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From: tac@teldata.UUCP ()
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.consumers
Subject: Re: Legal Tender and the U.S. Government
Message-ID: <420@teldata.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 9-Jul-84 11:59:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: teldata.420
Posted: Mon Jul  9 11:59:58 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Jul-84 02:52:00 EDT
References: <19705@wivax.UUCP>
Organization: Teltone Corp., Kirkland, WA
Lines: 28

, (sop to the blank line eaters--consider it a religious sacrifice)

The problem is that it is legal tender, not payment.  Check out the
meanings of the words and you will find that while "tender" could include
money, it is not limited to that.  It also is "offered in payment".
Perhaps you will consider this nit-picking, but that is what legal
documents and laws are all about.  Harking (harping) back to an old
discussion there is a phrase in the Constitution of the US which 
grants to the US Government the authority "To coin Money, regulate
the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights
and Measures;".  This taken from my simulated parchment copy of the
Constitution, with the capital letters as they appear in the script
as written.  I don't see anything about printing money there, and
since one of the problems that was being solved with this constitution
was rampant inflation caused by continental dollars being printed
as fast as they were needed, it is reasonable to assume that they
chose these words as carefully as they chose all of the others used
in this document.

	    From the Lecturn of
	    Tom Condon     {...!uw-beaver!teltone!teldata!tac}

	    A Radical A Day Keeps The Government At Bay.

DISCLAIMER:  The opinions expressed herein are those of everyone who
  matters, but not necessarily anyone you know, and most certainly not
  my employers!