As Dow Swings, Obama To Come Out Against Audit the Fed Today

The Dow is swinging wildly–down as much as 980 points within the last hour–largely due to insecurity about the situation in Greece and shaky retail sales. And according to Brad DeLong, who is generally pretty tight with the White House, Obama will come out in opposition to Audit the Fed this afternoon.

At a time when confidence in the markets desperately needs shoring up, the President should be looking to instill confidence in investors by supporting accountability and transparency within the financial system — not acting to shield the banks.'

Read more...

Or in the words of Mike Rivero

BINGO! The drop on the DOW was Bernanke's reminder to the White House that the Fed and not DC actually runs the nation.


Time to pull all your money out of the bank, RIGHT NOW!

Fed Documents Reveal Secret Lobbying Effort Against Audit Provisions

The Federal Reserve is secretly engaged in an intense lobbying effort in an attempt to stave off moves to have the Government Accountability Office audit it, internal documents reveal.

The Huffington Post has obtained the documents, which were distributed to Senate offices by a Fed official, whose identity the online news site agreed not to reveal.

“The effort to beat back the audit relies on playing two members of the same caucus — Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) — off each other.” writes Ryan Grim.'

Read more...

Federal Reserve Must Disclose Bank Bailout Records

The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest U.S. government bailout ever, a federal appeals court said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled today that the Fed must release records of the unprecedented $2 trillion U.S. loan program launched primarily after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. The ruling upholds a decision of a lower-court judge, who in August ordered that the information be released.

The Fed had argued that disclosure of the documents threatens to stigmatize borrowers and cause them “severe and irreparable competitive injury,” discouraging banks in distress from seeking help. A three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected that argument in a unanimous decision.'

Read more...

Fed Audit Would Hurt US Economic Prospects, says Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said yesterday congressional proposals to audit the Fed and strip it of regulatory powers as part of post-crisis reforms could damage prospects for economic and financial health in the future.'

Read more...

Fed Sets Attack Dogs On Ron Paul After Audit Amendment Passes

The Federal Reserve attack dogs are out in full force today following Congressman Ron Paul’s decisive victory in the battle to bring transparency to the privately owned central bank.

The House Financial Services Committee passed the amendment to increase Federal Reserve transparency in an overwhelming and bipartisan vote of 43 to 26.

The amendment, sponsored by Ron Paul and Democratic Representative Alan Grayson, mandates a genuine and full probing audit of the Fed.

The Committee rejected the parallel amendment introduced by Congressman Mel Watt (D-NC) which would have severely limited the audit, “gutting” Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207 bill as the Congressman put it, and paving the way for further Fed secrecy.'

Read more...

Economists Opposing Fed Audit Have Undisclosed Fed Ties

As the debate over an audit of the Federal Reserve intensifies in the House, one camp is trotting out eight academics that it calls a “political cross section of prominent economists.” A review of their backgrounds shows they are anything but.'

Read more...

Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation ‘Gutted,’ Paul Says

Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary policy has been “gutted” while moving toward a possible vote in the Democratic-controlled House.

The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.

“There’s nothing left, it’s been gutted,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that".'

Read more...

The Real Reasons Behind Federal Reserve Secrecy

An audit would expose the Fed as a massive fraud perpetrated on this country, enriching a privileged few bankers at the top of our economic food chain, and leaving the rest of us with massively devalued dollars which we are forced to use by law. An audit would make people realize that, while Bernie Madoff defrauded a lot of investors for a lot of money, the Fed has defrauded every one of us by destroying the value of our money. An honest and full accounting of how the money system really works in this country would mean there is not much of a chance the American people would stand for it anymore.

Read more...