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Ron Paul is still trying to get the Fed audited. This has become a long term project, but it looks like the idea may be gaining ground.
If there is nothing hidden, why the obstructions to an audit?
What do you think we the citizens can do to bring pressure on our representatives to push for this audit?
Given the current economic chaos, how vital do you think such an audit is?
What is it he expects to achieve, to prove that it is just as corrupt as any other political institution? I think the facts speak for themselves, it did not act when it should have acted.
Maybe the idea of an audit should get the approvoval of the former Goldman Sachs executives running the government first .
The Fed is already subject to audits by the GAO except that GAO auditors are restricted by law from reviewing monetary policy operations and transactions carried out by the Federal Reserve on behalf of foreign central banks. This restriction was imposed by Congress to assure the independence of the Federal Reserve from political influence.
The question becomes ;is the Fed autonomous ? Bernanke said :
“My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and the details of the programs but making judgments about our policy decisions would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and a repudiation of the Federal Reserve would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation.”
I guess the real question is ;should monitary policy remain indepenent from Congress ? The track records of both institutions are so poor that I can be convinced either way.
1) Who would perform the audit? Is there a body in existence that isn't in a position of conflict of interest? If it's a government agency that performs the audit, isn't that government agency answerable to the government they are auditing? And if it's a private body, doesn't that private body have a conflict as well (If they find anything the government doesn't like, they government will make their existence a pure hell, and the government may reward them in order to NOT find anything).
2) Don't we already have government auditors? They are known as the Inspector General's office. Is Paul suggesting another layer of red tape to accomplish what the IG's office is already doing?
The concept is fine. But it will never happen, and Paul is again just tilting at windmills. Which usually hurts the one doing the tilting more than it hurts the windmill.
Elliot
The bill (H.R. 1207 Federal Reserve Transparency Act)has enough co-sponsors(271) in the House to pass ;but I doubt Madame Mimi will let it come to a floor vote. I think the Senate Dems (Ben Nelson of Nebraska )are blocking it on procedural grounds. The President of course envisions an expanded role in the economy for the Fed. So whatever gets to his desk had better be veto proof.
The auditing authority in bills by Rep Paul ;Sen. Demint would be the GAO. Again ,the GAO already has some auditing authority over the Fed. ;But this bill would greatly expand it.
It'll never see the light of day if Mimi has her way. This administration and Congress have a vested interest in avoiding accountability in order to ram their agenda through. That's why Obama is pushing to get health care and cap and trade finished before the August recess, and why he's delaying the July release of budget numbers until after the recess.
Well, I don't claim to be expert on this, but I have heard for years that there has never been a full audit of the FED. Maybe some of you have a definite answer about that?
But it should be self evident, given the HUGE debt that taxpayers have to service, that there should be clear assurance that there is not more being extracted from us than is absolutely required.
I would think as important as this is if there are serious concerns about the honesty of an audit that there could be an independent audit done.
After all, is this not the hub of everything economic?
Is Tom's statement that Goldman Sachs execs are running the government? I think that is a real possibility.
Abraham Lincold started issuing debt free money. He was murdered.
JFK may have been considering following Lincoln's policy. (Some reports said so). He was murdered.
Cause and effect? Who knows for sure?
GS alumni Josh Bolton picked Hank Paulson a GS alum for Treasury under Bush . Paulson selected GS alum Neel Kashkari to oversee Treasury's acquisition of $700 billion in distressed mortgage-related assets. Before that ,GS Alum Robert Rubin oversaw the expansion of the Community Reinvestment Act during the Clintoon reign. Tim Geithner ;currently running Treasury is a Rubin protégé . GS alum Stephen Friedman runs the NY office of the Federal Reserve. He worked closely with Geithner ,Rubin ,and Paulson on the AIG bailout . Mark Patterson Geithner's chief of staff at Treasury,is a GS alum. The President just appointed GS Vice Chairman Robert Hormats to serve in the new position at the State Dept ,Undersec. For Economic ,Energy and Agricultural Affairs. Last year GS paid Lawrence Summers, Obama's chief economics adviser and director of the White House's National Economic Council,$135,000 for a single speaking appearance when it was clear he would have a prominent role in a possible Obama Adm.Quote:
Is Tom's statement that Goldman Sachs execs are running the government? I think that is a real possibility.
There are more examples of the revolving door between public office and the GS board room ,including NJ Governor Jon Corzine.But you get the idea . The relationship is incestuous and any action by former GS execs working in the government that benefits GS bottom line is a conflict of interest.
Didn't GS just announce something like $6.2 billion in bonuses?
Why aren't Obama and his cronies complaining about executive bonuses and pay for GS execs? Could it be because Obama's cronies are all former GS execs themselves?
Elliot
Thanks, Tom and Elliot for good informational material.
I still think that the Federal Reserve Act was and is a national disaster. Maybe I'm wrong.
Through American history it has been proved that any meddling or investigation into the Fed can be dangerous to your health. Just ask Lincoln, JFK and the folks on the Titanic. (and yes, I know Lincoln was many years prior to the "invention" of the Fed).
The Titanic? I haven't heard that connection.Quote:
Originally Posted by twinkiedooter
The iceberg was a plant
No, an iceberg is made of ice. A plant has leaves and stuff growing off it. You can't have an iceberg that's a plant...Quote:
Originally Posted by tomder55
Oh, wait. Never mind.
:p
I'm still trying to understand how the Titanic fits into this. :confused:
Elliot
The tin foil hatters think the Jesuits conspired with the pro-Fed bankers to get all the anti-Fed people onto a big boat . Then the suicidal Jesuit captain of the Titanic supposedly plowed through an iceberg field to bump off all the anti- Feds.
But in the case of Lincoln,according to the tin foil hatters ;it wasn't the damn Papist ,and it certainly wasn't a p.o.ed southerner. It was the Jews... or specifically the Rothschilds... because Lincoln dared to warn the Americans about the "money powers" .
And JFK . Forget all the other theories about the lone gun man ,Castro ,the Mafia ,the CIA ,LBJ... it was the Fed. The tinfoil hatters are convinced that JFK's issuing of Executive Order 11110 was his death warrant .
Elliot he has you there an iceberg is a Lettuce, a nice juicy lettuce, you know that salid greenQuote:
Originally Posted by ETWolverine
Yeah ;that's the ticket... lettuce!!
The Titanic was sunk by a lettuce that also shot JFK and Lincoln because the Fed and the Jews told it to? :eek:
As good a theory as any, I guess. :D
Nothing like a good conspiracy theory. :cool:
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