Friday, March 29, 2013

APRIL 29, 1947 – DEATH OF IRVING FISHER, PROFESSOR AND ECONOMIST

APRIL 29, 1947 – DEATH OF IRVING FISHER, PROFESSOR AND ECONOMIST
"Thus our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks, which lend, not money, but promises to supply money they do not possess. "

APRIL 27, 2009 – COMMENTS BY DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS

APRIL 27,  2009 – COMMENTS BY DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS
“And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”

APRIL 23, 871 - REIGN OF KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND BEGINS

871 - REIGN OF KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND BEGINS
King Alfred (Alfred the Great) implemented a law that moneylenders who took usury would forfeit all their possessions to the King.

APRIL 23, 384 BC – BIRTH OF ARISTOTLE

 384 BC – BIRTH OF ARISTOTLE
"The most hated sort of wealth getting is usury, which makes again out of money itself and not from the natural object of it.  For money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money...of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural."
"Money exists not by nature but by law." This is one of the most insightful comments on money of all time.

APRIL 22, EARTH DAY – CREE INDIAN PROVERB

APRIL 22, EARTH DAY – CREE INDIAN PROVERB
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish been caught, will we realize we cannot eat money.” Seems an appropriate quote on this day.

APRIL 21, 1910 – DEATH OF MARK TWAIN, AUTHOR


1910 – DEATH OF MARK TWAIN, AUTHOR
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

APRIL 20, 1868 – BIRTH OF JOHN HYLAN, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, 1918-1925


1868 – BIRTH OF JOHN HYLAN, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, 1918-1925
“The real menace of our republic is this invisible government, which, like a giant octopus, sprawls its slimy length over city, state and nation. Like the octopus of real life, it operates under cover of a self created screen....At the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both political parties.”
What may have been practically in Mayor Hylan’s time is actually today.

APRIL 17, 1837- BIRTH OF JP MORGAN, US FINANCIER AND BANKER


1837- BIRTH OF JP MORGAN, US FINANCIER AND BANKER
John Pierpont Morgan dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. His empire consisted of banks but also hundreds of other corporations via interlocking corporate directors and financial investments. The “House of Morgan” was also one of the key players in organizing politically and backing financially the campaign to pass the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, creating the largely private Federal Reserve system.

APRIL 17, 1790 – DEATH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN


1790 – DEATH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"Experience, more prevalent than all the logic in the world, has fully convinced us all that paper money has been, and is now, of the greatest advantage to the country."
"The inability of the colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the prime reason for the revolutionary war. "
"A legitimate government can both spend and lend money, while banks can only lend significant amounts of their promissory bank notes.  Thus, when bankers place money in circulation, there is always a debt principal to be returned and usury to be paid."

APRIL 16, 1915 – DEATH OF NELSON ALDRICH, LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE US SENATE

1915 – DEATH OF NELSON ALDRICH, LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE US SENATE
Aldrich was a key proponent of the Aldrich-Vreeland Act, a bill creating a National Monetary Commission in 1908, which studied the problem of monetary instability following the financial Panic of 1907. The Commission played a pivotal role in calling for “reform” of the US monetary system. The Act also established the “Aldrich-Vreeland system” which through the Comptroller of the Currency authorized some banks to issue new money. This helped the US deal with the financial crisis associated with WWI. The expanded money power of the government, however, was meant to be short-lived. The final volume of the Commission’s report called for a privately owned central bank, the “National Reserve Association,” in which “[c]ontrol was to be exercised completely by private bankers.” Passage of this Act was a stepping-stone to passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913.

APRIL 16, 1854 – BIRTH OF JACOB COXEY, OHIO BUSINESSMAN

1854 – BIRTH OF JACOB COXEY, OHIO BUSINESSMAN
Jacob Coxey, a businessman from Massillon, Ohio organized a 500-strong “Coxey’s Army” march beginning on March 25, 1894 from Massillon to Washington, D.C. (ending April 30) to promote federal intervention for job creation. The primary demand of this "petition in boots" was unique -- the direct printing and issuance of $500 million by the Federal Treasury to employ 4 million people. Coxey's Army proposed two bills. The first, a "Good Roads Bill," would help farmers with $500 million issued by the federal government in legal tender notes, or greenbacks, to construct rural roads. The second, a noninterest-bearing bonds bill, would empower state and local governments to issue noninterest-bearing bonds to be used to borrow legal tender notes from the federal treasury. This money would be used to build urban libraries, schools, utility plants and marketplaces. Millions of jobs would have been created -- debt-free.

APRIL 15, 1865 – ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN

1865 – ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN
“The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy.”
It was President Lincoln who advocated for and oversaw the creation and circulation of our nation’s last debt-free money, the Greenbacks. This was money not borrowed from banks, but created (as authorized in the US Constitution, Article 1, Sec 8) by the government to meet the nation’s needs.

APRIL 13, 1743 – BIRTH OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

1743 – BIRTH OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
"This institution (the Bank of England) is one of the most deadly hostility against the principles of our Constitution…suppose an emergency should occur…an institution like this…in a critical moment might overthrow the government."
“And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
“Bank-paper must be suppressed, and the circulating medium must be restored to the nation to whom it belongs.”

April 12, 1945 – DEATH OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

1945 – DEATH OF PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
"The real truth is…that a financial element in the large centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson."

April 12, 1910 – DEATH OF WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, PROFESSOR, YALE UNIVERSITY, MONETARY THEORIST

1910 – DEATH OF WILLIAM GRAHAM SUMNER, PROFESSOR, YALE UNIVERSITY, MONETARY THEORIST
"For as the currency question is of first importance and we cannot solve it or escape it by ignoring it.  We have got to face it and the best way to begin is not by wrangling about speculative opinions as to untried schemes but to go back to history and try to get hold of some firmly established principles."

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

DECEMBER 31, 1781 – BANK OF NORTH AMERICA ESTABLISHED




1781 – BANK OF NORTH AMERICA ESTABLISHED
This was the nation’s first private commercial bank. The Articles of Confederation was the nation’s constitution at that time. Article 9 of the Articles gave Congress the power to “emit bills of credit” -- to create money. By a single vote, Congress voted to willingly transfer their authority to issue money to the The Bank of North America when it chartered the bank on December 31, 1781. Thus, the Bank served as a quasi national central bank. Why did Congress willingly give up their money power? The public argument was that the business of finance could not be ably conduced by a public body (Congress) — only by a small number of private financiers. The first head of the Bank was Robert Morris, the richest merchant in America. This same argument against public issuance of money is made today – a public body can’t be trusted to create and distribute our nation’s money supply. The result is the creation and distribution of our nation’s money supply by banking corporations.

DECEMBER 28, 1947 – BIRTH OF SPENCER BACHUS, CONGRESSPERSON, ALABAMA, REPUBLICAN CHAIR OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE


1947 – BIRTH OF SPENCER BACHUS, CONGRESSPERSON, ALABAMA, REPUBLICAN CHAIR OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
"In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks."

DECEMBER 28, 1856 – BIRTH OF WOODROW WILSON, 28TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES




1856 – BIRTH OF WOODROW WILSON, 28TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES
“A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is privately concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men who, even if their action be honest and intended for the public interest, are necessarily concentrated upon the great undertakings in which their own money is involved and who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.”

DECEMBER 25, 1983 – DEATH OF ROBERT H. HEMPHILL, CREDIT MANAGER, ATLANTA FEDERAL RESERVE BANK


1983 – DEATH OF ROBERT H. HEMPHILL, CREDIT MANAGER, ATLANTA FEDERAL RESERVE BANK
"This is a staggering thought. We are completely dependent on the Commercial Banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash or credit. If the Banks create ample synthetic money, we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is. "

DECEMBER 25, 2012 YEARS AGO – CLAIMED BIRTH DATE OF JESUS



2012 YEARS AGO – CLAIMED BIRTH DATE OF JESUS
In his book, Money and its True Function, author FR Burch said, “As long as Christ confined his teachings to the realm of morality and righteousness, He was undisturbed; it was not till He assailed the established economic system and 'cast out' the protiteers and 'overthrew the tables of the money changers,' that He was doomed. The following day He was questioned, betrayed on the second tried on the third and on the fourth crucified.”

DECEMBER 24, 1294 – PAPACY OF POPE BONIFACE VIII BEGINS



1294 – PAPACY OF POPE BONIFACE VIII BEGINS
Benedetto Gaetani became Pope of the Catholic Church on Christmas Eve, 1294. He instituted the first Christian “Jubilee” in 1300. Jubilee has both Jewish and Christian roots. According to Wikipedia, “The concept of the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon. In the Biblical Book of Leviticus, a Jubilee year is mentioned to occur every fifty years, in which slaves and prisoners would be freed, debts would be forgiven and the mercies of God would be particularly manifest.” It was also common for land to be returned.  Pope Boniface VIII conditioned the forgiving of sins and debt on personal confessions and pilgrimages to sacred sites (i.e. basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome) at least once a day for a specified time.

DECEMBER 23, 1913 – FEDERAL RESERVE ACT PASSES CONGRESS – CREATING FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


1913 – FEDERAL RESERVE ACT PASSES CONGRESS – CREATING FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The Act created a largely corporate controlled national banking and currency system. It was a major coup for banking corporations through the establishment of a private central bank authorized to "monetize" government debt (i.e. to print their own money and exchange it for government securities or I.O.U.'s). The central banking system was composed of 12 regional private/corporate banks owned by participating commercial banks. All national banks were required to join the system. Banking corporations now controlled the issuance and circulation of our national currency. By controlling our national money faucet, they could create inflation and deflation. This corporate monopolization of our currency allowed for public regulation, but not control. It was now banking corporations, not the US government, that was in control of the national currency.

DECEMBER 21, 2012 - END OF THE MAYAN CALENDAR


2012 - END OF THE MAYAN CALENDAR
The Mayans did not believe the end of their 5,125 year calendar marked the end of the world, but rather the end of an old order. In its place would be people with a higher degree of awareness and consciousness.
Part of any such awareness and consciousness will surely include enlightenment and eventual replacement of the unsustainable Ponzi scheme which is the global financial system of credit and debt. The massive and ever-growing debts world-wide, a result of debt-based money systems, cannot be repaid. The system requires continual plundering of non-renewable resources which is transformed into “stuff” (much of it simply not needed) with its waste (pollution) externalized to acquire the money to pay off the ever growing debt which initially funded the plundering.
The end is near alright – of this dangerous, disempowering and distorted financial system.

DECEMBER 20, 1666 - FREE COINAGE LAW PASSED, ENGLAND


1666 - FREE COINAGE LAW PASSED, ENGLAND
Charles II placed control of the nation’s money supply in private (bankers) hands following passage of this act. Up until that time, the Sovereign (King, Queen, etc.) had exclusive power over the issuance of money creation.

DECEMBER 18, 1977 - DEATH OF MARRINER S. ECCLES, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM



1977 - DEATH OF MARRINER S. ECCLES, FORMER CHAIRMAN AND GOVERNOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
"That is what our money system is. If there were no debts in our money system, there wouldn't be any money. "

DECEMBER 17, 2010 – NATIONAL EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT DEFENSE (NEED) ACT, HR 6550, IS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS


2010 – NATIONAL EMERGENCY EMPLOYMENT DEFENSE (NEED) ACT, HR 6550, IS INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) introduced a dramatic new proposal to establish fiscal integrity, reassert Congressional sovereignty and regain control of monetary policy from private banks.  The NEED Act would allow the federal government to directly fund badly-needed infrastructure repairs and fund education systems nationwide by spending money into circulation without increasing the national debt.  The bill would end the current practice of fractional reserve lending, whereby the economy depends upon private financial institutions to lend money into circulation.
Congressman Kucinich stated, “The staggeringly bad employment and economic numbers represent a massive problem which cries out for bold action.  Rather than crossing our fingers and hoping that banks will finally lend some of the billions of public dollars they haven’t thus far seen fit to lend, we can take action. My bill would replace the Federal Reserve System’s dependence on private banks to create credit.  In its place, a Monetary Authority under the Treasury Department would directly inject liquidity into the economy by purchasing much needed public infrastructure repair. Today, we have idle capital, millions of able-bodied but unemployed workers, unused equipment, and record low interest rates. These conditions are the best possible time to make a long-term investment in our nation’s infrastructure. My bill would do exactly that.”
The bill was reintroduced in 2011, (HR 2990)

DECEMBER 17, 1784 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING, 10TH PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA (1935-1948)


1784 – BIRTH OF WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE KING, 10TH PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA (1935-1948)
"Once a nation parts with the control of its currency and credit, it matters not who makes the nations laws. Usury, once in control, will wreck any nation. Until the control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government and recognized as its most sacred responsibility, all talk of the sovereignty of parliament and of democracy is idle and futile."

DECEMBER 15, 2008 – PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION ACQUIRES NATIONAL CITY BANKING CORPORATION


2008 – PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION ACQUIRES NATIONAL CITY BANKING CORPORATION
The Federal Reserve Board announced that it has approved the application of PNC Financial Services to acquire National City Corporation. PNC was a major recipient of federal bailout funds. Rather than use the funds to help distressed underwater homeowners, the Pittsburgh based banking corporation used the funds to acquire Cleveland-based National City Bank, and thus, contributing to a further consolidation and concentration of the “too-big-to-fail” banking industry in the United States.

DECEMBER 15, 1793 – BIRTH OF HENRY CAREY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR


1793 – BIRTH OF HENRY CAREY, PRESIDENT LINCOLN’S CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR
Carey advised Lincoln on creating public money, Greenbacks, rather than take loans from private banks. He helped prevent the destruction of Greenbacks by the National Banking Act and its subsequent modifications (which were presented as monetary “reforms”) by banks but with the intent of eliminating Greenbacks.

December 13, 2009 – DEATH OF PAUL A. SAMUELSON, ECONOMIST, AUTHOR OF ECONOMICS, AN INTRODUCTORY ANALSYS (BEST SELLING ECONOMICS TEXTBOOK OF ALL TIME)


2009 – DEATH OF PAUL A. SAMUELSON, ECONOMIST, AUTHOR OF ECONOMICS, AN INTRODUCTORY ANALSYS (BEST SELLING ECONOMICS TEXTBOOK OF ALL TIME)
“Few understand that all our money arises out of debt and IOU operations. The banking system as a whole can do what each small bank cannot do: it can expand its loans and investments many times the new reserves of cash created for it, even though each small bank is lending out only a fraction of its deposits.”

DECEMBER 13, 1953 – BIRTH OF BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN OF THE US FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM


1953 – BIRTH OF BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN OF THE US FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
The Federal Reserve is a largely private system, despite the word “Federal” in its title. The 12 Regional Federal Reserve banks are private (e.g. Fed banks appear in the business not government pages of phone books and its employees are not on the government payrolls).
Bernanke said on May 17, 2007:
"All that said, given the fundamental factors in place that should support the demand for housing, we believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will likely be limited, and we do not expect significant spillovers from the subprime market to the rest of the economy or to the financial system.  The vast majority of mortgages, including even subprime mortgages, continue to perform well.  Past gains in house prices have left most homeowners with significant amounts of home equity, and growth in jobs and incomes should help keep the financial obligations of most households manageable." Less than 1 year later, the housing market collapsed.
On October 31, 2007 he stated:
"It is not the responsibility of the Federal Reserve – nor would it be appropriate – to protect lenders and investors from the consequences of their financial decisions."
Turned out the Fed provided $1.2 trillion in secret loans to many of the nation’s biggest banks from 2007-9 which allowed them to grow even bigger. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html
This bail out of Wall Street by the Fed was not accompanied by any bail out of Main Street (small businesses) or the side streets (homeowners). The Fed served its constituents – banks.

December 10, 1690 - PAPER MONEY ISSUED BY MASSACHUSETTS


1690 - PAPER MONEY ISSUED BY MASSACHUSETTS
Faced with an pressing need to fund military action against Canada during King William's War, the Massachusetts colonial government authorized the issuing of £7,000 in public paper currency. This was the first public paper money issued in the history of Western civilization. The paper money possessed no intrinsic value. Its only value was that it was backed by the colony, accepted for tax payments. The notes could be redeemed for hard currency if such currency was available.
http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCurrency/CurrencyText/MA-1690-1750.html

DECEMBER 10, 1896 – DEATH OF ALFRED NOBEL, INVENTOR AND BENEFACTOR OF NOBEL PRIZES


1896 – DEATH OF ALFRED NOBEL, INVENTOR AND BENEFACTOR OF NOBEL PRIZES
Each year, annual international awards are bestowed to honor great scientific and cultural advances. Nobel’s great-grandnephew, Peter Nobel, in 2001 asked the Bank of Sweden to differentiate its award to economists given "in Alfred Nobel's memory" from the five other awards. He said, "The economics prize, awarded by the Swedish Rupsbank, runs counter the idealism in Alfred Nobel's declaration that the prizes should be awarded to those who have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind - the vast majority of economic prizes have gone to people who reflect the dominating western view of the world. It's doubtful whether this really is of benefit to all mankind."

DECEMBER 9, 1946 – BIRTH OF SONIA GANDHI, PRESIDENT, HEAD OF CONGRESS, INDIA


1946 – BIRTH OF SONIA GANDHI, PRESIDENT, HEAD OF CONGRESS, INDIA
“Let me take you back to Indira Gandhi’s bank nationalization of 40 years ago. Every passing day bears out the wisdom of that decision. Public sector financial institutions have given our economy the stability and resilience we are now witnessing in the face of the economic slowdown.”

DECEMBER 9, 1768 – BIRTH OF JOSEPH DESHA, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, KY



1768 –  BIRTH OF JOSEPH DESHA, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, KY
"This accumulation of foreign capital (in the First Bank of the U.S.) was one of the engines for overturning civil liberty and I have no doubt that King George was a principal stock holder."

DECEMBER 6, 1921 – THOMAS EDISON QUOTE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES


1921 – THOMAS EDISON QUOTE IN THE NEW YORK TIMES
“If our nation can issue a dollar bond, it can issue a dollar bill. The element that makes the bond good makes the bill good... If the Government issues bonds, the brokers will sell them. The bonds will be negotiable; they will be considered as gilt edged paper. Why? Because the government is behind them, but who is behind the Government? The people. Therefore it is the people who constitute the basis of Government credit. Why then cannot the people have the benefit of their own gilt-edged credit by receiving non-interest bearing currency… instead of the bankers receiving the benefit of the people’s credit in interest-bearing bonds?”

DECEMBER 5, 1782 – BIRTH OF MARTIN VAN BUREN, 8TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES


1782 – BIRTH OF MARTIN VAN BUREN, 8TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“The MONEY POWER…when firmly established, was destined to become the only kind of an Aristocracy that could exist in our political system.” (Note, Van Buren always capitalized “MONEY POWER” when using the term.)
Van Buren was Vice President when President Jackson refused to support the re-chartering of the private, mis-named “Second Bank of the United States” – the nation’s central bank at the time (equivalent in some ways to the Federal Reserve Bank of today). The Bank had originally been chartered for 20 years in 1816. A corporate charter was considered then a democratic tool, a means for the public to define the actions of a corporation to ensure it remained subordinate to meeting public needs (something We the People have forgotten today). After the Bank charter was dissolved (which meant the Bank could no longer create money as debt), Jackson and Van Buren sought to replace the money system with coinage or bank notes convertible to gold/silver. But this was an insufficient amount of currency needed to supply the growing the US economy. Currency contracted. The nation experienced the worst depression up to that time beginning in 1837.

DECEMBER 4, 1975 – DEATH OF GRAHAM TOWERS, GOVERNOR, BANK OF CANADA, 1934-54


1975 – DEATH OF GRAHAM TOWERS, GOVERNOR, BANK OF CANADA, 1934-54
"Each and every time a bank makes a loan, new bank credit is created - new deposits - brand new money."


DECEMBER 1, 1135 – DEATH OF KING HENRY I OF ENGLAND


1135 – DEATH OF KING HENRY I OF ENGLAND
About 1100, King Henry, short on gold money, created a unique form of government issued money – Tally Sticks. These sticks were just that – polished pieces or sticks of wood with notches of a certain size to indicated the value of the wood. They were declared by the King as money and issued for purchases. They were accepted by the King for payment of taxes. Tally Sticks was an accepted debt-free government-issued money system of England for over 700 years, including the period of the rise of the British Empire.

NOVEMBER 30, 1835 – BIRTH OF MARK TWAIN


1835 – BIRTH OF MARK TWAIN
"I wasn't worth a cent two years ago, and now I owe two millions of dollars."

NOVEMBER 25, 1874 – GREENBACK PARTY FOUNDED


1874 – GREENBACK PARTY FOUNDED
The Greenback Party was founded on this day at a convention in Indianapolis. Many of its members were farmers hurt by the financial Panic of 1873 (also known as the “Crime of ‘73”). The party supported “Greenback” paper money (U.S. Notes) issued and spent into circulation by the Lincoln administration. They opposed all money systems backed by any precious metal, believing that those who owned gold or silver (banks and corporations) would possess the power to define the value of products and labor. Government control of the US money system would also ensure sufficient quantity of money was in circulation to help small businesses and farmers. Twenty one independent congressmen, mostly Greenbackers, were elected in 1878.

NOVEMBER 23, 1910 – JEKYLL ISLAND MEETING TO PLAN FOR US PRIVATE CENTRAL BANK


1910 – JEKYLL ISLAND MEETING TO PLAN FOR US PRIVATE CENTRAL BANK
Attending this secret meeting were US Senator Nelson Aldrich; A. Piatt Andrew, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; Frank Vanderlip, president of the National City Bank of New York; Henry P. Davison, senior partner of J.P. Morgan Company; D. Norton, president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York; Benjamin Strong (a lieutenant of J.P. Morgan); and Paul Warburg, connected to the banking house of Kuhn, Loeb. The meeting would lead to the Aldrich bill, which eventually led to the Federal Reserve Act, passed in 1913.

NOVEMBER 22, 1879 – BIRTH of RALPH HAWTREY, FORMER SECRETARY OF TREASURY, ENGLAND.


1879 – BIRTH of RALPH HAWTREY, FORMER SECRETARY OF TREASURY, ENGLAND.
"Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing."

NOVEMBER 21, 1944 – BIRTH OF DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS


1944 – BIRTH OF DICK DURBIN, US SENATOR, ILLINOIS
"And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”
Interview on WJJG 1530 AM's "Mornings with Ray Hanania," April 2009

NOVEMBER 20, 1910 -- DEATH OF LEO TOLSTOY, RUSSIAN WRITER AND SOCIAL REFORMER


1910 -- DEATH OF LEO TOLSTOY, RUSSIAN WRITER AND SOCIAL REFORMER
"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, there is no human relation between master and slave. "

NOVEMBER 19, 1831 – BIRTH OF JAMES GARFIELD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES


1831 – BIRTH OF JAMES GARFIELD, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
"Whosoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce, and when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another, by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate."

NOVEMBER 16, 2006 – DEATH OF MILTON FRIEDMAN, US ECONOMIST


2006 – DEATH OF MILTON FRIEDMAN, US ECONOMIST
"The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting the amount of currency in circulation by one-third from 1929 to 1933."

NOVEMBER 16, 1914 – US FEDERAL RESERVE OPENS FOR BUSINESS


1914 – US FEDERAL RESERVE OPENS FOR BUSINESS
“Commercial banks create checkbook money whenever they grant a loan, simply by adding new deposit dollars in accounts on their books in exchange for a borrower's IOU.” From  I Bet You Thought, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

NOVEMBER 15, 1637 – WAMPUM ACCEPTED AS CURRENCY


1637 – WAMPUM ACCEPTED AS CURRENCY
On November 15, 1637 the Massachusetts General Court stated that wampum beads would pass at 6 to a penny and were to be legal as payment in sums under 12 pence   http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Wampum.intro.html

NOVEMBER 13, 1856 – LOUIS BRANDEIS, US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE (1916-1939)


1856  –  LOUIS BRANDEIS, US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE (1916-1939)
“The goose that lays golden eggs has been considered a most valuable possession. But even more profitable is the privilege of taking the golden eggs laid by somebody else's goose. The investment bankers and their associates now enjoy that privilege. They control the people through the people's own money.” Louis Brandeis, Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use It (1913)

NOVEMBER 12, 1999 – ENACTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES MODERNIZATION ACT (ALSO KNOWN AS GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT)


1999 – ENACTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES MODERNIZATION ACT (ALSO KNOWN AS GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT)
The act removed many barriers contained in the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, including those that separated banking, securities and insurance corporations. The result was massive combination and consolidation within the financial sector – creating enormously powerful institutions.. The bill was pushed for by leading Republicans in Congress, including Phil Gramm and signed by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

NOVEMBER 10, 1796 - BIRTH OF WILLIAM GOUGE, EDITOR AND WRITER


1796 - BIRTH OF WILLIAM GOUGE, EDITOR AND WRITER
Gouge edited the " Philadelphia Gazette" and other journals, and for thirty years contributed articles on banking to various periodicals. He was for thirty years connected with the treasury department at Washington. He published "History of the American Banking System" (1835); " Expediency of Dispensing with Bank Paper" (1837); and a "Fiscal History of Texas" (1852)
“As it is public credit that supports the Banks, and not the Banks that support public credit, as the deposits of the Banks are the property of the community generally and the profits derived from circulation come from the community generally they ought to go to the community generally and be used to lighten the burden of taxation."
"The banking system is the principal cause of social evil in the United States."


Sunday, March 24, 2013

NOVEMBER 9 2011- FEDERAL RESERVE AWARENESS DAY


2011- FEDERAL RESERVE AWARENESS DAY
Sponsored by the US Occupy movement, teach-ins and forums took place in several locations across the country to expose the true nature of the largely private Federal Reserve system.

NOVEMBER 9 1910 – BIRTH OF CARROLL QUIGLEY, AMERICAN HISTORIAN AND THEORIST OF THE EVOLUTION OF CIVILIZATIONS


1910 – BIRTH OF CARROLL QUIGLEY, AMERICAN HISTORIAN AND THEORIST OF THE EVOLUTION OF CIVILIZATIONS
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements, arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was the Bank for International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the worlds' central banks which were themselves private corporations. The growth of financial capitalism made possible a centralization of world economic control and use of this power for the direct benefit of financiers and the indirect injury of all other economic groups." Tragedy and Hope: A History of The World in Our Time

NOVEMBER 7 1931 – PUBLISHED LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF ALBERT EINSTEIN IN BERLINER TAGEBLATT


1931 – PUBLISHED LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF ALBERT EINSTEIN IN BERLINER TAGEBLATT
“The gold standard has, in my opinion, the serious disadvantage that a shortage in the supply of gold automatically leads to a contraction of credit and also of the amount of currency in circulation… The natural remedies to our troubles are, in my opinion...Control of the amount of money in circulation and of the volume of credit in such a way as to keep the price level steady, abolishing any monetary standard.”

NOVEMBER 7 1846 - AMENDMENT TO ARKANSAS CONSTITUION ADOPTED


1846 - AMENDMENT TO ARKANSAS CONSTITUION ADOPTED
Among the first acts of the new state was chartering two private banking corporations. A depression, lasting from approximately 1834 to 1844, was in progress at the time, including the famous panic of 1837, causing inflation, speculation and “wildcat banking."  As a result of these failures, the first amendment to the Constitution of Arkansas of 1836, ratified by the state legislature on November 17, 1846 read: "No bank or banking institution shall be hereafter incorporated or established in this State,” which lasted until after the Civil War.

NOVEMBER 7 1775 - QUAKERS OF PHILADELPHIA REFUSE TO ACCEPT “CONTINENTALS”


1775 - QUAKERS OF PHILADELPHIA REFUSE TO ACCEPT “CONTINENTALS”
The Continental Congress issued their own money, “continentals,” to facilitate economic transactions during the time of the American Revolution. The money was used in large part to pay for the war, since British and Spanish money was in short supply. Continentals helped the colonists win the war. As pacificts, however, Quakers of Philadelphia argued beginning on this day they couldn't touch money created to fight a war.

NOVEMBER 6 1841 – BIRTH OF NELSON ADRICH, US SENATOR (R.I.), LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE SENATE


1841 – BIRTH OF NELSON ADRICH, US SENATOR (R.I.), LEADER OF REPUBLICAN PARTY IN THE SENATE
Alrich was the major Senate proponent of the Federal Reserve Act. He railroaded the bill through both houses of Congress in the fall and winter of 1913. Alfred Crozier, an Ohio attorney and author of the book US Money vs Corporation Currency, testified before Congress against the Aldrich bill. He said, “The… bill grants just what Wall Street and the big banks for 25 years have been striving for, namely, private instead of public control of currency. [The bill] robs the Government and the people of all effective control over the public money supply and vest in the banks exclusively the dangerous power to make money among the people scarce or plenty.”

NOVEMBER 6 2012 – ELECTION DAY IN THE UNITED STATES


2012 – ELECTION DAY IN THE UNITED STATES
It may be impossible to believe in our corporate-dominated elections where corporations and the wealthy few decide which candidates are “electable,” what issues are dis(cussed) and what constitutes “news,” but there were some federal elections in our nation’s history where the nature of money and democratic control over the issuing and circulation of our nation’s money was one of, if not THE, major issues in the campaign [i.e. 1832 election of Andrew Jackson and 1896 election of William McKinley over William Jennings Bryan].