VIRGINIA: Wingnut Lawmaker Wants State To Issue Its Own Currency

When we last heard from nutjob Virginia legislator Bob Marshall, he was proposing a bill to ban gay people from serving in the state's National Guard. Now he wants Virginia to issue its own currency.

Marshall will ask the General Assembly to consider the idea when it convenes for its annual legislative session Jan. 12. It is a companion bill to a proposal he has already filed to establish a study committee to examine alternative currencies to that distributed by the Federal Reserve System "in the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System." Marshall said his intention is to inject competition into the national economy and force the federal government to change monetary policy he believes is leading to hyperinflation. According to his bill, "many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System's currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future." His critique mirrors that of the Tea Party movement, some of whose members have called for the end of the Federal Reserve system.

Marshall plans on running for the U.S. Senate in 2012.