Ron Paul's Hour of Power

By Patrick J. Buchanan

The decades-long campaign of Ron Paul to have the Government Accountability Office do a full audit of the Federal Reserve now has 313 sponsors in the House.

Sometimes perseverance does pay off.

If not derailed by the establishment, the audit may happen.

Yet, many columnists and commentators are aghast.

An auditors’ probe, they wail, would imperil the Fed’s independence and expose it to pressure from Congress to keep interest rates low and money flowing when the need of the nation and economy might call for tightening.

They cite Paul Volcker, who to squeeze double-digit inflation out of the economy in the late Carter and early Reagan years, drove the prime rate to 21 percent, causing the worst recession since the Depression. Volcker, they claim, prepared the ground for the Reagan tax cuts and seven fat years of prosperity.

That decade, America created 20 million jobs — and another 22 million in the Clinton era. Without Volcker putting the economy through the wringer, it could not have happened. And had he been forced to explain his decisions, Congress would have broken his policy.

Such is the cast for Fed independence.

But if true, what does this say about our republic?

Is it not an admission that, though Congress was created by the Constitution, and the Fed is a creation of Congress, our elected representatives cannot be trusted with the money supply, cannot be trusted with control of the nation’s central bank? To have decisions made in the national interest, we need folks who do not have to answer to voters.

If this be true, the republic is closer to its end than its beginning, when Thomas Jefferson said, “In questions of power, let us hear no more of trust in men, but rather bind them down from mischief with the chains of the Constitution.”

Others contend that were it not for the independence and vision of Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, the economy might have gone over the cliff and into the abyss after the Lehman Brothers collapse in October 2008.

What opponents of Paul’s audit are thus saying is that elected legislators must be kept out of the temple where the great decisions about the economy are made, that these decisions must rest with bankers and economists answerable, as is the Supreme Court, to themselves and no one else.

But has the performance of the Fed been so brilliant any intrusion upon its privacy is sacrilege?

Among the failures of the Fed is the Great Depression. As Milton Friedman related in his Monetary History of the United States, for which he won a Nobel Prize for Economics, the Fed hugely expanded the money supply in the mid-to-late 1920s.

Following a path of least resistance, the money flowed into the equity markets, where stocks could be bought on 10 percent margin. The market soared, and a huge bubble was created. When it popped, scores of thousands of investors conducted a run on the banks to get their money out to meet their margin calls.

Thousands of banks, short on cash, closed. One-third of the money supply was wiped out, and the Fed failed to replenish the lost blood. Thus did the Fed cause the Great Depression.

Smoot and Hawley were framed.

Moreover, every bubble from the dot-com of the late 1990s to housing this decade is a result of Fed policy. For unless there is an excess of money sloshing around, funds that surge into one market, be it housing, stocks or Third World loans, have to come out of another.

Moreover, if the Fed has not failed dismally in its duty to keep prices stable, how come candy bars and Cokes that cost a nickel in the 1950s cost 50 or 75 cents today, and new Cadillacs that sold for $3,200 in the late 1940s cost $55,000 or $60,000 now? Who is responsible for inflation, if not the Fed?

Moreover, it is now conceded that the Fed, in the early years of this 21st century, kept interest rates near 1 percent for too long, and created the bubble that popped in 2008 and almost brought down our own and the global economies.

Because the Fed can create money out of thin air, we have been able to wage wars on credit, shovel out trillions in foreign aid, World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans, and run humongous budget and trade deficits that have brought our country to the brink of ruin.

And if Bernanke is a genius, how is it he didn’t see the train wreck coming and had to double-time it to the Hill with Hank Paulson to plead for $700 billion to bail out AIG, Fannie and Freddie, and buy all that rotten paper on the books of Citibank & Co.?

The greatest economy the world had ever seen has been horribly mismanaged and virtually ruined by the decisions of presidents, Congress and the Federal Reserve. Main Street has been wiped as Wall Street was bailed out. Why?

Bring on the auditors!

Source: Buchanan.Org

The Federal Reserve is preparing to grab more power

by John Tate

This week, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on Barney Frank's financial regulatory reform bill, which is yet another thousand page-plus attempt to increase the powers of Congress and the Federal Reserve while destroying more of what little free market our country has left.

Contact Congress and tell your representative you have seen enough of the federal government's thousands of pages of regulations and tinkering around in our economy.

Composed of several bills, the final package up for vote is H.R. 4173, slyly titled "The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act." With amendments, this legislation now exceeds 1500 pages!

H.R. 4173 would create more government bureaucracies to interfere with market operations, and, according to Subtitle G of the bill, the federal government would also have direct authorization to take over and break up any financial institution it deems to be "too big to fail."

So imagine what Congress, well-skilled in articulating pseudo-justifications, would then be able to do, by law, to any institution that resisted its interventions!

Your representative needs to hear from you immediately! Find your congressman's information here.

Be sure to urge your representative to set a new tone in Washington by instead supporting an up or down, standalone vote on Audit the Fed, H.R. 1207. Before Congress even considers the Federal Reserve's future role in our economy, it should know what the Fed is up to with the powers it currently has.

It's long past time to deliver the answers the American people want and deserve about what is being done with their money.

Tell your representative to oppose H.R. 4173 and to push for a standalone vote on Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill!

Source: Campaign For Liberty

Audit the Fed – or end it? | fed, paul, auditing - Opinion - The Orange County Register

Sometimes persistence meets opportunity. Dr. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican congressman from Texas who ran an enthusiastic but ultimately quixotic campaign for the presidential nomination last year, has introduced a bill to audit the Federal Reserve System going back to 1983. He finally got some traction on the idea this year. His bill attracted 317 co-sponsors (180 Republicans, 137 Democrats). It is slated to be voted on and probably approved today as part of a much broader package of new government regulations on financial institutions.

Ironically, Dr. Paul will probably vote against it. His whole purpose in politics is to reduce regulation and government involvement in the economy, and he'll stick to those guns even though the bill has a little sweetener he likes.

Such adherence to principle is admirable and all too rare. Support for the idea of auditing the secretive Fed probably does not reflect widespread support for Dr. Paul's ultimate goal of abolishing the Fed, but a rising populist resentment of powerful secretive institutions and a sneaking suspicion that the Fed contributed to last year's financial fiasco and then focused on protecting bankers and other fat cats.

We hope support for auditing the Fed leads to more fundamental questioning of whether the Fed should exist at all. It's worth noting that the Fed was supposed to stabilize the money supply and the economy, but since it was formed in 1913, panics, downturns and financial fiascos have been more frequent and severe than they were before.

Whether that comes to pass, auditing the Fed and making its operations less opaque seems to be an idea whose time has come.

Source: Orange County register

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Academics Spar With Populists Over Fed Audits

A group of academic economists – including several Nobel Prize winners, leaders of respected economic journals and former Fed officials – is dialing up its call for lawmakers to drop plans to subject the Federal Reserve to more scrutiny by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.

In a letter to leaders on the Senate Banking Committee and House Financial Services Committee, the economists say a bill proposed by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Tex.) and Alan Grayson (D., Fla.) to let the GAO review Fed monetary policy would do “serious harm to the economy.” They warn increased congressional oversight would harm the Fed’s independence and ability to fight inflation.

Mr. Paul has built a popular movement in part on his attacks against the Fed and won large support in the House for his bill. Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, has a growing body of academics on his side. Some 270 economists have signed the letter, including Edward Prescott, Myron Scholes, Daniel McFadden, Fynn Kydland, Roger Myerson and Robert Engel, all Nobel winners.

Source: LewRockwell.com

Help Ron Paul End the Fed's Secrecy

In her latest Washington Post article, "A lonely voice against the Fed now leads a chorus," Tomoeh Murakami Tse covers Ron Paul's efforts to Audit the Fed, his newest book End the Fed, the development of his libertarian philosophy and rejection of Keynesian economics, and his reasons for opposing the disastrous financial regulatory bill, even though a Fed audit is attached as an amendment. Quoting Dr. Paul:

"That's my tradition," he said. "I won't vote for a bill that's a disaster because 1 or 2 or 5 percent of it is an improvement."

It's time to make a stand for principled action. An audit being passed along with Frank's regulatory bill would have its impact minimized by the vast powers granted to the Federal Reserve.

Help Ron Paul know his voice is not the only one calling for central bank transparency: contact Congress and demand a legitimate audit of the Federal Reserve with a stand alone vote of HR 1207 on the House floor.

Source: Campaign For Liberty

For Everyone Who Wants HR 1207 to Happen, A Must Read By Edwin Vieira.

Edwin Vieira is a Constitutional lawyer that supports Ron Paul.

This is from his article Smashing the Axis of Financial Fraud

{ A snip }
Even earlier, Thomas Jefferson had predicted the reason for such a sorry state of affairs:

From the conclusion of the [W]ar [of Independence] we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and their rights disregarded. They will forget themselves, but in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights.[2]

Jefferson was all too prescient. Ever since his day, the political class has looked elsewhere than to the American people for support—and always found it from the financial class.

The financial class has arrayed itself on the side of the political class, and the political class has arrayed itself on the side of the financial class—not just in an incestuous coupling, but in the veritable fusion of a political-cum-financial hermaphrodite: the full integration and consolidation of bank and state.

This unholy alliance has always centered around a mechanism by means of which the financial class can create ersatz “money” out of nothing tangible—through a monopolistic national bank (the First and Second Banks of the United States), then a national banking conglomerate (the National Banks of the Civil War), and finally a fully corporative-state banking apparatus (the modern Federal Reserve System), all operating on the basis of “reserves” so increasingly fractional that they have now become essentially fictional. Through the General Government, the political class has guaranteed the continuance of this scheme, in one form or another, for more than two hundred years.
By so doing, the political class has always been able to count on the support of the financial class—but only at the cost of enabling the financial class to exercise exorbitant influence over the General Government, and through the General Government over the American people themselves.

The true name of this system is financial fascism......much more at link:

Source: News With Views

Americans Want Federal Reserve’s Secret Shenanigans Exposed

A recent survey by a major U.S. polling firm has found that an overwhelming majority of Americans support auditing the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve.

According to the respected national polling company Rasmussen Reports, 75 percent of American respondents said they “favor auditing the Fed and making the results available to the public.”

In a press release issued in late July, Rasmussen did not specifically cite Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill (H.R. 1207), instead vaguely referring to the fact that “half the members of the House now support a bill giving the Government Accounting Office, Congress’ investigative agency, the authorization to audit the books of the Federal Reserve Board.

Support for the bill has grown now that the Obama administration is proposing to give the Fed greater economic regulatory powers.”

It also noted that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, during a recent town hall meeting, tried to convince the gathering that the American public does not believe government should be involved in managing money.

“I don’t think the American people want Congress running monetary policy,” he said. Rasmussen’s pollsters certainly showed that the American people disagree with Bernanke and want the secret fiscal operations engaged in by the Federal Reserve Board exposed.

During a telephone survey of 1,000 adults conducted between July 27 and July 28, the polled found that only 9 percent of respondents opposed the plan, saying that they think it is a bad idea to scrutinize the country’s central bank. Another 15 percent said they were not sure. Other findings by Rasmussen include:

46 percent of Americans say the Fed chairman has too much power over the U.S. economy. Fifty-one percent of those taking the survey oppose expanding the Fed’s regulatory powers. 54 percent of Americans believe interest rates will continue to rise in the coming years by as much as 20 points.

“So much for the ongoing secrecy of the nation’s independent central banking system,” concluded Rasmussen. Since AFP’s last report on the Audit the Fed bill, six new congressmen have signed up to co-sponsor Paul’s landmark bill bringing the grand total to 282. They are:

Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif), Rep. Laura Richardson (DCalif.), Rep. John A. Boccieri (D-Ohio), Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Rep. Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.) and Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.).

The Senate version of Paul’s legislation (S. 604), introduced by Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Ver.) has 20 cosponsors. They include: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Sen. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Sen.Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wisc.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Sen.Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Sen. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-Ark.), Sen. JohnMcCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

Source: American Free Press

Fed warns on Congressional scrutiny - AGAIN!

The Federal Reserve warned on Thursday that a growing congressional threat to curtail its independence would destabilise markets and raise the cost of servicing US debt for “current and future generations”.

Ron Paul, the Texas Republican, has gathered the support of a majority of the House of Representatives for a bill that would audit the Fed’s monetary policy decisions. He told a Congressional hearing he wanted the power to prevent the Fed being "secret and clandestine and serving special interests”.

The Fed is struggling to face down a political backlash from different parts of Congress amid scepticism over its policies designed to restart the flow of credit and the award of new powers to curb systemic risks.

Donald Kohn, vice-chairman of the Fed, argued at the House financial services subcommittee hearing that any sense of political interference would negatively affect markets. “Any substantial erosion of the Federal Reserve’s monetary independence likely would lead to higher long-term interest rates as investors begin to fear future inflation,” he said.

Not only did Mr Kohn argue that the Fed should be given the power to regulate large systemically significant companies, but he argued against giving up responsibility for consumer protection, asking Congress to overturn the Obama administration’s proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

”I would hope that the Congress might think about whether there are ways of strengthening the Federal Reserve’s commitment to consumer regulation as an alternative to creating a new regulator,” he said.

As US authorities have considered how to reform the country’s regulatory regime in the wake of the current economic crisis, the Fed has been drawn into an argument with other regulators over who oversees the US’s largest financial institutions.

The conflict appeared to end with the Obama administration giving power over systemically significant insitutions to the Fed, with additional oversight from a council of regulators including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

But critics in Congress have not given up an attempt to push all or more of the power to the council, taking it away from the Fed. The hearing on Thursday heard support for that view. Mr Paul’s audit bill now has more than 250 co-sponsors.

Source: FT.Com

FED FOCUS-Bid to clip Fed's wings gains support in Congress

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - A proposal from a long-time congressional foe of the Federal Reserve that could give lawmakers sway over monetary policy has won the support of a majority in the House of Representatives, alarming officials at the U.S. central bank.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, put forward by Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas, now has 250 co-sponsors in the House. It will get air-time on Thursday during a congressional hearing on Fed independence that will feature testimony from the Fed's No. 2 official, Donald Kohn.

Public anger over the trillion dollars the Fed has put into play to battle the financial crisis and bail out investment bank Bear Stearns and insurer American International Group (AIG.N) has created a backlash and calls for more accountability.

A proposal from President Barack Obama to put the Fed in charge of monitoring risks to the entire financial system has intensified the scrutiny.

Paul has tapped into this anger and put forward a 2-1/2 page bill that would explicitly repeal a provision of law that prohibits the Government Accountability Office, a government watchdog agency, from auditing monetary policy decisions.

Fed officials see this as a dangerous intrusion on their independence that could hinder their ability to make the best long-term decisions for the economy.

Paul, however, thinks Congress needs more control.

"Why should they be independent? Independence to them means secrecy, do whatever they want, spend billions of dollars, bail out their friends," Paul told Reuters Television.

Paul's bill, which is co-sponsored by 78 Democrats, would also expose Fed transactions with foreign central banks, Fed emergency lending operations and discussions between Fed officials to scrutiny by the GAO, which can offer policy suggestions to lawmakers.

To become law, the bill would need to win support from the House Democratic leadership, who have yet to show an appetite to move the bill. It would then have to pass the Senate, where support would likely be scarcer.

But analysts say Congress is unusually sensitive to the public mood in the wake of the crisis and say the bill must be taken seriously.

"This is the most populist Congress that we've seen in decades and legislation like this can quickly gain momentum if it is ignored," said Jaret Seiberg, a financial services policy analyst at the Washington Research Group.

Citing the recent congressional clamor over executive compensation and new rules on credit cards, he said Democratic leaders may be wary of blocking legislation they feel is picking up popular support.

"This Congress has shown that when the electorate is upset it will act extraordinarily quickly ... This should not have any legs at all, and the fact that it does shows how populist this Congress has become," Seiberg said.

The Fed, for its part, is taking Paul very seriously.

"My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of our programs and the details of the programs, but is making judgments about our policy decisions, that would effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress," Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said during congressional testimony on June 25.

That would be "a repudiation of the independence of the Federal Reserve, which would be highly disruptive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar and our national economic situation," he warned.

Co-sponsors of Paul's bill say the intention is not to clip the Fed's wings, but simply to let a little daylight into a very secretive institution.

"It is important for them to remain independent. But I still believe that these are taxpayer dollars, and the more light that is shined on expenditures and cost analysis is something that the taxpayer is entitled to," said Representative Shelley Capito, a Republican from West Virginia.

An effort in the Senate to attach a matching bill to other legislation was thwarted on procedural grounds.

But analysts say the bill could be offered up as a possible Republican amendment to any finance bill until midterm elections in November 2010 in the hope of persuading a few more Democrats to give it their backing.

"There's a trade-off between their business as a central banker and their need for stability in the financial system and also their accountability and transparency," said Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who is a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee. "That's going to have to be worked out. I don't think there's yet a complete conclusion as to how that's done," he told Reuters.

Source: Reuters

Chair of Federal Reserve and several others are suspected of committing crimes, who will prosecute?

Well, here it is folks, a very small example of the major criminal activity of the criminal bankers that are running our country. You heard it right from the Judges mouth, these men have been exposed to have committed a crime, and should be charged and prosecuted for it!

I have been blogging about this criminal regime of bankers who are robbing us and running our government from behind a curtain of secrecy over and over again. It is important that we take note of this recent exposure. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT RUN OUR ECONOMY, THAT CONTROL OUR CURRENCY, OUR INTEREST RATES, THAT ARE TELLING US TO BACK OFF FROM AUDITING THEM OR THEY WILL COLLAPSE OUR ECONOMY! Hmm, Mr. Bernanke, that sounds alot like the threat you employed to force Bank of America to purchase Meryll Lynch for 17 billion dollars more than it was worth, that you would "fire" the president if he did not go through with the deal.

Now, if we choose not to leave you alone, if we demand to see what activity you have committed to behind closed doors concerning our money and our economy, you will bankrupt us?

SCREW YOU! And screw the rogue administration under Obama who is now moving with force to protect and further empower you!

When will people get it? These are the people in control. They have a transnationalist philosophy which they live by, they have no allegience to the United States, only to profits the burden of which is carried on the backs of the American taxpayers. They have shown not only a willingness to ignore and operate outside of the law, but have taken the position that they are above the law telling us to back off or the dollar, and our economy, just might collapse.

We know all of this! WE SEE AND HEAR IT COMING RIGHT FROM THE MOUTHS OF THESE CRIMINALS! AND IN THE WORST ACT OF TREASON OF ALL, OBAMA, AT A TIME WHEN SCANDAL AND CORRUPTION, SECRECY AND SUSPICION SURROUND THE FEDERAL RESERVE, IS MOVING SWIFTLY TO EMPOWER THE FED WITH LEGAL CONTROL OVER OUR ENTIRE FINANCIAL SECTOR AND MARKET, AND TO PROTECT THEM FROM ANY SERIOUS SCRUTINY.

No wonder Geithner is the Secretary of Treasury, he is the former Chair of the Federal Reserve!!

CORRUPTION AND SCANDAL ARE THE WORKS OF THE MOVERS AND SHAKERS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY AND THIS ECONOMY BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF SECRECY.

CONVICT THE CRIMINALS! IT IS TIME TO TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK.

It's time to put criminals behind bars!

Source: The Fading American Dream

Federal Reserve warns The People to BACK OFF

"Effectively be a takeover of monetary policy by the Congress...a repudiation of the independence of the Federal Reserve...would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the dollar, and our national economic situation." -Bernanke

This is a threat of economic collapse if we, The People, try to audit the private, independent Federal Reserve who controls our monetary system. We were warned about this by our founding fathers. James Madison told us, "History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit and violent means possible, to maintain their control over governments, by controlling money and its issuance." President Andrew Jackson openly stated, "If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations. I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic, inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a monied aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country."

Now, the Federal Reserve is under public scrutiny for the first time. The American people are growing wary of the actions of the Fed that are taken completely in secrecy involving our money. They issue our money, and we are charged interest on every dollar they issue. You like paying taxes? You like working 3 to 5 months out of the year to pay those taxes? What if you found out that those taxes were going to cover the interest these bankers are charging our government to issue our money? Well, that is exactly what is happening, and it has been for nearly 100 years.

People are starting to realize a few things. They are realizing, first of all, that the Federal Reserve is not even Federal. They are realizing the the Fed controls our complete monetary system, and now under Obama will gain control of our complete financial system including regulatory oversight into private business, and that this is as far from free market as you can get. They are also beginning to learn that the Fed operates in complete secrecy with no oversight or regulation, and can therefore handle our money and our debt in any way they choose, including investing in foreign entities, using our own money.

Now, as H.R. 1207 passes into the Senate and gains momentum, and as the Federal Reserve has been caught red handed in a cover up of coercion and intimidation involving the mergers and sales of some other private financial institutions, they are warning us to back off.

Bernanke, the Chief Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and the 4th most powerful man in the world, is telling us that if we do not back off, we will face economic collapse with certainty.

What should we do? Should we heed the warning of the 4th most powerful man in the world, and arguably the most powerful man in America? Should we back down and say, "oh, well, you know it's ok. Go back to doing your business in complete secrecy. Manipulate our markets, endebt us without end, meddle in foreign affairs with our money. Hell, do whatever you want. Just don't collapse our economy!"

I mean, what kind of a response is appropriate here? Do we buckle under and let them continue to operate our economy in secrecy? HELL NO! We deserve to know exactly how our money is handled, where it is put, and why we are trillions in debt and this administration not only continues to enlist the printing presses of the Fed but moves directly to PROTECT AND EMPOWER the Fed even further.

Screw this guy. This is OUR money and OUR lives that are being handled here. America has a right to know what it's international Federal Reserve is doing with it all.

Source: The Fading American Dream

Ron Paul’s Bill Would Put Fed on the Hot Seat

Treasury Department Secretary Timothy Geithner is calling on Congress to hand the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve even more power to regulate financial markets at a time when there is growing support among legislators to put Fed bankers on the hot seat by giving federal officials the authority to audit the central bank.

In the June 29 edition, AMERICAN FREE PRESS reported that the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (H.R. 1207) introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) had picked up “enough sponsors to get it out of committee and onto the floor of the House of Representatives.”

The bill gives the federal government the power to audit the privately owned and controlled Federal Reserve and its various funding arms, which have loaned, given out or guaranteed trillions of dollars to various Wall Street pals and financial institutions. At that time, the bill had 226 co-sponsors—more than half the entire membership of the House. Since then, however, the number has grown to 243, with more joining every day.

The rising popularity of Paul’s bill contrasts sharply with recent statements made by Geithner, who wants to give Federal Reserve bankers even more power to regulate financial institutions. The problem for Geithner is that it was former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan’s loose fiscal policies that have largely been to blame for the economic woes facing the country. For decades, Greenspan flooded the world with U.S. dollars, creating the perfect environment for Wall Street speculators and bankers to dig themselves a financial hole so deep that they took Main Street with them.

Now, as part of a sweeping financial overhaul proposed by the Obama administration, Geithner wants to give the Fed even more power to oversee the largest financial firms such as Citigroup and Bank of America. It’s the equivalent of putting the fox in charge of the brooder after he’s already eaten most of the chickens in the henhouse.

During a recent hearing on the matter, Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), a longtime critic of the Fed, grilled Geithner: “What makes you think the Fed will do better this time around?”

Geithner could only respond that empowering the Fed “made the most sense, given the circumstances.”

It should be no surprise that Geithner continues to side with the central bank given the fact that he served as the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009. The New York Fed is considered the most powerful of the regional central banks due to its location near Wall Street and the leadership role it plays in setting monetary policy.

Meanwhile, Paul’s call to audit the Fed continues to make headlines across the country.

In mid June, CBS News reported in depth on Paul’s measure, which “mandates a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve.”

“The tremendous grass-roots and bipartisan support in Congress for H.R. 1207 is an indicator of how mainstream America is fed up with Fed secrecy,” Paul said.

“I look forward to this issue receiving greater public exposure.”

By Christopher J. Petherick

Source: American Free Press

Real ID, Pass Act, Audit the Fed

Quote of the Day: "Those who suppress freedom always do so in the name of law and order." -- John V. Lindsay

The people of Iran are risking their lives, and in some cases losing them, in a bid to gain their freedom. We need not risk so much to restore and retain our freedom, but for that to remain true we must vigorously use our right to petition our government for a redress of grievances. This means...

We must relentlessly increase our pressure, telling Congress to obey the Constitution, and to undo the constitutional violations they've already committed. Our pressure must keep increasing until the politicians demonstrate their submission to the Constitution. To make that happen...

We must apply more pressure each month than we did the previous month. We're now nearing the end of June. To make sure we exceed the 36,512 messages we sent last month we're going to ask you to hit Congress on two issues today, the REAL ID Act and Congressman Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill.

The de facto national ID card that the REAL ID Act would create, seems to be going nowhere. The people don't want it, and 25 states are refusing to impose it. This has been a significant victory for the idea that the people can pressure their government into submission. But...

The law remains on the books and will be a continuing threat until it's repealed. Meanwhile, the idea of a national ID card is being revived under the guise of a new name, the PASS Act.

Jim Harper, of the Cato Institute, reveals how the PASS Act is being driven by lobbyists seeking secure jobs as the procurers and protectors of federal funding that state governments would use to implement the PASS Act.

This must not be allowed to happen. YOU must serve as a counter-lobby against the professional lobbyists who want to pick your pocket and violate your rights.

As we've told you before, not only is a national ID card essentially an internal passport like those used by dictatorial governments around the world, we think it will also help pave the way for federal bureaucrats to control all of your health care decisions.

Please go to DownsizeDC.org's REAL ID campaign page and send your Congressional employees a message.

Tell them to repeal the REAL ID Act. Use your personal comments to tell them they must also KILL the PASS Act.

After you've done that, please also apply additional pressure to get Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill passed. There's continuing good news on this front. The bill now has 237 cosponsors in the House, and a second cosponsor, David Vitter (R-LA), has signed on in the Senate. Go here to check if your House Rep. is already a co-sponsor. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207

Then go to DownsizeDC.org's campaign page to Audit the Fed and urge passage of HR 1207 in the House and S 604 in the Senate.

Use your personal comments to thank your Rep if he or she is already a co-sponsor, or to urge him or her to become a co-sponsor. Urge your Senators to cosponsor S. 604 unless your Senator is DeMint or Vitter, in which case you should thank them for their support of S. 604.

Remember what the people in Iran are facing, and take action secure in the knowledge that no one is going to shoot at you because you're pressuring your government.

Source: Downsize DC