resist poking a little fun. but it's funny, the biographer for garfield recounts some of the issues that the banking committee had when he was chairman after the civil war. there was a massive national debt as a result of the war, but at the same time a fund for reconstructive was needed. the wartime system of high tariffs had to be overhauled, monetary policy and inflation had to be addressed, and specifically how much paper currency and coin silver out to be issued by the treasury. when you're financial services committee chairman is sort of saying it's kind of like just another day at the office. well, the banking committee chairman garfield based a pre-federal reserve a version of the monetary policy debate as it essentially continues to this day. again, from the biography of the garfield biography. quote, ohio was an important battleground state in this political conflict between supporters of hard and soft money. garfield concluded to the dismay of the soft money supporters that greenbacks should be reduced in quantity. when we were talking about issues of chairman garfield's time, the mortgage crisis or the national debt, the central questions still remain about my and curren