- Joined
- Sep 17, 2005
- Messages
- 8,211
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- Location
- Chicago
- Gender
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- Political Leaning
- Libertarian
Now, I know every time someone tends to mention Ron Paul around here there are a group of people who will simply dismiss him out of hand whether the ideas are good or not. Sometimes, people forget that Ron Paul is, after all, a knowledgeable and competent congressman (a rarity indeed), a published author, a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, and a former flight surgeon in the Air Force, so it strikes me as odd when people flippantly refer to him as "crazy" or summarily ignore the substance of his arguments.
Yes, we all understand that Ron Paul looks and sounds kind of awkward which means he can never be President (an excellent criteria to have for elected officials), but he is extremely well-versed in matters of government and has a disproportionately large amount of accurate predictions when compared to our government (they have zero). So, keeping this in mind, let us discuss the merits of his latest bill: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act.
Paul says:
Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has always operated in the shadows, without sufficient scrutiny or oversight of its operations.
...
The Federal Reserve has, on the one hand, many of the privileges of government agencies, while retaining benefits of private organizations, such as being insulated from Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Federal Reserve can enter into agreements with foreign central banks and foreign governments, and the GAO is prohibited from auditing or even seeing these agreements.
...
The Fed’s funding facilities and its agreements with the Treasury should be reviewed. The Treasury’s supplementary financing accounts that fund Fed facilities allow the Treasury to funnel money to Wall Street without GAO or Congressional oversight. Additional funding facilities, such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility and the Term Securities Lending Facility, allow the Fed to keep financial asset prices artificially inflated and subsidize poorly performing financial firms [1].
From the bill:
(A) REQUIRED- A report on the audit shall be submitted by the Comptroller General to the Congress before the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such audit is completed and made available to the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the committee and each subcommittee of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and any other Member of Congress who requests it.
(B) CONTENTS- The report shall include a detailed description of the findings and conclusion of the Comptroller General with respect to the audit that is the subject of the report, together with such recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Comptroller General may determine to be appropriate [2].
This bill represents accountability and transparency in government; our country is dire need of both. Currently, the bill is in committee and has a good chance of getting through - a vocal and insistent populace can ensure that it does. So, instead of just standing around and talking about "change" in government let's actually do something to that effect. Contact the members of the House Committee on Financial Services along with your representative and demand that they bring accountability to our financial system.
[1] - Audit the Federal Reserve (HR 1207) | Ron Paul .com
[2] - GovTrack: H.R. 1207: Text of Legislation, Introduced in House
Contact Elected Officials: USA.gov
Yes, we all understand that Ron Paul looks and sounds kind of awkward which means he can never be President (an excellent criteria to have for elected officials), but he is extremely well-versed in matters of government and has a disproportionately large amount of accurate predictions when compared to our government (they have zero). So, keeping this in mind, let us discuss the merits of his latest bill: The Federal Reserve Transparency Act.
Paul says:
Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has always operated in the shadows, without sufficient scrutiny or oversight of its operations.
...
The Federal Reserve has, on the one hand, many of the privileges of government agencies, while retaining benefits of private organizations, such as being insulated from Freedom of Information Act requests.
The Federal Reserve can enter into agreements with foreign central banks and foreign governments, and the GAO is prohibited from auditing or even seeing these agreements.
...
The Fed’s funding facilities and its agreements with the Treasury should be reviewed. The Treasury’s supplementary financing accounts that fund Fed facilities allow the Treasury to funnel money to Wall Street without GAO or Congressional oversight. Additional funding facilities, such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility and the Term Securities Lending Facility, allow the Fed to keep financial asset prices artificially inflated and subsidize poorly performing financial firms [1].
From the bill:
(A) REQUIRED- A report on the audit shall be submitted by the Comptroller General to the Congress before the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date on which such audit is completed and made available to the Speaker of the House, the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives, the majority and minority leaders of the Senate, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the committee and each subcommittee of jurisdiction in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and any other Member of Congress who requests it.
(B) CONTENTS- The report shall include a detailed description of the findings and conclusion of the Comptroller General with respect to the audit that is the subject of the report, together with such recommendations for legislative or administrative action as the Comptroller General may determine to be appropriate [2].
This bill represents accountability and transparency in government; our country is dire need of both. Currently, the bill is in committee and has a good chance of getting through - a vocal and insistent populace can ensure that it does. So, instead of just standing around and talking about "change" in government let's actually do something to that effect. Contact the members of the House Committee on Financial Services along with your representative and demand that they bring accountability to our financial system.
[1] - Audit the Federal Reserve (HR 1207) | Ron Paul .com
[2] - GovTrack: H.R. 1207: Text of Legislation, Introduced in House
Contact Elected Officials: USA.gov
