What did Harvey Francis Barnard actually propose in his original NESARA document?
Executive summary
Harvey Francis Barnard’s original NESARA was a technical policy blueprint presented in the 1990s that aimed to restructure U.S. monetary and fiscal rules—principally by replacing the federal income tax with a national consumption tax, changing the money system, and reforming debt and interest mechanics—published as Draining the Swamp and circulated to lawmakers but never introduced as legislation [1] [2] [3]. The widely circulated, sensational claims that NESARA cancelled personal debts, abolished the IRS overnight, declared world peace, or was secretly passed and suppressed are additions by internet promoters and not part of Barnard’s original proposal [1] [3].
1. Genesis and publication: an engineer’s policy packet
Barnard, an engineering consultant with a PhD in systems theory, developed NESARA in the late 1980s and early 1990s and first published the full proposal in his self-published book Draining the Swamp , printing about 1,000 copies which he sent to members of Congress and later released to the public domain and online as his political outreach failed [1] [3] [4].
2. Core fiscal change: swap income tax for a national sales tax
A central, repeatedly documented prescription in Barnard’s plan was abolishing the federal personal income tax and replacing it with a national consumption (sales) tax designed to simplify revenue collection and shift taxation away from wages [1] [3] [5].
3. Monetary reform: new currency rules and interest limits
Barnard argued for major monetary shifts—among them a return to a bimetallic currency standard or similarly constrained money supply mechanics and eliminating compound interest on secured loans—measures he said would curb inflation and systemic debt escalation by changing how money and credit are created and priced [5] [3] [6].
4. Debt and public works: payoff strategy and stimulus
His plan proposed mechanisms to pay down the national debt without imposing burdens on the middle class and to eliminate trillions in public and private debt, coupled with an infusion—Barnard described figures such as $500 billion—into public works and infrastructure to stimulate genuine recovery [2] [3].
5. Technical, not magical: limited scope and no legislative success
Barnard framed NESARA as a policy and technical reform package, not as an act already enacted; despite mailing copies to lawmakers and founding the NESARA Institute in 2001, his proposals were never introduced as a bill in Congress and never became law, a status confirmed by reporting that official records contain no NESARA legislation [3] [6] [5].
6. The conspiracy spin: what Barnard did not propose
Internet promoter Shaini Candace Goodwin—“Dove of Oneness”—dramatically repackaged and expanded NESARA into a conspiracy narrative claiming the law had been secretly passed and included radical provisions such as universal debt cancellation, immediate abolition of the IRS, mandatory new elections, and world peace; these claims go far beyond Barnard’s text and were propagated without his consent [1] [3].
7. How Barnard’s voice was preserved and distorted
Barnard reissued his book, retitling a 2005 edition Draining the Swamp: The NESARA Story, and continued to distinguish his technical proposals from the mythologized versions; nonetheless, the internet-era conspiracy outpaced his clarifications and left a legacy where popular understanding is dominated by false or inflated promises rather than the policy-minded original [1] [3] [2].
8. Verdict for the curious: real proposal vs. mythology
The factual record supports that Barnard’s NESARA was a fringe but concrete policy proposal focused on taxation, monetary reform, and debt restructuring that lacked legislative traction; claims that the original document promised sweeping, instantaneous remedies like blanket debt cancellation or that it was secretly enacted are not supported by Barnard’s publications or government records and originate with later promoters [6] [1] [3].