For men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil Is that why the Fed does not want to be audited thoroughly? What are they afraid we will learn? The idea of keeping the people and Congress in the dark about their programs and actions speaks of something very wrong in the Fed. We have an economic crisis in this country and there is good reason to suspect that the Fed has had a lot to do with it.
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The Real Reasons Behind Fed Secrecy
Last week I was very pleased that the Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207. The bill has 295 cosponsors and there is also strong support for the companion bill in the Senate. This hearing was a major step forward in getting the bill passed.
I was pleased that the hearing was well-attended, especially considering that it was held on a Friday at nine o’clock in the morning! I have been talking about the immense, unchecked power of the Federal Reserve for many years, while the attention of Congress was always on other things. It was gratifying to see my colleagues asking probing questions and demonstrating genuine concern about this important issue as well.
The witness testifying in favor of HR 1207 made some very strong points, which was no surprise considering the bill is simply common sense. It was also no surprise that the witness testifying against the bill had no good arguments as to why a full audit should not be conducted promptly. He attempted to make the case that the fed is already sufficiently accountable to Congress and that the current auditing policy is adequate. The fact is that the Fed comes to Congress and talks about only what it wants to talk about, and the GAO audits only what the current laws allow to be audited. The really important things however, are off limits. There are no convincing arguments that it is in the best interests of the American people for anything the Fed does to be off limits.
It has been argued that full disclosure of details of funding facilities like TALF and PDCF that enabled massive bailouts of Wall Street would damage the financial position of those firms and destabilize the economy. In other words, if the American people knew how rotten the books were at those banks and how terribly they messed up, they would never willingly invest in them, and they would fail. Failure is not an option for friends of the Fed. Therefore, the funds must be stolen from the people in the dark of night. This is not how a free country works. This is not how free markets work. That is crony corporatism and instead of being a force for economic stabilization, it totally undermines it.
If the Fed gave its actual arguments against a full audit, they would not have mentioned anything about political independence or economic stability. Instead they would admit they don’t want to be audited because they enjoy their current situation too much. Under the guise of currency control, they are able to help out powerful allies on Wall Street, in exchange for lucrative jobs or who-knows-what favors later on. An audit would expose the Fed as a massive fraud perpetrated on this country, enriching a privileged few bankers at the top of our economic food chain, and leaving the rest of us with massively devalued dollars which we are forced to use by law. An audit would make people realize that, while Bernie Madoff defrauded a lot of investors for a lot of money, the Fed has defrauded every one of us by destroying the value of our money. An honest and full accounting of how the money system really works in this country would mean there is not much of a chance the American people would stand for it anymore.
Posted by Ron Paul (09-28-2009, 02:00 PM) filed under Monetary Policy
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Comments: 30
Ron Paul makes sense to me only to the extent that he doesn't think that we should be the world's policeman.
His "Flat Tax" principle is a regressive idea that noone has accepted since Steve Forbes proposed it a long time ago.
He and Michelle Bachmann, Minnesota's right wingnut answer to Sarah Palin, appeared in a joint rally here on the U of M campus last week. 'Nuf said.
Nor did I see anything about an appearance at U or M.
Or,what about the "death" of Congressmans Nick Begich and Hale Boggs. Their plane went down, never to be found again. This paragraph is from the RENSE website:
Ron Brown was a partner in the very clout-heavy lobbyist firm headed by Tommie Boggs, son of Congressman Hale Boggs (D., La. and having been a member of the Warren Commission as to the death of JFK.) who disappeared in a plane flight to Alaska after having made public statements expressing misgivings of the Warren Commission conclusion that Oswald was the "lone assassin".The Congressman disappeared , October, 1972, a monh before Nixon was re-elected President. The Congressman's daughter, Cokie Roberts, later falsely said her late father was satisfied with the Warren Commission statements.
Here is the Political Graveyard
Watch, Ron Paul and those descenters of the Status Quo, will find their new home 6 feet under. Sadly, this is a fact.
Sometimes, you just have to WANT to see and hear the truth of what our government is willing to do in order to keep their secrets.
As to the others, I don't doubt it. I remember a few in the Clinton Administration too.
I had my experiences with the government so I can agree with your assesment.
Both parties are guilty of these massive cover ups and fiscal manipulation.
Grrrrr, hang 'em all high at the O K corral!
As a former member of the Real Estate profession, "Amen". Loans were given regardless of the ability to repay, which although was legal, is immoral. However, it was the law; but I saw it go on, just as you say!!