Pay Fed Workers and Contractors with IOU

[GURPS (Premo)]

FORGET THE $1T COIN, HERE’S THE NEXT BIG DEBT CEILING SOLUTION


Move over, $1 trillion-dollar coin: There’s a new debt ceiling solution in town and it’s called government scrip (i.e. IOUs).

No, really. From the National Journal:

The $1 trillion platinum coin seems too wacky; the 14th amendment too risky. But could IOU’s be the solution to an impasse on raising the nation’s borrowing limit?

Yes, and President Obama should publicly adopt the idea, Edward Kleinbard, a University of Southern California law professor and former chief of staff to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, argues in a Thursday New York Times op-ed. If lawmakers can’t reach an agreement before the nation hits its debt ceiling–which could happen as soon as next month — then Obama should have a backup plan of issuing IOU’s in place, Kleinbard argues.

“[Obama] should threaten to issue scrip—’registered warrants’—to existing claims holders (other than those who own actual government debt) in lieu of money. Recipients of these I.O.U.’s could include federal employees, defense contractors, Medicare service providers, Social Security recipients and others.”

Kleinbard is hardly the first to propose the idea. Slate’s Matt Yglesias suggested it in early December. And New York Times Op-Ed columnist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman argued for such IOU’s on Monday, though he called them “Moral Obligation Coupons.” In Krugman and Kleinbard, the idea has found two prominent proponents.

maybe you can pay your Pepco bill with a Fed IOU ...... it sounds about the same as a Federal Reserve Note - That has NO Real value - only what the Fed says it does



not like a Gold or Silver Certificate

[czygvtwkr]

I dont get paid i dont go to work mf'ers.

[migtig]

Very messed up idea.

[GURPS (Premo)]

Originally Posted by migtig

Very messed up idea.

it is ...

... but it got me thinking - What is OUR Money Really ?

[which is why I posted the pics of Different US Currency - US Notes, Fed Notes, and Silver / Gold Certificates]

but a Gov. Promise to have x Value .... which Obama and Company have been screwing with

[Merlin99 (Premo)]

I know quite a few government workers (and contractors) whose work could be considered an IOU.

[philibusters]

Fine with me as long as I can later redeem the IOU's for real money.

[bcp (Premo)]

Originally Posted by philibusters

Fine with me as long as I can later redeem the IOU's for real money.

If you end up owing tax at the end of the year, just sign it over to the IRS and call it even.
Pretty sure they wont find issue with this.

[philibusters]

Originally Posted by bcp

If you end up owing tax at the end of the year, just sign it over to the IRS and call it even.
Pretty sure they wont find issue with this.

Hey as long as at some point I am to trade my IOU for money at a dollar to dollar trade, then I don't mind paying my taxes in cash even if at some point I received my salary in IOU form.

As a federal employee I just don't want to lose any of my salary. If I am delayed in receiving it for a month and instead just get a IOU that I can redeem a month later, that is less than idea, but I can handle that. However that would be tougher for people living paycheck to paycheck. I have enough money on hand to go without income for a few months without hitting any big snags.

[b23hqb]

Originally Posted by philibusters

Fine with me as long as I can later redeem the IOU's for real money.

Real money? REAL MONEY????? What is real money anymore? If the current occupant of the WH can hold a press conference today and say that increasing the debt ceiling is not increasing spending, then what is real?

Certainly not the current WH who think that money does not grow on trees - it is just there.

[BernieP]

Originally Posted by bcp

If you end up owing tax at the end of the year, just sign it over to the IRS and call it even.
Pretty sure they wont find issue with this.

Something tells me not even the IRS would accept the government script in lieu of cash.