Posted on 05/05/2009 6:14:34 AM PDT by AmericanHunter
From time to time, a few members of Congress—as many as 10, sometimes fewer—gather with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) to eat lunch and hear from an author or expert whose opinion he thinks is worth promoting. They grab something to eat off of a deli plate. They take notes. They loosen up and ask questions.
“It’s not all that easy for the other members to get here,” said Paul in an interview with TWI, sitting just outside of his office before heading back to Texas for a few days. “It’s just that there’s so much competition. Once they get here and they get going, they all seem to enjoy it.”
A funny thing has started happening to Paul since his long-shot presidential campaign ended quietly in the summer of 2008. More Republicans have started listening to him. There are the media requests from Fox Business and talk radio where he’s given airtime to inveigh on sound money and macroeconomics. There is HR 1207 , the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, a bill that would launch an audit of the Federal Reserve System, and which has attracted 112 co-sponsors. When Paul introduced the Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act just two years ago, no other members of Congress signed on.
And then there are the luncheons. The off-the-record talks have brought in speakers such as ex-CIA counterterrorism expert Michael Scheuer, libertarian investigative reporter James Bovard, iconoclastic terrorism scholar Robert Pape, and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley. Perhaps the most influential guest has been Thomas Woods, a conservative scholar whose previous books include “The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History” and “Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush,” and whose current book “Meltdown” has inspired Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to question Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner about economic fundamentals.
Paul’s unexpected and sudden clout with his fellow Republicans — even some of Paul’s staff have been surprised with the momentum of his “Audit the Fed” bill — come as the GOP engages in a tortured internal dialogue about its future. Since January, no small number of new coalitions have formed between current members of Congress, former advisors to President George W. Bush, and perennial party leaders such as former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.) and former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.). Few of those conservatives, however, have spent much time criticizing the very foundations of America’s modern economic system and worrying about a 1929-style crash. Few of them had a drawer stuffed with off-brand economic ideas and forgotten libertarian texts, ready to explain what needed to be done. Ron Paul did, and as a result the ideas that made the Republican establishment irate enough to bounce him from a few primary debates are more popular than ever.
“There’s a growing recognition that the GOP is intellectually bankrupt and morally bankrupt,” explained Bovard. “Most of these Republican ‘rebranding’ efforts amount to a group of overpaid consultants getting detached from reality, but I’m glad that Paul is putting together these meetings. I hope the battle of ideas is changing.”
The success of Paul’s events, however under-the-radar, have been a pleasant surprise for the experts. “I’ll admit it,” said Thomas Woods. “I was dead wrong in my first reaction when I heard Ron talking about the Fed on the campaign trail. I said, ‘This is too complicated for most Americans. This isn’t going to galvanize people.’ I was wrong! He’s taken an issue that wasn’t even an issue, and he’s got a lot of Americans suddenly fascinated by the Fed, by monetary policy, by the Austrian business cycle theory,” economic ideas promoted by thinkers like Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard that blame central banks for painful business cycles.
Since his congressional comeback in 1996 — after a long stint as a Libertarian Party politician, and after only narrowly defeating a Democrat-turned-Republican that Newt Gingrich’s Republican leadership supported — Paul has maintained a small circle of allies in Congress. Some of them, like Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), are regular guests at the expert luncheons. But the most prominent new face is Bachmann, the rising conservative star who left C-Span and YouTube watchers scratching their heads with a grilling on the Constitution that seemed to puzzle Geithner. “What provision in the Constitution could you point to to give authority for the actions that have been taken by the Treasury since March of ‘08?” asked Bachmann during a hearing on March 24. “What in the Constitution could you point to to give authority to the Treasury’s extraordinary actions that have been taken?”
Bachmann “goes to these luncheons on a weekly basis,” said Debbee Keller, Bachmann’s press secretary. Keller noted that Bachmann was reading “Meltdown,” which argues that the New Deal failed and that the Federal Reserve is responsible for the current economic crisis. “Just as Austrian theory suggests,” wrote Woods, “the Fed’s mischief was responsible for the Great Depression.”
“I had a feeling she’d have some interest in the book,” said Woods, “because she asked some good questions. She was taking notes. She was asking if this or that point could be found in the book. I thought I recognized a sincere person who wanted knowledge, not the usual politician who couldn’t care less about what the truth is and just wanted to propagandize.”
Paul didn’t take credit for turning Bachmann on to Austrian theory (”He’ll give credit to everyone on the planet except himself,” laughed Woods) but said he was pleased to see more members of Congress delving into economics. “She’s very open to studying,” said Paul. “In fact, she’s been working really hard to get me back to Minneapolis. She says, ‘You’ll get such a great reception there!’”
Paul’s other influence has reached further across the aisle. Since he introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, he has locked in the support of a majority of the Republican conference as well as 13 Democrats, for a bill that would mandate an “audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks” before the end of 2010 to reveal how the board makes it decisions and moves around money. “As Congressman Paul pointed [out] many times,” said freshman Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) after co-sponsoring the bill, “the Federal Reserve should have come clean with the American people a long time ago. The Fed is disbursing trillions of dollars and the taxpayers have a right to know who is getting it.”
It’s been a rapid rise for an idea that, only months ago, was located firmly in the political fringe. The John Birch Society, the far-right group that Paul has often defended from media criticism, was one of the first groups to encourage members to contact their members of Congress to support an audit of the Fed. Paul’s own coalition, the Campaign for Liberty, has engaged in a months-long grassroots campaign for the bill, something that Paul credited for a surge in support unlike anything he’s introduced in his second stint in Congress.
“People today are clamoring for transparency,” said Paul, “and there is more awareness of the Federal Reserve. I do think it has something to do with the focus we put on this during the campaign. It’s not so much that I’m personally converting people, it’s that we’ve got people at the grassroots converting their members of Congress.” Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), a conservative who is running for governor of Tennessee next year, has told Paul that his support for the Fed audit and his condemnation of a Missouri law enforcement policy to watch out for cars with Ron Paul bumper stickers get some of his loudest, most positive reactions on the campaign trail.
Paul has remained surprised and bemused at his new influence. “I was talking with one of the other Republicans on the floor,” he remembered, “one of the types that had been voting with Bush, for big spending and all of that. I asked him: ‘Are you voting with me now or am I voting with you?’ They just laugh. They know what the situation is.”
He already knows the operations. Or could if he wanted to. His idea for an audit is a joke and a lie.
The Fed keeps its relationships with foreign banks under a cloak of darkness -- currently immune from an audit. There is no way he could "know" anything. No one outside the Fed does, so that's BS.
RP is pushing for this Audit the Fed bill because it is the minimum that we are owed. And, I think that he is pretty sure that once the truth is known about the Fed, most people will want to abolish it.
I cannot understand how anyone calling themselves a Conservative would want to protect a government agency that sends our taxpayer money into a virtual black hole with no real accountability to anyone for the majority of its operations.
The spreadsheets you posted are just a big "pacifier" to cover up the sucking sounds from our wallets!
What is a relationship with a foreign bank? If you mean swap agreements, those are public knowledge.
RP is pushing for this Audit the Fed bill because it is the minimum that we are owed.
He's pushing for it because he's a clown.
And, I think that he is pretty sure that once the truth is known about the Fed, most people will want to abolish it.
Seeing what people on FR "know" about the Fed, that wouldn't be surprising. Would be a stupid idea, but stupid people have those all the time.
I cannot understand how anyone calling themselves a Conservative would want to protect a government agency that sends our taxpayer money into a virtual black hole
Which conservative, which government agency, what taxpayer money and what black hole are you talking about?
The spreadsheets you posted are just a big "pacifier"
Ron Paul, is that you?
"I want more info"
Here it is Mr Paul.
"That's just a pacifier, waaaaah"
Here's your pacifier, Mr Paul. LOL!
“I noticed.”
Maybe, but only to the same degree that a chicken understands a card trick.
“Toddsterpatriot”
LOL!
***Or could if he wanted to.***
Yeah, which is why he’s trying to get this bill passed. How else would he do it? Repeal parts of other legislation? Little difference in the end.
Probably 95% of what he says he wants is already public.
If this bill passes and this "audit" happens, he'll find something else to whine about. He admitted that in the hearing yesterday when he questioned Bernanke.
That's a crock. Listen to the hearing for yourself.
He also said he'd resist Congress dictating to the Federal Reserve how to make monetary policy. That's what Ron wants, he doesn't care about the info an "audit" would provide.
Ron said, "Of course it's the policy it's the only thing that really counts"
After an audit, he'll still whine about the policy, just like now. That's what he admitted in the last 5 seconds of that clip. Only he won't have the excuse that we don't know what the Fed is doing.
The man is a clown.
***If this bill passes and this “audit” happens, he’ll find something else to whine about. He admitted that in the hearing yesterday when he questioned Bernanke.***
That’s your opinion. What he said was that policy is all that matters and it’s not as if he hasn’t made it clear that he wants to end the fed. That wouldn’t be something new.
***That’s what Ron wants, he doesn’t care about the info an “audit” would provide.***
He doesn’t want Congress making the monetary policy. He doesn’t want the government to make monetary policy at all.
Ending and auditing the fed are not mutually exclusive. Just because he wants one more than the other doesn’t mean he doesn’t want the other.
Yes. That's his admission that the audit is a joke.
Great. So how does the money supply grow or shrink in Ron's dream world?
Ah, where would anyone be without the Toddster-spin on that exchange between Bernanke and Ron Paul? Probably seeing the light! The link is there, they can decide for themselves. Or are you banking on lazy Freepers and those who can't play videos at work?
In any case if you haven't noticed, you are all alone on this thread. I've yet to see anyone else arguing for your case against auditing the Fed.
And someone with your screen name and attitude really ought to think twice about calling anyone else "a clown".
Repeating Ron's words is now spin?
I've yet to see anyone else arguing for your case against auditing the Fed.
Audit the Fed. Who cares?
An audit will show what securities the Fed bought, sold and loaned out last year. An audit will show the securities the Fed owned at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. An audit will show the loans they made and the collateral they accepted. If will show the interest they earned and where their earnings went. About $1.2 billion to member banks and about $35 billion to the Treasury.
95% of which is already available to the public. Ben said he'd be happy to humor the crazy Congressman and give him whatever other info he wants.
Ron admitted he didn't care about all that info,
"Of course it's the policy it's the only thing that really counts"
LOL!
***So how does the money supply grow or shrink in Ron’s dream world?***
Totally different discussion.
Your position really has nothing to do with "Audit the Fed" or not -- this is all about dissing Ron Paul for you. You just picked a backdoor to do it.
What a waste of everyone's time!
My position is that auditing the Fed is silly. Ron Paul is silly.
this is all about dissing Ron Paul for you.
When Ron stops saying and doing stupid things, I'll stop making fun of him for saying and doing stupid things.
When advocating the elimination of the Fed, that is a discussion you should probably have beforehand.
Unless you're a Paulite.
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