Blog Archives
Bernanke Finally Recognizes Transparency (or his so-called version of transparency)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke must be realizing something … there is great disdain for the lack of transparency for their policy. Why did it take so long? Perhaps, it was the efforts of Rep. Ron Paul and HR 459. In fact, a majority of Americans favor government transparency to see how their tax dollars being used.
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Bernanke said that he would hold press conferences four times a year to discuss economic forecasts. While that might seem like a small step, there should be more transparency. This transparency should go back to how they have handled economic crisis, etc. Perhaps, they can explain why the dollar has declined in value.
For now, Bernanke’s efforts to hold a press conference once every quarter is not enough. It’s laughable at best.
Ron Paul to Head House Subcommittee
Bloomberg has been reporting that Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was recently appointed to serve as chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve. Paul will become chairman when the 112th Congress resumes.
For once, the Republicans do something right by appointing Paul to chair this powerful committee. There is no doubt that Paul will hold the Federal Reserve accountable for their actions through extensive hearings and audits. After all, Paul authored the book, “End the Fed,” and is a prolific expert in the corruption surrounding the Federal Reserve.
Quantitative Easing Explained
Perhaps, we need to look at what the Federal Reserve has been up to and how we ended up in the fiscal crisis we are in now.
TIME Magazine's Statist of the Year: Ben Bernanke
Yesterday, CCC commented on TIME Magazine’s selection of Ben Bernanke as the publication’s Person of the Year for 2009. The selection is appropriate because of the influence of Bernanke’s actions on world events. TIME has indeed made some notorious selections in the past.
So what did Bernanke do? Here is a breakdown borrowed from TIME’s 2009 Person of the Year web feature:
- conjured up trillions of new dollars and blasted them into the economy
- engineered massive public rescues of failing private companies
- ratcheted down interest rates to zero; lent to mutual funds, hedge funds, foreign banks, investment banks, manufacturers, insurers and other borrowers who had never dreamed of receiving Fed cash
- jump-started stalled credit markets in everything from car loans to corporate paper
- revolutionized housing finance with a breathtaking shopping spree for mortgage bonds
- blew up the Fed’s balance sheet to three times its previous size
- generally transformed the staid arena of central banking into a stage for desperate improvisation
Influential? No doubt.
Did he save the world? Who knows?
Ignoring the temptation to get wrapped up in TIME’s sugary ode to a statist superman, one wonders whether Bernanke has just created a bailout bubble. Imagine that popping. It might even be worse than the doomsday we are pretending to avoid.
Noting the rise of the Tea Party movement, perhaps it would be more fitting of the recognition. Then again, maybe that will be next year’s story.
Has Time lost their minds?
Just when I thought Time Magazine couldn’t become a more insane publication, it appears that they have again proven that theory wrong by honoring Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke with its “Person of the Year” honor. Reuters reported this simply heinous news recently.
What has Bernanke done to deserve this honor? In my opinion…nada, zilch, nothing. Why, you ask? Simple. The American dollar has declined under his watch, and he knew about the credit crisis before it burst, yet he did nothing about it. These reasons and more are why Rep. Ron Paul and Sen. Jim DeMint created the Audit the Fed Amendment.
Meanwhile, Time hails Bernanke for being a scholar of the Great Depression and for expanding the Federal Reserve’s powers.
Isn’t it a little odd that Bernanke received this honor considering that some U.S. Senators are considering blocking Bernanke’s re-appointment?
A Transparent Federal Reserve is a Start
This morning, I was reading the Wall Street Journal, when I came across an op-ed written by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) that I found particularly interesting. You see, I have been quite outspoken about my desire to see the Federal Reserve eliminated (hopefully, in my lifetime, I will see this agency gone), because the agency was supposed to protect the value of our currency, yet the dollar has lost nearly 95% of its value. Full transparency is needed at the Federal Reserve level (and I believe transparency is needed with all branches of government, with the exception being anything that compromises our national security), and both Paul and DeMint argue this point eloquently in their op-ed.
Another good point that this op-ed brings up is how the Federal Reserve Chairman, when testifying before Congress often provides vague answers, instead of addressing the questions about how Federal Reserve is complying with mandates of prices and employment. Both Paul and DeMint call for an audit of the Federal Reserve by saying that there is a need to find out where the money is going, the numbers and types of securities purchased, and the amount paid for those securities.
In coming weeks we plan to offer companion amendments to legislation already before the House and Senate that will open the Fed up to a complete audit. The amendments set a six-month time lag on the publication of previously unreleased audit data to address the Fed’s concerns that actions undertaken in support of monetary policy would immediately be politicized. The transcripts and minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings would continue to be made public at the Fed’s discretion, with unpublicized details of meetings not subject to any additional scrutiny. Finally, the amendments make clear that the purpose of the audits is not to interfere with or dictate monetary policy.
As strong opponents of government intervention into the economy, we do not want to see Congress directly dictate monetary policy. But while the Fed is involved so heavily in monetary policy and its actions so heavily influence the future of our economy, it is necessary that it be fully transparent. Interventions into the economy on the order of trillions of dollars cannot continue to escape public scrutiny. American taxpayers deserve better.
Exactly, both Paul and DeMint hit it on the nail. American taxpayers deserve better, and we deserve to see exactly what is happening with our currency. This is the type of transparency that is needed at the Federal level, and it is one step closer to an open, more efficient government.
Transparency and the Federal Reserve
It is about time that the Federal Reserve is audited to continue the trend of full transparency of the government. H.R. 1207 was introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to bring full transparency to the Federal Reserve, and this bill has 245 cosponsors to date (including Reps. Rob Wittman, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Frank Wolf, and Tom Perriello of Virginia).
Listen to Paul’s comments from a recent Cato Institute event, where he further discussed his initiative to bring transparency to an agency that, in my opinion, needs to be abolished. Bringing transparency to this agency is a good start.
"Audit the Fed" Legislation Gaining Traction in Congress
“Audit the Fed” (H.R. 1207) Legislation has been gaining some popularity and momentum in the House recently, and it has also received some support from across the aisle. Rep. Tom Perriello (D- VA 5th) has signed onto this legislation, which has been introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) to make the Federal Reserve more accountable and transparent. Perriello also joins other Virginia Congressmen, including: Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA 4th), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA 6th), and Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA 1st) in supporting this legislation.
H.R. 1207 will amend section 714 of Title 31 of the U.S. Code to remove the restrictions on how the GAO can audit the Federal Reserve. Once these restrictions are removed, all of the Federal Reserve interactions would be open to Congressional oversight.
Hopefully, once this legislation is passed, we will be one step closer to ending the Federal Reserve once and for all.
**Cross Posted at Virginia News Platoon
