Audit the Fed
- Thread starter wkmac
- Start date
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Democrat Alan Grayson took a very good line of questioning yesterday of Federal Reserve Chief Counsel that got very interesting.
I found it especially interesting the use of the name Dick Cheney and wondering if Mr. Grayson has uncovered something and is hinting around. May explain why out of nowhere recently that Congressman Grayson, a rather obsecure rookie Congressman who early on took a brave step in his first few months in office (even against his own party leadership wishes) and backed Ron Paul's HR 1207 is now come under attack from some big guns in Hannity
and Boortz Not saying Grayson is innocent by any means, I disagree with him in many areas. But because Grayson has been bold in challenging the Fed and it's no secret Paul is not liked by these 2 republican talk jocks, the timing of these attacks on a Congressman who otherwise is a pure backbencher when it comes to manipulating the system for pork and other beenies just seems rather odd to me!
Hannity was a 3rd rate talkshow here locally before left for NY and got famous and I see nothing has changed!
I found it especially interesting the use of the name Dick Cheney and wondering if Mr. Grayson has uncovered something and is hinting around. May explain why out of nowhere recently that Congressman Grayson, a rather obsecure rookie Congressman who early on took a brave step in his first few months in office (even against his own party leadership wishes) and backed Ron Paul's HR 1207 is now come under attack from some big guns in Hannity
and Boortz Not saying Grayson is innocent by any means, I disagree with him in many areas. But because Grayson has been bold in challenging the Fed and it's no secret Paul is not liked by these 2 republican talk jocks, the timing of these attacks on a Congressman who otherwise is a pure backbencher when it comes to manipulating the system for pork and other beenies just seems rather odd to me!
Hannity was a 3rd rate talkshow here locally before left for NY and got famous and I see nothing has changed!
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Of recent, there has been great debate about the future of healthcare in this country and in that debate are claims that opposition to certain directions are funded by vested interests who benefit if certain outcomes are taken or not taken.
Now this post is not about healthcare but rather I make the point following into this. When it comes to economics and banking, the vast majority of those in the field of education and research tend to consistently back and advocate the status quo and oppose any effort to do otherwise. However, would these same people be taken as serious or found to have damaged credibility if like say some in healthcare who are found as we say "in the pay of" certain interests who would greatly benefit?
Now this post is not about healthcare but rather I make the point following into this. When it comes to economics and banking, the vast majority of those in the field of education and research tend to consistently back and advocate the status quo and oppose any effort to do otherwise. However, would these same people be taken as serious or found to have damaged credibility if like say some in healthcare who are found as we say "in the pay of" certain interests who would greatly benefit?
Priceless, How the Federal Reserve Bought the Economics Profession
and from a pdf of 2005' Study from George Mason University
When it comes to healthcare and the claims of some that certain interests are afoot in mounting oppostion I'm more inclined to see an idustry playing a type of Jeckyl and Hyde if anything but I'd concur with those that if manipulation is taking place in the public space, it's wrong, should be exposed and condemned. That said, where are those same voices who decry fraud and mischief on the backs of the poor and less fortunate in healthcare when it comes to the even greater issue of banking, monetary policy and economics? Does one not consider where the cost of healthcare might be if our entire monetary system was honest and true free market?
One condemns the evil of Rome's lions in eating the hapless christians while at the same time the same "one" is throwing into the arena those same hapless christians!
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Congress of the United States
Washington, DC 20515
10/7/09
Chairman Chris Dodd
US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20551
Dear Chairman Dodd and members of the Banking Committee,
We are writing to ask you to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke until the Federal Reserve releases documentation that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf. Without such an understanding, it is impossible to know whether Chairman Bernanke is fit to serve another term and fulfill the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to ensure price stability and full employment. A list of said documentation is enumerated below.
Since 2007, the Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet by $1.2 trillion and taken on substantial credit, interest-rate and foreign exchange risk. It has lent immense sums to some financial institutions against overvalued collateral, while refusing to lend to others with no clear standards as to who was rescued and who was not. It has set up holding companies using no-bid contracts, and guaranteed substantial liabilities of Citigroup, all the while keeping information about its actions secret from the public and Congress. This is in stark contrast to the analogous period in the 1930’s, when the Reconstruction Finance Corporation fully disclosed loans and collateral to Congress.
Today, big banks are being bailed out and have a substantially lower cost of capital through an implicit government backstop even as Americans themselves are seeing their pay cut. This lower cost of capital – at government expense – coupled with increased scarcity of credit is resulting in the banks recapitalizing by charging American consumers higher credit costs, including record overdraft fees and much higher credit card rates.
As you know, the Federal Reserve has a chartered mandate of both price stability and "full" employment. Since 2002, the Bernanke joined the Federal Reserve board has aligned himself with Alan Greenspan’s activities, the incomes of Americans have actually declined in absolute terms, with incomes projected to decline a further 5% in 2009. One quarter of all mortgage holders owe more than they own, with that number projected to rise to nearly 50% by 2010. Consumer asset prices, most importantly housing, continue to fall, and unemployment continues to rise. This raises real questions about Bernanke’s tenure as Federal Reserve chairman, and about where trillions of dollars have gone.
Federal Reserve secrecy must be understood in the context of an intellectual dogma which Alan Greenspan inculcated into the fabric of the Federal Reserve and the economic profession, and which has severely harmed ordinary Americans. Bernanke’s "Great Moderation" speech in 2004 didn’t even consider the idea that the economy was becoming more unstable, even as risks were being built into the system by the politics he encouraged. He ignored evidence of a crisis, saying in 2007 that the turmoil was contained to subprime mortgages, ignoring the bankruptcy of over 100 mortgage originators, and the clear evidence the crisis would spread. Now, even as the crisis is said to be subsiding, we still do not have credit markets that are able to function without substantial government support, we have not addressed institutions that are "too big to fail" which the Fed oversees, bank credit availability is again shrinking (posing risk of further increasing already high unemployment), and toxic assets in the system on the books of both private banks and the Federal Reserve have still not seen price discovery.
Chairman Bernanke’s policy-making errors might be chalked up to errors of judgment, and it’s possible to argue that he has been chastened by the last few years of turmoil. What is more disturbing is how the Federal Reserve has refused to disclose the details of its commitments to the bankers who came close to destroying the economy. The Bernanke Fed’s execution of its dual mandate cannot be judged without consideration of those commitments, which would require the Fed to disclose documents which it still contends the public has no right to see. Specifically, we ask that you postpone the confirmation of the Chairman until after the Federal Reserve discloses:
(1) Information that Bloomberg reporter Mark Pittman has requested via a Freedom of Information Act Request on the Bear Stearns rescue and that the Federal Reserve is contesting in the courts,* and which Manhattan Chief US District Judge Loretta Preska has ordered be turned over by the Federal Reserve.
(2) Information that Rep. Grayson requested in February at a hearing and the follow-up letter on which institutions received the $1.2 trillion added to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, how much each institution received, and what was promised in return.
(3) All Federal Reserve documents that went to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office relating to the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch merger in which potentially illegal and coercive activity might have occurred, as well as all Federal Reserve documents relating to the lawsuit pursued by the Merrill Lynch shareholders in the US District court for the Southern District of New York.
(4) Transcripts of all Open Market Meeting Minutes up to and including that of June 2009, transcripts of which are normally withheld from the public for five years.
(5) Full disclosure of all terms and conditions of all off-balance sheet Fed Transactions in the past three years.
The Federal Reserve must become transparent and open with Congress and the public about its behavior during the financial crisis. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Best,
Alan Grayson, Member of Congress
Ron Paul, Member of Congress
Cc: Richard C. Shelby
Tim Johnson
Robert friend. Bennett
Jack Reed
Jim Bunning
Charles E. Schumer
Mike Crapo
Evan Bayh
Mel Martinez
Robert Menendez
Bob Corker
Daniel K. Akaka
Jim DeMint
Sherrod Brown
David Vitter
Jon Tester
Mike Johanns
Herb Kohl
Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Mark Warner
Jeff Merkley
Michael Bennet
Washington, DC 20515
10/7/09
Chairman Chris Dodd
US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20551
Dear Chairman Dodd and members of the Banking Committee,
We are writing to ask you to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke until the Federal Reserve releases documentation that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf. Without such an understanding, it is impossible to know whether Chairman Bernanke is fit to serve another term and fulfill the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to ensure price stability and full employment. A list of said documentation is enumerated below.
Since 2007, the Federal Reserve has expanded its balance sheet by $1.2 trillion and taken on substantial credit, interest-rate and foreign exchange risk. It has lent immense sums to some financial institutions against overvalued collateral, while refusing to lend to others with no clear standards as to who was rescued and who was not. It has set up holding companies using no-bid contracts, and guaranteed substantial liabilities of Citigroup, all the while keeping information about its actions secret from the public and Congress. This is in stark contrast to the analogous period in the 1930’s, when the Reconstruction Finance Corporation fully disclosed loans and collateral to Congress.
Today, big banks are being bailed out and have a substantially lower cost of capital through an implicit government backstop even as Americans themselves are seeing their pay cut. This lower cost of capital – at government expense – coupled with increased scarcity of credit is resulting in the banks recapitalizing by charging American consumers higher credit costs, including record overdraft fees and much higher credit card rates.
As you know, the Federal Reserve has a chartered mandate of both price stability and "full" employment. Since 2002, the Bernanke joined the Federal Reserve board has aligned himself with Alan Greenspan’s activities, the incomes of Americans have actually declined in absolute terms, with incomes projected to decline a further 5% in 2009. One quarter of all mortgage holders owe more than they own, with that number projected to rise to nearly 50% by 2010. Consumer asset prices, most importantly housing, continue to fall, and unemployment continues to rise. This raises real questions about Bernanke’s tenure as Federal Reserve chairman, and about where trillions of dollars have gone.
Federal Reserve secrecy must be understood in the context of an intellectual dogma which Alan Greenspan inculcated into the fabric of the Federal Reserve and the economic profession, and which has severely harmed ordinary Americans. Bernanke’s "Great Moderation" speech in 2004 didn’t even consider the idea that the economy was becoming more unstable, even as risks were being built into the system by the politics he encouraged. He ignored evidence of a crisis, saying in 2007 that the turmoil was contained to subprime mortgages, ignoring the bankruptcy of over 100 mortgage originators, and the clear evidence the crisis would spread. Now, even as the crisis is said to be subsiding, we still do not have credit markets that are able to function without substantial government support, we have not addressed institutions that are "too big to fail" which the Fed oversees, bank credit availability is again shrinking (posing risk of further increasing already high unemployment), and toxic assets in the system on the books of both private banks and the Federal Reserve have still not seen price discovery.
Chairman Bernanke’s policy-making errors might be chalked up to errors of judgment, and it’s possible to argue that he has been chastened by the last few years of turmoil. What is more disturbing is how the Federal Reserve has refused to disclose the details of its commitments to the bankers who came close to destroying the economy. The Bernanke Fed’s execution of its dual mandate cannot be judged without consideration of those commitments, which would require the Fed to disclose documents which it still contends the public has no right to see. Specifically, we ask that you postpone the confirmation of the Chairman until after the Federal Reserve discloses:
(1) Information that Bloomberg reporter Mark Pittman has requested via a Freedom of Information Act Request on the Bear Stearns rescue and that the Federal Reserve is contesting in the courts,* and which Manhattan Chief US District Judge Loretta Preska has ordered be turned over by the Federal Reserve.
(2) Information that Rep. Grayson requested in February at a hearing and the follow-up letter on which institutions received the $1.2 trillion added to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet, how much each institution received, and what was promised in return.
(3) All Federal Reserve documents that went to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office relating to the Bank of America/Merrill Lynch merger in which potentially illegal and coercive activity might have occurred, as well as all Federal Reserve documents relating to the lawsuit pursued by the Merrill Lynch shareholders in the US District court for the Southern District of New York.
(4) Transcripts of all Open Market Meeting Minutes up to and including that of June 2009, transcripts of which are normally withheld from the public for five years.
(5) Full disclosure of all terms and conditions of all off-balance sheet Fed Transactions in the past three years.
The Federal Reserve must become transparent and open with Congress and the public about its behavior during the financial crisis. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Best,
Alan Grayson, Member of Congress
Ron Paul, Member of Congress
Cc: Richard C. Shelby
Tim Johnson
Robert friend. Bennett
Jack Reed
Jim Bunning
Charles E. Schumer
Mike Crapo
Evan Bayh
Mel Martinez
Robert Menendez
Bob Corker
Daniel K. Akaka
Jim DeMint
Sherrod Brown
David Vitter
Jon Tester
Mike Johanns
Herb Kohl
Kay Bailey Hutchinson
Mark Warner
Jeff Merkley
Michael Bennet
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Funny how there is bi-partisianship on some matters! For 2 groups of folks, one telling us how they will be open and transparent and the other decrying the lack of being open and transparent (as if they hold a patent on it themselves), they both together seem to want to keep some things behind closed doors. Ever wonder what they are hiding from us?
av8torntn
Well-Known Member
You beat me to it.
Although there has to be more to the story kinda hard to believe one republican Senator can block this. I wonder if this will come back up if Congressman Paul's son is elected to the Senate?
wkmac
Well-Known Member
You beat me to it.
Oh I think there's more repubs. behind Gregg, you can take that to the bank.
Ask Paul about the Repubs. and Grayson about the Democrats and both men IMO would have a lot to tell. Paul will as he has nothing to lose but Grayson really took a big gamble for being so new on the job. I may disagree with him on many other issues but if I was a voter and my choice was him on a run-of-the-mill BS repub, I'd vote Grayson every time for his courage to call out the folks at the Federal Reserve. Will it come up again if Rand is elected? I honestly don't know. The Federal Reserve and Art. 1 Section 10 money was a real hot item leading up to the 1980' election and yet fell off the map once the election was done but this followed a period where banking not only changed dramatically in the collaspe of Bretton Woods in 71' but then followed in the late 70's by all the economic chaos. As soon as the economy readjusted, so did the interest in the Federal Reserve and it's lay silent since for almost 30 years. I suspect this was the one and only shot at the Fed. and once Obama and the democrats (repubs too but they lay in the shadows to avoid blame) get some good ole inflation ramped up to bring the debt back in line with the GDP ratio (a false/bad model IMO) the people will stop clamoring and just go back to sleep.
Auditing the Fed. was something that Washington could not allow at all and it would seem they've won again. My only hope at this point is that China closes the pawn shop window to the US (signs this is in fact starting to happen) and that the dollar gets thrown off it's perch as the global reserve currency, another potential as well but I'd not count the US Fiat folks out just yet by any stretch. Their mastery of creative economics and the use of force to maintain economic dominance is beyond amazing or without equal IMO in the volumes of the history of man.
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Ron Paul stirred the Benanke puddin' again this week by asking the Thief in Chief about the Fed's involvement in money transfers with Saddam Hussein and the Watergate Burglers. The screaming banchees hollered "BizarroWorld" but here's the backstory to what Ron's questions were all about.
Between Paul and Democrat Alan Grayson of Florida, these 2 show no fear in holding the Fed's feet to the fire and ask questions others never would in a lifetime. Come On Tooner, get Traficant back in and let's add some more heat to the fire!
Between Paul and Democrat Alan Grayson of Florida, these 2 show no fear in holding the Fed's feet to the fire and ask questions others never would in a lifetime. Come On Tooner, get Traficant back in and let's add some more heat to the fire!
wkmac
Well-Known Member
wkmac
Well-Known Member
Don't know if you saw economist Tom DiLorenzo testify before the committee but Congressman William Lacy Clay spent his time attacking DiLorenzo with the old, tired Neo-Confederate line. Here is Di Lorenzo's response and is worth the read.
Krugman of late has been doing the same thing (using name calling) instead of openly debating the facts. I had no idea his Nobel Prize in Economics was on schoolyard insults rather than on real economic science. I just find myself in utter shock!
NOT!!!!!!!
wkmac
Well-Known Member
When a Federal Reserve Examiner doesn't play ball in the case of Goldman Sachs.
NY Federal Reserve Examiner Fired After Submitting Critical Report of Goldman Sachs - YouTube
NY Federal Reserve Examiner Fired After Submitting Critical Report of Goldman Sachs - YouTube
Similar threads
