A Seinfeld quote

From Tech Ticker:

With the U.S. facing large, structural deficits, analysts of all stripes are taking an inventory of the nation's assets and liabilities. Mary Meeker, famed for her coverage of Internet stocks, has produced a long presentation on the nation's balance sheet, as if it were a private-sector company. Historian Niall Ferguson suggests in Newsweek that the U.S. start selling off some of its assets.  "The U.S. government currently has $233 billion worth of non-defense 'property, plant and equipment'," he noted. Plus there's land, power-generating assets and roads. (As if somebody would buy I-95).
On Tuesday, word came that President Obama is set to propose setting up a board to look at whether the U.S. can sell off some of its real estate holdings, a move that might raise some $15 billion.
But they're missing a big source. To quote the Seinfeld character Kenny Bania: "That's gold, Jerry. Gold!"
For a good chunk of its modern history, the U.S. was on the gold standard. That meant the Treasury and central bank had to keep a ready supply of the metal on hand in case anybody wanted to turn in paper money for bullion. While the U.S. left the gold standard for good in 1973, it has held on to its stash of what economist John Maynard Keynes called a "barbarous relic." And so there's lots of it lying around, in Fort Knox in the fortress-like Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in various U.S. Mint operations. Some of it is used to make gold coins. But most of it is in bullion. Tons of it.

Talk of selling the TVA and highways is stupid. Raise taxes assholes.