House panel approves Ron Paul's proposal to audit the Federal Reserve

[Dem]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29734.html

The House Financial Services Committee has approved Rep. Ron Paul’s measure to drastically expand the government’s power to audit the Federal Reserve.




The measure, based on a Paul proposal that has attracted more than 300 co-sponsors, passed, 43-26, as an amendment to a financial reform bill. Florida Democrat and fellow Fed critic Alan Grayson co-sponsored the amendment with Paul and played a leading role drumming up support for it among committee members. The adoption of this amendment is an extraordinary victory for Paul, whose libertarian, anti-Fed leanings have often been dismissed by the political establishment.



The House Financial Services Committee will vote on approving the underlying bill after Thanksgiving recess.


I don't know much about the Federal Reserve or why this is such a big deal.

But I don't think this amendment would hurt anything, and more transparency is always good.

[Dem]

Bump.

No one has anything to add on why this is good or bad?

[ValricoKate]

http://forums.hannity.com/search.php?searchid=24757621

lots and lots to say ...not much time to discuss today.
If Crapand Trade goes through it won't matter much anyway will it?

[ChaosControl]

I don't know much about the Federal Reserve or why this is such a big deal.

But I don't think this amendment would hurt anything, and more transparency is always good.

The Federal Reserve was in many ways responsible for both "The Great Depression" and the current recession.
More public oversight of the bank would be a very good thing. Of course abolishing it would be infinitely better.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." - Thomas Jefferson.

Was he a prophet, or just incredibly wise?

[Buschb]

This is very good...True Bi-Partisanship
Actually there is a pretty good piece from Huff Po...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/fed-beaten-bill-to-audit_n_364546.html


Huff Po has been keeping track of the Fed for months as Ron Paul and Ariana Huffington have joined forces to target the Fed...

What I find odd is that now Andy Stern of SEIU is on board...I don't like Andy Stern to much


Another Huff Po piece

An unusual coalition of progressive economists, labor leaders, and bloggers has decided to fight back against a congressional amendment that would allow the Federal Reserve to continue operating in secrecy.

In a Thursday letter to the House Financial Services Committee, economists like Dean Baker and Rob Johnson, author Naomi Klein, and such labor luminaries as the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka and the SEIU's Andy Stern, urged committee members to shoot down an amendment by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) that would essentially allow the Fed to keep the lights off while it throws money around.

Watt's amendment, which could see a House vote today, is a direct attack against a separate measure by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). That measure, known as the "Audit the Fed" bill, has been gaining momentum in Congress for months.

"A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts," the letter says.


The Letter

November 18, 2009

House Financial Services Committee
2129 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Chairman Frank, Ranking Member Bachus, and Members of the Committee,

During the past two years, the Federal Reserve dramatically changed its operating procedures. Instead of simply setting interest rates to influence macroeconomic conditions, it rapidly acquired a wide variety of private assets and extended massive secret bailouts to major financial institutions.

There are still many questions about the Fed's behavior in these new activities, including potential cronyism and favoritism in its distribution of many trillions of dollars. As the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program recently wrote about their bailout of AIG, the Fed's "strategy to pursue concessions from counterparties offered little opportunity for success, even in light of the willingness of one counterparty to agree to concessions."

The Federal Reserve balance sheet expanded to more than $2 trillion, along with implied and explicit backstops to Wall Street firms that could cost even more. Who received the money? Against what collateral? On what terms and conditions? The only way to find out is through a complete audit of the Federal Reserve. That's why we support the Paul-Grayson amendment requiring a complete audit.

The Watt amendment does not repeal the existing provisions that prohibit a GAO audit of the Federal Reserve. In fact, it adds entirely new additional categories of restrictions. Instead of opening up the Fed's secretive activities to public inspection, the Watt amendment cloaks it in further secrecy.

A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts. We urge you to support Paul-Grayson instead.

Sincerely,

Dean Baker, Economist, Center for Economic Policy Research
William Black, Professor of Economics and Law
Tyler Durden, Blogger, Zero Hedge
Thomas Ferguson, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Boston
James K. Galbraith, Economist, University of Texas
Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers Union
Jane Hamsher, Blogger, Firedoglake.com
Rob Johnson, Economist
Naomi Klein, Author, No Logo and The Shock Doctrine
Yves Smith, Blogger, Naked Capitalism
Andrew Stern, President, SEIU
Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
L. Randall Wray, Professor of Economics, Center for Full Employment and Price Stability

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/audit-the-fed-effort-wins_n_363410.html

[agent_86]

Any kind of sanitizing sunlight is good. Although, having a panel of politicians, taking months and billions of dollars to tell us "we're crewed" only highlights how out of touch with common sense and how much of hindrance to freedom washington is.

[fava]

I guess this is the next best thing as to getting rid of them.

[darknessesedge]

I don't know much about the Federal Reserve or why this is such a big deal.

But I don't think this amendment would hurt anything, and more transparency is always good.

is that transperency or obama transparency? :)

[PheonixOps]

I don't know much about the Federal Reserve or why this is such a big deal.

But I don't think this amendment would hurt anything, and more transparency is always good.

That's a victory for Ron Paul. Good for him. He's one republican I admire. There are others but he stands out.

[hwyflier]

This is very good...True Bi-Partisanship<snip>


Yesterday was fun to watch. I was worried that the Watt ammendment would fool the dems and take away their support for Paul. Then the pro-fed people tried to break rules by leaving a letter from "respected economists" ,aka former fed lackeys, on the seat of every member. I thought it was over.

When you look at the list of people who lined up against this at the end you start to get an idea of why it is so important. Barney Frank, who had claimed to be a supporter as a ruse suddenly pushed for a no vote on the Paul/Grayson amendment, but 15 Democrats defied him to vote with Ron Paul.

[hwyflier]

Any kind of sanitizing sunlight is good. Although, having a panel of politicians, taking months and billions of dollars to tell us "we're crewed" only highlights how out of touch with common sense and how much of hindrance to freedom washington is.
Well right now we're giving billions to foreign central banks. When we ask who got what, the fed tells us none of our business. Now we'll know ( theoretically ). That's only scratch on the surface stuff.

[Paul-w]

Awesome.

Hopefully it will be a full large scale audit and enough for the congress to stop the unconstitutional FED from doing what it does.

[Buschb]

. I was worried that the Watt ammendment would fool the dems and take away their support for Paul. Then the pro-fed people tried to break rules by leaving a letter from "respected economists" ,aka former fed lackeys, on the seat of every member. I thought it was over.

When you look at the list of people who lined up against this at the end you start to get an idea of why it is so important. Barney Frank, who had claimed to be a supporter as a ruse suddenly pushed for a no vote on the Paul/Grayson amendment, but 15 Democrats defied him to vote with Ron Paul.

I hear that my friend...

Backers of the Watt amendment pressed their case on Wednesday by sending a letter from a "political cross section of prominent economists" backing a measure like Watt's. HuffPost reported, however, that those economists might well have be prominent, but they certainly aren't a "political cross section." Seven of the eight economists in question have extensive connections to the Fed -- and half of them are currently on the Fed payroll. Those affiliations were not noted in the letter.

[tislaw]

I don't know much about the Federal Reserve or why this is such a big deal.

But I don't think this amendment would hurt anything, and more transparency is always good.


The Fed is a corporation, not in any way a government entity, yet it acts as one. So........Mr. Paul put forth a bill (there's an identical one in the senate) that I signed a Petition to have it go through, as well as tons of people...and I'm thrilled to see it came out as it went in. No *crossing fingers* here's to hoping it passes in Congress and Senate!!!