The President saw Senator Landrew looking as if she wanted to say something, so he gestured to her to invite her to speak.
“Mr. President, we may not agree on a lot of the issues we have been discussing. However, I am surprised and excited to hear you speak so confidently about this renewable and clean energy plan and policy. I had figured all that talk on the campaign was just a way of drawing Democrat voters to your party,” said Senator Landrew.
With the liberal Senator starting to come around to the FPs agenda, the President was more congenial in his response. “Senator, I was clear on how I would run the country if elected, and expanding and building a clean renewable energy plan is something America needs; it is not just a matter of financial security — it provides a way to protect ourselves from dependence on other nations. Likewise, we need oil and natural gas, not just for our vehicles but also for manufacturing, and unless we can bring down the price of oil and begin to get ourselves independent of the use of foreign oil, we will continue to be entangled in the affairs of those regions of the world. I want to bring to a conclusion our endless involvement in small conflicts over resources and bring our country truly into self-reliance. I hope that I can count on your support for all of these initiatives which will benefit our country?”
With a look that was neither approving nor disapproving, Ms. Landrew began a very metered political response, “Mr. President, it will be hard for me to gain support from the Democrats in the Senate on your oil drilling and the America First Corporation initiative. However, I do feel that if the legislation includes all of these green energy projects you mentioned, I think I can get them to agree to support your legislative agenda. They would be hard-pressed to vote down legislation that includes some of their cornerstone ideas and projects.”
The President knew that this was the closest thing he could expect to a glowing approval and show of support, and smiled before responding, “Excellent. Then that is the approach we will take. These initiatives will be put into a single bill. It will provide your colleagues with a victory of their own and still allow us to move the country in a direction that will end our dependence on foreign powers for energy and resources.”
The President surveyed the room for a minute, gauging the mood and response thus far to this extraordinary legislative agenda being discussed. For the first time in who knows how long, the leaders of America were talking civilly about how to address the problems facing the country and coming together with solutions to fix them.
“Monty will hand out the next set of folders; I would like to discuss the new monetary policy.” He motioned to a new player in the room. “Joyce Gibbs, our new Treasury Secretary, will lead the next discussion and explain how we are going to restructure our debt and rebuild our currency. Before we begin, let’s take a short 30-minute break. We have some sandwiches and drinks being brought in as well.” The President nodded towards an aide just outside the door. As the group began to stand and stretch, the President stood up and walked into the hallway to talk briefly with Secretary Gibbs.
“Joyce it’s good to see you. Everything is still ready on your end, correct?” asked the President nervously.
“Yes, Mr. President. The markets will be closed tomorrow and will remain closed until Tuesday. This will be more than enough time for us to have the initial batches of the New American Dollars (NADs) ready for circulation. Within two weeks the banks will only have NADs for distribution to the general public. We anticipate it will take us about six months to fully convert all of the world’s dollars to the NAD,” Joyce said with excitement in her voice.
“Do we really have the needed gold to cover the currency? I heard that part might be a bit iffy,” the President said.
“We just secured the last order of gold needed to cover everything. Short of several countries actively trying to convert all of their NADs into gold, we should be fine. Even if they tried that, we have sufficient rules in place to ensure they are not allowed to receive any new NADs unless they back their request with gold. Most people, even in the government, do not realize how immense the gold stashes held by the Federal Reserves are.”
The President seemed to relax as he replied, “Excellent. When the break is over, I’ll introduce you again to everyone and then you can begin to inform them their world is about to completely change.” Stein let out a slight chuckle.
“Yes, Mr. President.”
Joyce Gibbs had been a long-term member of the Federal Reserve, and was an outspoken critic of the previous administrations’ continued use of quantitative easing and of the government printing money and then buying and issuing debt with that new currency. She had been a strong advocate for a return to the Gold Standard and a massive restructuring of America’s debt and currency. When the Freedom Party formed, Joyce provided then-Governor Stein a lot of economic advice. So, when Stein became President, she was his obvious first choice for Treasury Secretary.
Once the break concluded, the President signaled for everyone to take their seats as he introduced the new Treasury Secretary again. “Joyce, if you could go over the new monetary policy for us…” the President indicated as he took his seat at the center of the table.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for allowing me to address in private the senior leaders of the Congress. I feel this is important to discuss discretely as these changes are going to have a profound effect on everyone and the economy.”
Secretary Gibbs continued, “The US Dollar, along with the other world currencies, have been in a race to the bottom for decades. As a consequence, they have been so devalued as a means of dealing with their sovereign debts and increasing their own domestic exports that drastic actions need to be taken to right the global currencies.”
“Economists have warned in the past that we are on the verge of a hyperinflationary event; if that happens, I believe it will not only destroy the dollar, but will cause the world currencies to completely collapse. The depression we have been experiencing — and still are — will become even worse as society will soon have no means to conduct commerce except through direct trade between parties. The proverbial ‘can’ may no longer be kicked down the road.”
“This needs to be solved, and with the leadership of President Stein, we are going to resolve it. However, what we are proposing is also going to cause certain short-term problems and have an enormous ripple effect in the market and around the world. If we are to right our financial house (and the world’s), then it is necessary.”
Pausing for effect (and to collect her thoughts), Joyce looked at the President before letting the other shoe drop. “The Treasury is going to begin printing the New American Dollar or NAD. The old US Dollars will be converted to new NADs at a price of five old US Dollars for one NAD. As you can imagine this will have a profound impact on people’s savings accounts, debts/loans, 401ks and investments; it is also going to shore them up. The NAD will be pegged to the price of gold, and will initially be set at $8,500 NAD per ounce, but the currency will be allowed to fluctuate with changes in the market. The Federal Reserve has enough gold at the new NAD price to cover the currency that will be in circulation and the Federal Reserve will have preferential buying power within the US to purchase gold at the new NAD price and will do so on a continual basis to stabilize the NAD and increase its value.”
Monty raised his hand to quickly interject, “—People will still be allowed to own and purchase gold; we do not want anyone to think this is like 1929 all over again when the government required people to turn in their gold and made it illegal to own it. People can turn their gold in for NADs if they would like, but they will not be forced to do so.”