Alan Grayson: "Today Was Waterloo for FED Secrecy," (with videos)
Badabing
This is big news in terms of finally getting somewhere on Auditing the Federal Reserve Bills that currently runs in the form of two bills: One of them is the House bill: RS 1207 with now 311 co-sponsors for the bill, and the other is the Senate bill: S604 in the Senate which now has 30 co-sponsors.
Both bills authorizes the Government Accountability Office to conduct a wide-ranging audit of the Fed's opaque deals with foreign central banks and major U.S. financial institutions. The Fed has never had a real audit in its history and little is known of what it does with the trillions of dollars at its disposal.
As I have stated before, I do not feel that this is a partisan issue. This is an issue about how and who controls our nations money supply and the complete lack of transparency that has been apparent, most especially during the past few years when Congress has been continually rebuffed, stone walled and left in the dark as to what has happened to the trillions of dollars lent out by Ben Bernanke, and the Federal Reserve.
- Badabing's diary :: ::
More on the news:
In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter.
A desperate, last-minute attempt to thwart the move came in the form of an amendment championed by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) and described by its supporters as more reasonable. On Tuesday, however, the Huffington Post reported that, on a close reading, his amendment would in fact decrease transparency at the Fed by adding additional restrictions.
Backers of the Watt amendment pressed their case on Wednesday by sending a letter from a "political cross section of prominent economists" backing a measure like Watt's. HuffPost reported, however, that those economists might well have be prominent, but they certainly aren't a "political cross section." Seven of the eight economists in question have extensive connections to the Fed -- and half of them are currently on the Fed payroll. Those affiliations were not noted in the letter.
To make a long story short - Watt's 'bullshit - let's keep hiding everything the FED is doing amendment failed. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who the hell Watt is working with (his friends on Wall Street and the FED). But that didn't stop the FED's own people putting their two cents in:
For anyone remaining confused, the debate was further clarified by the central bank itself: Federal Reserve Vice Chair Don Cohn and General Counsel Scott Alvarez spent much of the day calling committee members, urging them to oppose the Paul-Grayson (RS 1207) amendment in favor of Watt's, a member of Congress who asked for confidentiality told HuffPost.
If you can believe it, the guys from the FED even went around placing a letter from former Fed chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker on the seats of every committee member. Such a move is in violation of House rules and Grayson was able to have the letters removed.
Alan Grayson noted the support of a letter written that included an unusual coalition of progressive economists, labor leaders, and bloggers has decided to fight back against Watt's amendment that would allow the Federal Reserve to continue operating in secrecy. The letter was organized by Fire-Dog Lake.
In a Thursday letter to the House Financial Services Committee, economists like Dean Baker and Rob Johnson, author Naomi Klein, and such labor luminaries as the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka and the SEIU's Andy Stern, urged committee members to shoot down an amendment by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) that would essentially allow the Fed to keep the lights off while it throws money around.
"A vote for the Watt amendment is a vote for more secret bailouts," the letter says. The letter notes that during the financial crisis of the past two years, the Fed's role has shifted from simply setting monetary policy via interest rates to rapidly acquiring "a wide variety of private assets and extend[ing] massive secret bailouts to major financial institutions."
Among those bailouts, critics argue, was the Fed's funneling of cash to AIG counterparties. Earlier this week, a government watchdog issued a blistering report that blamed the Federal Reserve for withholding details of its massive rescue of AIG last fall. In particular, the report blamed the Federal Reserve for paying for botching its private negotiations regarding the price AIG's rapidly souring derivatives investments, a secret move that cost taxpayers at least $13 billion.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
What happened Barney? Did someone 'get to ya?' All along Barney Frank has been in complete support of this bill and now he goes all wizzy on it. Here's what Barney said not long ago about the FED:
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told a Massachusetts audience at a recent town hall that the House will pass legislation this fall mandating a "complete audit" of the Federal Reserve.
"I want to restrict the power of the Fed in a number of ways," said Frank in response to a question about the bill. "They have had since 1932... the right to intervene in the economy almost whenever they" wanted to, Frank said, noting that the Fed relied on its extraordinary lending power to forward billions to financial institutions last fall. He intends to curtail that lending power, he said.
"Finally we will subject them to a complete audit," he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
I don't know what the heck is going on with Barney, but when he did a 180 and decided against the Grayson Amendment to put the kibosh on the Watt Amendment 15 Democrats 'bucked Barney' big time, and went with Grayson.
Here is Representative Grayson during this unprecedented action on the Federal Reserve today:
This vote was a bi-partisan vote, as I repeat is the issue at hand. Some may argue (as the Federal Reserve does, and has for years) that the 'Independence of the Federal Reserve' must be continued in order to keep the Federal Reserve free of 'political pressure, to maintain their impartiality and of course be free of what might be considered favoritism.
If we have learned anything from this financial meltdown it is that not only is the Federal Reserve an arm of Wall Street and the Bankers, but that regardless of its so called independence, the Federal Reserve still has a responsibility to the American people and taxpayers.
It is Congress who supposedly controls the purse strings, but it is in fact the Federal Reserve who actually controls the nation's money supply.
Our Democracy was built on checks and balances throughout the three branches of the government. In our financial sectors, because of what has occurred in our financial markets and Wall Street, we are facing perhaps the greatest corruption our nation has ever encountered.
The Federal Reserve is not the CIA, the Federal Reserve is accountable to the taxpayers of our country and it is long past time to shed light on the darkness behind the 'Iron Curtain' of those that control our nation's money supply and refuse to answer questions that we have the right to know. A little known fact: Did you know that we are paying the Federal Reserve over 800 billion dollars a year in interest alone?
I support both the HR 1207 and S604 and I guess this video says it all for me for Bernie Sanders S604 Sunshine on the Federal Reserve Bill that now has 30 co sponsors in the Senate:
Thanks for your interests and comments. Once again, this is not a partisan issue. This is an American issue, and we must take a 'sane' and meaningful financial policy in our nation, because those that are 'hiding in the shadows' have brought us where we are today, and they can no longer be trusted to have our best interests at heart. The 'financial meltdown that has left this nation looking a third world nation' is the direct responsibility of who has controlled our nation's money supply and we need change desperately.
Thanks.
UPDATE: I appreciate your comments and suggestions. I will be sending a copy of this diary to Congressman Grayson's office, once the diary has been completed and the comments are complete. Let's remember that Alan Grayson is conducting perhaps the most intensive search for the truth about what is going on in our financial markets and looking for those responsible for the 'financial meltdown' that put 15.7 million people out of their jobs, their homes and stole their retirement and pension funds.
Americans want accountability, credibility and trust in their government again, and in particular in our financial sectors. Ignoring the Federal Reserves' part in what has taken place in the past several years will not solve the issues. We need transparency and light in our Democracy that was founded on the principals of checks and balances.
In case you haven't already done so, here is Congressman Grayson's Act Blue fund:
VIEW VIDEOS
www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/20/806256/-Alan-Grayson:-Today-Was-Waterloo-for-FED-Secrecy