Well, I never thought this would happen.

I may have to scrub my fingers to the bone after posting this, because I'm about to write in favor of (Can't! Say! It!) Okay, I'm about to write about two laws. They may be quixotic and doomed laws, but that's what makes them special. Both out of Idaho.

One that's currently only a gleam in Idaho legislators' eyes is HB633, which would allow Idaho citizens to pay their state taxes with an official state silver medallion. This apparently isn't just Ron-Paul-Wannabe goldbugism, for according to this Salon article there's method to their madness.

The intent of this act is to use the abundant silver resources of the state of Idaho to create a means whereby the people of Idaho can pay their taxes to the state using silver mined from the ground of Idaho, processed in Idaho and finally minted into a medallion in Idaho. It is the intent of the Legislature to create mining jobs in Idaho while giving the people of Idaho a means to store their wealth in a precious metal that is immune from the effects of inflation while complying with the mandates of our federal Constitution.

Of course, if they're really interested in adhering to the constitution, there are practical difficulties. According to the con, only the feds can mint money. So this isn't a "coin," it's a "medallion." I've a feeling the Treasury Department won't appreciate the worlds of difference between the two words. Also, there's a small matter of price volatility:

...since states aren't allowed to mint their own money, the value of the silver medallion will have to fluctuate according to market forces. In just the last ten years, the value of an ounce of silver has zig-zagged between four and twenty dollars.

But it's still good to see legislators thinking along these lines, since federal fiat currency is so clearly heading down the road to Zimbabwe. It'd be good if the concept of hard money were at least somewhat normalized before the trillion-dollar bills are issued.

The second law I now praise mention in passing is actually a law, or at least an act. Maybe it's a "measure" - hell, I don't know what it is. The Idaho governor, who'd want me to mention his name, signed it on Wednesday. It's another of those stick-in-DC's-eye state acts - though apparently not a "resolution" - that might be a bit hard to actually implement but it's nice to see it out there.

The Idaho Health Care Freedom Act says in part, "every person within the state of Idaho is and shall be free to choose or decline to choose any mode of securing health care services without penalty or threat of penalty."

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, a Republican, said Wednesday he signed it because he believes any health care laws should ensure people are "treated as an individual, rather than as an amorphous mass whose only purpose in this world is to obey federal mandates."

Several other states may follow suit.

Okay, I guess we did mention his name.

If, as this article suggests, several other states draft their own exemption laws, Obama's "health care" plan will go the way of RealID whether Pelosi re-jiggers the rules of congress or not. While I've come to expect this sort of thing from the legislators of Wyoming, Montana and/or Idaho, over half the states either have or soon will consider the same sort of legislation. Also,

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum...sent a letter to the other 49 state attorneys general, asking them to join him "in preparing a legal challenge to the constitutionality of whatever individual mandate provision emerges, immediately upon the legislation becoming law."

So Obama's "health care" debacle may continue to provide entertainment and merriment for some time to come, before it settles down to oppressing us into poverty and squalor.

I got to wondering what, exactly Idaho or any other state could do to practically fight national healthcare, since every federal congresscreature and nazgul agrees that federal law trumps state law. Apparently the state legislatures, too, are planning to tie the whole thing up in federal court.

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter sent letters to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today, arguing that health care “reform” legislation being considered by Congress sacrifices “fiscal responsibility, sound judgment and constitutionality for political expediency.”

If it becomes law, he’s ready to go to court to stop the federal government from imposing “a crushing unfunded mandate” on state and local governments and the people they serve.

“I question the wisdom as well as the constitutionality and legality of these bills and will explore all my options, including legal action, to protect Idaho and the U.S. Constitution should Congress adopt and the President sign compromise health care legislation,” Governor Otter wrote.

Interesting times, my friends. Back when RealID was the Federal Oppression Du Jour, I was encouraged by the resistance of the states but found their reasoning weak-kneed, since they mostly objected to the "unfunded mandate" and many would have cheerfully knuckled under if the feds had agreed to foot the bill. But they did get away with that weak beer, and it seems to have emboldened them. Now several state governments, with this fellow Otter currently at the van, are making bolder statements and taking bolder steps.

It'll be very interesting to see where this all leads. I may yet end my days in [insert name of country] formed by the former contiguous states of Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, bits of western Washington, whatever disaffected Canadian provinces might care to tag along, and maybe even Alaska. That'd make a viable nation-state, as long as it didn't have to fight the US military for the privilege. It's not my dream scenario but it might do, depending on its constitution. Imagine that: A chance to actually fight for freedom, rather than just hunker down and try to duck Leviathan's attention. That's at least worth wishing for. Hell, that'd be worth killing and dying for.

Thanks to SurvivalBlog for the tip.