Students win academic scholarship

Austin Marshall was thrilled when he heard that he would be the second eighth-grader ever to win the David Blitz Academic Scholarship, as part of the Freedom Library Scholarship Program.

"I was ecstatic, I didn't think I would ever be selected over other people in the class," Marshall said.

Austin, 14, just finished eighth grade at Gila Vista Junior High and will be a freshman at Kofa High School in the fall.

The class he took, called the Freedom Library Education and Scholarship Program, is held once a week for 11 weeks at The Freedom Library on 8th Avenue. It discusses the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to issues in the world today.

"It's important to know the U.S. Constitution, know your rights," Marshall said.

All scholarship applicants, after taking the class, had to write an essay on "How the economic and fiscal crisis can be addressed based on the principles in the U.S. Constitution."

Marshall's proposal was to abolish the Federal Reserve through an act of Congress, abolish the current "fiat" money system and nearly eliminate government spending in the private sector. His argument was that the Executive Branch does not have constitutional authority to interfere in the private sector, and that Congress never had authority to create the Federal Reserve.

Once the reserve is abolished, "fiat" money (money with no real value or concrete gold backing) will become void. These acts would stabilize the market and allow it to proceed normally with no inflation or deflation, Marshall said.

The director of the program, Howard Blitz, could not be reached for comment.

Marshall was awarded the scholarship and a $1,000 check to be used toward his college education. He was also awarded the Citizenship Award, the Constitution Award from the American Legion and the Principal's Award.

Other recent scholarship recipients were Charyssa Greenwell and Terri McIntyre, who received The Freedom Library Travel Scholarship.

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PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS:
Charyssa Greenwell, senior, Yuma Catholic High School
Lisa Erwin, senior, Yuma Catholic High School
Joselyn Williams, junior, Gila Ridge High School
Elizabeth Norton, senior, Yuma Catholic High School
Austin Marshall, eighth grade, Gila Vista Junior High School
Terri McIntyre, dental hygienist
Janette Magallanes, legal assistant

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Austin's Award Winning Essay:
How the Monetary and Fiscal Crisis Can be Addressed Based on the Principles in the United States Constitution.

The United States Constitution was written in 1787 to guarantee a more equal form of government than the one before it. The framers knew the dangers of a totalitarian government and made sure that no person or group was capable of infringing on the inalienable rights of others. Even George Washington warned of the dangers of government saying that, "Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." Now, however, more than 200 years since its ratification, the powers given to the national government in the Constitution have been usurped by some of the most dangerous people in the nation: the leaders of the banking industry and the federal government. Because the majority of the American people are ignorant about the founding principles in the constitution, they have no idea how much these financial and political tyrants have infringed on their liberties, and their wallets. Due to the current economic recession, some people have finally turned to our founding document for answers on how to fix the economy and how to put our leaders back into their place.

The first and most basic step to economic and political recovery is education of the American people. Knowledge is the key to a free society. The Constitution is the standard to which our government should run. If Americans don't have that standard to compare our current government with, then how will they will they know how to fix it? Every American should know what the government has the authority to do, what it doesn't have the authority to do, and where to find that information in the Constitution. Article I of the Constitution sets up the Legislative branch of government. Section 8 of Article I explicitly states what Congress has the authority to do. Section 9 states what Congress can't do. Article II sets up the Executive branch and states what the President can do. Article III sets up the third and final branch of the federal government, the judicial branch and gives the restrictions for the Supreme Court.

One of the powers given to Congress in Article I, Section 8 is the power to coin money. Controlling the production of the nation's currency is a power that the founding fathers knew must be guarded by Congress, as any other entity with that power would certainly abuse it. However, a different agency, The Federal Reserve, currently posses the power to coin money, and this agency has little to no oversight by Congress.

In the early 1900's a small group of some of the most powerful bankers in the country put together the foundations of a government-sponsored cartel that is now known as the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created a privately run and government protected agency that not only controls the flow of currency into the economy but also controls the interest rate on it. This act of Congress was broadcasted, at the time, as a move to break money trusts and financial monopolies, but this was just a facade to fool the general population. What the Federal Reserve Act really did was transfer the Constitutional power to coin and regulate money from Congress to the "Fed." The Federal Reserve has been given a monopoly on the creation of the national currency. This currency has no intrinsic value and is not backed by any sort of precious metal. This type of currency is called "fiat" money. Since the money that that the Fed creates has no backing, they can increase or decrease the amount of money in circulation when ever they deem it necessary. So far they haven't had a very impressive track record. Deflation (too little money in circulation) caused The Great Depression of the 1930's. Today, inflation (too much money in circulation) is  ruining whatever value that is left on the dollar. By increasing the amount of money in circulation, the Federal Reserve is lessening the value of the money that the American people possess.

The next two steps to economic recovery go hand in hand. For one to occur, the other must also be set in place. First, the abolition of the Federal Reserve by an act of Congress, then the abolition of the fiat money system that is in place today. The founding fathers intended for Congress to be in control of the currency. Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 states that Congress has the power, "To coin the Money, regulate the Value therof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures." Our elected leaders have irresponsibly shrugged off one of their duties to the people that control the nation's largest private bank. No where in the Constitution does it say Congress can give its powers to agencies that they have no control over. After the Federal Reserve has been abolished, the fiat money in use would be void. A currency with some sort of intrinsic value or backing would be needed. This would stabilize the value of the money in circulation and make inflation and deflation nearly impossible. Since there is a limited amount of gold and silver the government has in its possession, there would be a limit to the number dollars that could be created. Money would no longer be able to be, "printed out of thin air," as it is today.

One of the last steps to economic recovery is to eliminate nearly all government spending in the private sector. According to Newsweek, February 16, 2009 edition, government spending was 34.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ten years ago. In 2010, government spending is projected to be 39.9 percent of the GDP. This is a shocking figure especially because government spending in the euro zone is expected to be 47.1 percent in 2010, a difference of less than eight percent. With each bailout given to the financial institutions and manufacturers, we move one step closer to a socialist, European state. Not one dollar of the government bailouts given to private institutions such as AIG, Citigroup, or GM is constitutionally authorized. No where is Article I, Section 8 is the subsidization or nationalization of any private sector institution stated as one of the powers granted to Congress. The government is now greatly overstepping its boundaries, and we the people have a duty to tell them to cease their current medaling in the economic sector of the country.

The leaders of the financial and political sectors of the country have usurped too much power from the United States Constitution. These usurpations have caused some of the biggest economic disasters in this nation's history. The current recession our economy is in can be addressed simply by returning to some of the principals found in the country's founding document. First, though, the people must be educated enough to know what the boundaries of the government are. This is the only way the people can put pressure on our elected leaders to act. Second, an abolishment of the Federal Reserve, a government sponsored cartel, must occur. Third, our fiat system of currency must be replaced with a currency of intrinsic value. Last, our government leaders must cut all government in the private sector. In conclusion, these steps will bring our economy back on track and but our leaders back into place.