Representative Ron Paul of Texas introduced H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act in February of 2009. It aims at full transparency of the covert actions, its trading and fully-disclosed balance sheet of the FED (including toxic assets of course).
It currently has an impressive 230+ sponsors in the House (enough for passage):
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207
I assume enough reps won't change their positions and this bill will safely pass in the House. I'm more concerned about the Senate... I really think there are several powerful members (both Republican & Democrats, but more so Democrats) that will vote against it because of being influenced by banking lobbyists. I can see them arguing that it could cause a meltdown of the system and loss of confidence in the government. I also think there is a possibility of Obama vetoing it if it got to that stage... that dirty Geithner surely wouldn't want it passed.
Ron Paul has been critical of the FED throughout his political career. His main argument is that because the FED has control over the money supply (through manipulating interest rates, helping auction and buy/sell treasuries, setting standards on the fractional-reserve system) there is threat of inflation and ultimately systemic risk. He blames the FED for the excessive booms and bust. He also blames the FED for the decline of the US dollar. His radical solution is return to the gold standard and sound currency. HR 1207 is surely more realistic and a step in the right direction.
Do you support this bill? And equally important... do you think this bill has a realistic chance of being passed in both the House and Senate and made into law?
Thoughts?
It currently has an impressive 230+ sponsors in the House (enough for passage):
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207
I assume enough reps won't change their positions and this bill will safely pass in the House. I'm more concerned about the Senate... I really think there are several powerful members (both Republican & Democrats, but more so Democrats) that will vote against it because of being influenced by banking lobbyists. I can see them arguing that it could cause a meltdown of the system and loss of confidence in the government. I also think there is a possibility of Obama vetoing it if it got to that stage... that dirty Geithner surely wouldn't want it passed.
Ron Paul has been critical of the FED throughout his political career. His main argument is that because the FED has control over the money supply (through manipulating interest rates, helping auction and buy/sell treasuries, setting standards on the fractional-reserve system) there is threat of inflation and ultimately systemic risk. He blames the FED for the excessive booms and bust. He also blames the FED for the decline of the US dollar. His radical solution is return to the gold standard and sound currency. HR 1207 is surely more realistic and a step in the right direction.
Do you support this bill? And equally important... do you think this bill has a realistic chance of being passed in both the House and Senate and made into law?
Thoughts?
