WFTV reported yesterday on a local organization that has taken to issuing their own currency (sorry, we couldn't find a link on WFTV's website). The story came to light when about a dozen KUA customers tried to pay their utility bills with this organization's currency and/or checks (this was a little unclear, but the video showed currency that looks like it was made with a black & white laser printer). And then they interviewed the leader of this organization, who appeared outraged that KUA wouldn't take this currency and threatened to sue the federal government.
We have to ask, do people really think that they can just show up at a business with what at best is a private promissory note, and expect the business to take that as payment? How many businesses around here accept currency issued by foreign governments, much less a private organization? The whole thing sounds like a scam to us, but we're not sure who the scam is targeted at...the people who are exchanging real money for this currency, or the companies they are trying to pay with it.
Unfortunately, the Orlando Sentinel reported this morning that the Lowe's distribution center in Poinciana laid off 205 employees on Friday, or almost 20% of their workforce. The Lowe's center has been held up as a model of economic development in the county, and it appears that even with the layoffs, Lowe's will exceed the employment goal numbers they promised the county in order to receive economic development incentives. Still, 205 people newly out of work and looking for jobs is a big number. Our best wishes to them that they will find work quickly. And
we wonder if we haven't just seen the beginning of the local ripple effect from the housing industry downturn...first it was those companies directly involved in construction, now it is the companies that supply them.
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Thanks, Wayne Who, for helping spread the word about the private currency system that has surfaced recently in Kissimmee.
Last Thursday, KUA issued a reminder to customers to pay their utility bills only with funds or currency drawn on the Federal Reserve banking system.
In the past week, KUA received 13 documented reports from customers who have participated in a "financial mechanism" offered by Kissimmee-based The United Cities Corp. (TUC). By participating in this program, TUC agrees to serve as a bank and "manage" the finances of its members. Members deposit funds and TUC, in turn, mails out checks to cover the cost of each member's monthly utility bills.
At issue is the fact that TUC uses a private currency system, not the traditional Federal Reserve System which serves as the central banking system for the United States. When TUC checks are received by KUA, they cannot be deposited because neither the utility nor its financial institutions are part of TUC's private currency system.
A written statement from TUC to KUA states that the private currency system is needed because the "The United States of America is currently facing an economic disaster of immense proportions, due in large measure to a continued erosion of our national currency, via the issuance of flat currency (with no intrinsic value) Federal Reserve Notes." The statement goes on to read that "These notes, more commonly known as US Dollars are deemed unlawful according to the Constitution of the United States of America."
KUA reminds its customers that they are responsible for payment of their utility bill using funds drawn on the Federal Reserve banking system. Those who choose not to pay in this fashion risk the chance of utility service interruption.
Payments can be made using cash, checks drawn on banks with ABA routing numbers, money orders and credit cards.
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