Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest, Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!

Ballard cites the passage of HB157 by the Utah Legislature but fails to grasp that he can’t act on it today. It’s a good example of what to watch out for in Utah politics — candidates that have gone ’round the twist. While HB157 allows gold and silver to be used as a medium of exchange in the state, it doesn’t require anybody to accept it. And nobody thought that would start happening in real life anyway. The bill from Rep. Brad Galvez — with Sen. John Valentine sponsoring in the Senate — was designed to send a message to the federal government that Utah supports the idea of a commodity-based monetary system. Translation: Bring back the gold standard. Stop messing with our currency.

Too bad nobody is listening. A return to the gold standard would restrict federal spending by putting real limits on the value of the dollar. The way it is now, the government can go wild and print as much paper as it wants, thereby decreasing purchasing power. That’s called inflation. Inflate the dollar enough and a wheelbarrow-load won’t buy a loaf of bread.

But the Ballards of the world (bless their hearts) are jumping the gun. Forget about paying your taxes in gold or silver. If you’re like me, you don’t have any gold, and besides the clerk at the desk won’t take it. If it rises in value the federal government will tax the increase, and so will Utah unless it’s official state coinage. Under the Constitution states do have the power to mint their own money, but not even Utah is planning to do that. Who knows, though — maybe a swashbuckling Utah County commissioner could sail ’round the Spanish main to Washington and rattle his saber until Congress changes U.S. monetary policy.