter Bookman? Need to ’snarky up’ your tired, mostly cut-and-paste opinions with attack journalism to feel relevent? I wonder how Rush Limbaush would feel if he knew you were stealing his ’schtick’?
Ask the people under the euro system if the idea of losing your own nations currency is “ludicrous”. The thing you liberals ‘misunderstand’ is that by protecting our currency we protect everyone’s savings and investments. Each time Obama prints money you lose value in the cash in your wallet and tax the next generation. Dems don’t see the moral hazard in this as they got things to do…like pass UHC and further bury us in debt and socialism.
And it is true…republican chicks are waaay hotter than those hairy-legged lunch-ladies on the left.
Bosch
April 2nd, 2009
9:43 am
Fearless,
OH YEAH!!!! Thanks. You know – so many wingnuts doing the insane, it’s really hard to keep up.
Rush Limbaugh for President
April 2nd, 2009
9:44 am
Jay,
This topic should get everyone going….http://www.breakthematrix.com/Economy/Congresswoman-Bachmann-questions-Geithner-and-Bernanke
This woman, while well meaning I am sure is nutty as a fruit cake.
For all your right wing throwbacks (who are more interested in Bachmans looks than anything else) go to the site above and look at her exchange with the Fed chairman and treasury Sec. They both said they were categorically against a world currency. Check it out.
Hey Bud Wiser, would you like for us to invade North Korea? That sounds like a real smart move.
BDAtlanta
April 2nd, 2009
9:45 am
DB is right, you don’t codify things just to codify them.
I compare that with what that ex-cia guy said about torture….well here is the quote from Matt Damon:
”…the best line about torture I’ve heard came from [retired CIA officer turned war-on-terrorism critic] Milt Beardon,” Damon says. “He said, ‘If a guy knows where a dirty bomb is hidden that’s going to go off in a Marriott, put me in a room with him and I’ll find out. But don’t codify that. Just let me break the law.’
Mrs. Godzilla
April 2nd, 2009
9:47 am
“Early in her state Senate career Bachmann was caught spying on a pro-gay-rights rally by hiding behind bushes. This incident occurred after she was profiled in the Star Tribune and photographed vacuuming in heels (see LaFave’s letter to the newspaper above). If there is one thing that’s out of touch with voters in the 6th District, it’s hiding in the bushes (unless to hunt) and vacuuming in heels.”
I Report/ You Whine
April 2nd, 2009
9:47 am
Bite Me: So when Obozo’s Treasury Secretary spouts off with an idea, we should ignore him cause he might not know what he’s talking about?
Got it.
Rush Limbaugh for President
April 2nd, 2009
9:48 am
Davo,
The folks under the Euro system chose to be under it. Britian chose to keep the pound. Go to the website I posted and get educated.
@@
April 2nd, 2009
9:48 am
There are times, jay, when you come off as very, very petty. This is one of those times.
You are way too trusting of government.
You find Congresswoman Bachmann’s concerns laughable?
Just when you thought federalism was dead, and the 10th Amendment guaranteeing power to the states had been erased from the Constitution, state governments have asserted themselves. They’re not taking legislative action because they think it’s a joke. They’re doing so because Obama has given them reason to worry with his brand of FORCED “Change”.
Mrs. Godzilla
April 2nd, 2009
9:49 am
Bachmann is no stranger to the hysterical off-the-cuff reaction. In her BC (Before Congress) incarnation, perhaps the most celebrated instance of Michele being Michele was a bizarre 2005 incident in a little town called Scandia. At the conclusion of a heated town meeting, then-state Sen. Bachmann retreated to a bathroom, where a couple of her constituents followed to continue the argument.
Then, according to a police report (PDF) that Bachmann later filed with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office:
BACHMAN [sic] STATED THAT WHEN SHE WAS GETTING READY TO LEAVE SHE WENT TO THE RESTROOM. SENATOR BACHMAN STATED THAT WHEN SHE WAS TRYING TO LEAVE THE RESTROOM, 2 WOMEN BLOCKED IN AND TOLD HER THEY WANTED TO CONTINUE TALKING. SEN BACHMAN STATED SHE WAS AFRAID AND SCREAMED FOR HELP. THE 2 WOMEN LET HER LEAVE THE RESTROOM WHEN SHE SCREAMED. THE WOMEN ARE BELIEVED TO BE W/ THE GLBT GROUP.
In short, Michele Bachmann claimed to have been briefly kidnapped, and caused to fear for her safety, by a pair of argumentative lesbian constituents. The incident never resulted in charges, in part because Bachmann’s own account of it kept shifting. (The Dump Bachmann blog has a good contemporaneous summary.)
Rush Limbaugh for President
April 2nd, 2009
9:49 am
I Report,
go to the website I posted and see for your self. He is not for a world currency. Simple as that.
Mrs. Godzilla
April 2nd, 2009
9:51 am
The Bachmann Effect
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SO9itBJP6QQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmnpublius%2Ecom%2Ftag%2Fmichele%2Dbachmann%2F&feature=player_embedded
Dave R
April 2nd, 2009
9:52 am
Gee, Bosch, Jesusland is a SATIRE.
I don’t do satire.
Face it. The only reason you don’t even want to rationally discuss a clean break between freedom and tyranny is that you know that your new country couldn’t survive without us achievers, but we can do just fine without you and your leeches.