The U.S. Treasury used to mint gold and silver into coins. Later, when paper money was issued by the Treasury, it was backed by gold or silver. In 1913, Congress created the unconstitutional Federal Reserve. Today, our currency is not backed by any precious metal. It is fiat money made legal tender by federal law.

The Federal Reserve decides how much money the Treasury needs to print. The fiat money stimulus packages will cause large-scale inflation that always follows fiat money. Our government will probably tell us that we can avoid inflation by joining the International Monetary Fund, or some other international group, thus destroying our dollar.

The Federal Reserve is not accountable to anyone. It has never been fully audited. If we want to preserve our dollar, we need to get Congress to stop the printing of fiat money. We citizens need to contact Congress to vote for the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (H.R. 1207 and S. 604) to get the audit we need. Otherwise, our dollar may soon become as worthless as the German Mark after World War One. Dominick Odorizzi

Porter Ranch, Calif.