Editorial: Why it’s in the Public Interest for the Fed to be Audited

Ron Paul has been fighting an uphill battle to enlist the aid of his fellow lawmakers to remove the secrecy and hidden actions of the Federal Reserve, which is moving far too autonomously for the public good; confirmed by the outrageous resistance to the audit by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

What’s great about the process is Americans are getting their first real look at the Federal Reserve and how its actions can impact their lives; they don’t like what they see, and they, at over a 75 percent rate, want to see the Federal Reserve audited and their actions revealed in order to unveil what it is they’re doing with the money under their care.

And why not? So far the outrageous bailouts and guarantees are estimated on the conservative side to be at around $9 trillion. Yes, that’s with a “t.” That works out to be close to 60 percent of the entire U.S. economy. Nobody should have that type of power and influence without close scrutiny by the American people and their representatives.

Paul recently stated in an opinion piece that those trying to defend the practices and secrecy of the Fed are attempting to make it look like if his bill were to pass, Congress would be dictating the actions of the institution.

Paul responded to that assertion saying:

“Legislative proposals such as my bill H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, merely remove all exemptions from audits of the Federal Reserve and call for a full audit. Every intervention, every bailout, every credit facility would be subject to an audit.

“Nothing in this proposal would call on Congress to involve itself further in monetary policy, as that is completely unnecessary. Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution already grants Congress the power ‘to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.’ Also, Congress already dictates monetary policy to the Federal Reserve through the mandates of full employment and stable prices.”

Anyone that knows about and understands the history of the Federal Reserve already knows it’s a surrogate of the goverment, and moves in lock-step with its wishes. So to say this would start happening as a result of H.R. 1207 is laughable at best.

It’s impossible to underestimate the importance of reining in the Federal Reserve at minimum. The effects from misguided policies over the decades has devastated the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar; weakening by around 95 percent over the last approximate 100 years. It’s injection of money into the market has also been the culprit behind the boom and bust cycles since the organization was created.

I say it’s impossible to underestimate the importance of auditing the Federal Reserve because not only do we need to know what it’s doing, but the American people need to understand the variety of areas of their lives that are influenced by those actions. I think that’s the real underlying reason Bernanke and his followers are resisting an audit. Why resist if there’s nothing to hide?

If there’s something questionable being done the Federal Reserve’s afraid the public will rebel against, and possibly even take the next desired step by many – to dismantle it – they understand an audit could possible raise a groundswell of outrage and resistance that could result in getting rid of the too-powerful entity.

Americans need to understand what’s going on because the Federal Reserve may be the direct cause of many of their pains and struggles through the years, which end up hurting the many areas of their lives they partake in.

Think of what it’s like if you unexpectedly lose a job or experience a tragedy of some sort; it affects almost every area of your life. That’s what the policies and power of the Federal Reserve is like, as its actions dictate the flow of and value of the U.S. dollar, and the resultant loss of purchasing power and extraordinary bubbles that end up in busts; like we’re all experiencing today.

The Federal Reserve at minimum must be audited, and our lawmakers need to heed the will of the people or we’ll vote them out at the earliest chance we can.

Let’s rip the burkha off the face of the Fed and see what lies underneath. I think when we find out it’ll go beyond shock, and a lot of heads will roll. That’s why the battle is so intense.

The good news is people have been relatively benign about the Federal Reserve, not understanding what it was all about. This battle for transparency has brought it to the forefront of people’s minds, and things will never be the same again as they’re educated about the utter folly and power associated with the Federal Reserve, and demand to get a look under the hood to see how the engine has been running and operating.