In a move that serves as a capstone to Rep. Ron Paul’s colorful career, the House on Wednesday voted to have Congress‘ chief investigators conduct a full audit of the Federal Reserve’s shrouded decision-making process.
The overwhelming 327-98 vote sends the measure to the Senate, where Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, at one time expressed support for an audit — though he reportedly has changed his mind.
House passage already marks a high-water mark for those who for years have been pushing for an audit, led by Mr. Paul. The Texan rode the slogan “Audit the Fed” to prominence in two Republican presidential primary campaigns, and he said the bill is a chance for Congress to begin to reclaim the money and banking powers it is given in the Constitution, but had delegated to the Fed.
“It is up to us to reassert ourselves,” Mr. Paul said during floor debate Tuesday.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke doesn’t like the prospect of such a broad audit, calling it a “nightmare scenario” last week and saying it would lead to politicians second-guessing his decisions.
Opposition in Congress came chiefly from Democratic leaders, who said they doubt the bill ever becomes law — but worried about sending a signal to financial markets that lawmakers want to intervene in financial affairs.
“It seems to me what we’re talking about is taking some fake punches at the Federal Reserve but not doing anything serious,” said Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.
Every top Democratic leader voted against the bill, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, along with 95 other Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Robert L. Turner of New York.
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Don't the Dems understand that their constituents are the ones getting screwed by the Fed's policies? I guess they can vote against auditing the Fed because their constituents don't even know they're getting screwed.
how so? (i'm really asking btw)
More than ever, I am now convinced that these democrats are Goa'ulds working for Apophis, the Goa'uld System Lord.
Either that or they're replicators, which is worse.
xx
I laughed, this is so true.
Vote Hairy Twat Reid out of office.
Yeah, I said twat, and I don't care cause I'm retiring bitches.
Wonder where Rombot stands on this bill.
He'll say something like this:
'' You know, I made it clear in my previous statements that Bernanke would not be re-appointed. I think that we need a Federal Reserve that is accountable, that is transparent and that works for the american people. But we also need an independant FED. Any expert would tell you how crucial that is.''
fucking gold.
Harry Reid: "I think we should audit the Federal Reserve" -1995
[quote=Abdel]Harry Reid: "I think we should audit the Federal Reserve" -1995
]Funny how money changes people the revolving door effect.
Romney used to be im favour of strict campaign finance limits he called it influence buying.
[quote=Abdel]Harry Reid: "I think we should audit the Federal Reserve" -1995
]"he was for it before he was against it"
Watch RP toy around with Timothy Geithner today
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/3550006
Auditing the Fed is a horrible idea.
Care to elaborate?
For the simple reason that is usually given. The Fed, and our short and long-term economic/monetary policy, should be as far removed from political pressure as reasonably possible, so as to avoid being influenced by politicians' whims that change with every election season.
.
This could potentially be a good thing but the idea of Congress being in charge of monetary policy is downright terrifying.
But, giving monetary policy powers to any central planner, be it Congress or a Central Bank, is less ideal than having a truly free market monetary system and economy.
As Ron Paul said, “The problem isn’t with the choices made by central bankers. The problem is that they possess the power to make any choice at all.”
I'd say there's plenty of problems with the choices being made by the Fed. If there weren't, I doubt this issue would really have come up. The Free Banking era was characterized by some periods of very sharp inflation and recurrent bank failures. The frequency of banking crises under the National Banks system is what spurred the creation of the Fed. I think it would be disingenuous to claim that letting "the market" set interest rates guarantees us better outcomes in light of actual history. And no, this should not be a matter of "principle". We're talking about the economy and the American people's livelihood here. Long-term pragmatism (to paraphrase a concept Goldman Sachs forgot about long ago) is what is needed here, not some high-brow view of "what is right."
No, what spurred the creation of the fed was propaganda and powerful bankers who wanted more power, the ability to privatize their profits and largely socialize losses. They get to lever up without worry because they get a lender of last resort, and also there's FDIC. Banks reap the benefits of fed policy, not the common man. So please don't say it's not about what's "right" because "we're talking about the economy and the American people's livelihood here" because the Fed has done nothing but destroy livelihood. They've done this most notably in recent years by fueling the "great recession" which we all know about of course, but more generally they have always fueled booms and busts by fueling excessive credit expansion beyond what is sustainable. When you manipulate rates beyond where the market would decide they should be, bad investments WILL be made and the economy will pay the price eventually.
What's "right" is also what is economically ideal i.e. no federal central planning or interference in the monetary markets. Tax and income redistribution is central planning too, but different topic not relevant here.
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