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If you think speeches attacking the U.S. Federal Reserve couldn't excite a Friday night crowd on a college campus, think again. About 2,000 people -- students and older adults who were in the majority -- filled Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota to cheer libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, as he joined Rep. Michele Bachmann to preach the gospel of a less powerful federal government. Before Bachmann, R-Minn., introduced Paul, she hailed legislation of his that would require a detailed audit of the Fed. The crowd jumped to its feet and roared approval. When she described the...

The Federal Reserve, under pressure from Congress to be more transparent,is "giving serious consideration" to releasing the names of firms that receive loans from the central bank, a top Fed official said Friday. At a House hearing,Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez struck a conciliatory tone when a top lawmaker indicated that he wanted more information revealed about the Fed's loans. Rep. Barney Frank(D., Mass.),chairman of the House Financial Services Committee,said the central bank's loans and securities transactions should be disclosed, with a lag to avoid a short-term influence on financial markets. He said he wanted to include a provision to...

With 28 remaining czars in the Obama administration after the departure of Van Jones, there has been a new call to bring transparency to shed light on the secretive nature of this group of individuals that operate outside the watch of government. Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) takes that sentiment a step further. In an interview with Dan Mangru of Newsmax TV, Paul said he believes that the czars are unconstitutional. “They are not authorized (by the constitution), and not approved by the Senate, but Obama’s not the only guilty party.” Watch the Exclusive Interview with Newsmax TV's Dan Mangru —...

But the question of what the Federal Reserve is doing with trillions of taxpayer dollars makes the ACORN scandal look like peanuts. For the first time, a hearing is being held on Rep. Ron Paul's Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (H.R. 1207) by the House Committee on Financial Services. Grass-roots pressure has been credited with forcing the hearing into what has happened to trillions of dollars supposedly spent by the Federal Reserve on the stabilization of the financial system.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the self-styled progressive Democrat from Orlando, would seem to have little in common with U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican from Texas who ran for president last year. But they both share a deep-seated mistrust of government secrecy in general and the Federal Reserve in particular. Grayson was elected to Congress last year just as the Fed was parceling out the better part of $700 billion to U.S. and foreign banks considered at risk of failure, as part of the Bush (and Obama) administration's response to a worldwide financial crisis. And even as he began...

Watch a live student town hall with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Rep. Ron Paul from the University of Minnesota, hosted by Young Americans for Liberty and sponsored by the Minnesota Campaign for Liberty, Republican Party of Minnesota, Minneapolis City Republican Committee, College Republicans, CFACT, and Students for a Conservative Voice. [Click Here to Watch] (Windows Media Player required) From 8pm EST . *takes seat* :)

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann had a chance Friday morning to question the top lawyer for the Federal Reserve Bank during hearings into an audit of the Fed proposed by Rep. Ron Paul (with whom she’ll share a stage at the University of Minnesota tonight). “The Federal Reserve seems to have the power to do anything it wants to do without any restrictions whatsoever,” Bachmann said. Bachmann was talking about Section 13.3 of the Federal Reserve Act, under which the Fed can make discount-rate loans to, for instance, bail out Bear Stearns. The Fed’s top lawyer, Scott Alvarez (who charmingly begins...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., on Friday backed a bill to require a broad congressional auditing of how the Federal Reserve carries out its monetary policy, including how much it has lent and will lend to specific banks as part of its bank bailout program. "We are serious about some legislation in this regard," said Frank at a hearing on the bill. "However, some time needs to elapse before certain disclosures take place...we are working together; we want there to be publicity, but we don't want there to be a market effect in the...

The event, hosted by Young Americans for Liberty, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Northrop Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Organizers said Bachmann and Paul will discuss "monetary reform, limited government and free market economics" and that their appearance is designed to counter "President Obama's health care proposal, bailout mania and the rapid rise of government control and spending."

House lawmakers want to pry open the books of the famously secretive Federal Reserve with legislation that would subject the central bank to a sweeping congressional audit. The effort is overwhelmingly bipartisan. Hardline conservatives and liberal Democrats have banded together in their criticism of the Fed as a major power broker in the financial system that doesn't answer to Congress. Friday's debate comes as lawmakers consider a proposal by President Barack Obama that would give the Fed new powers to prevent another economic crisis. "Nobody in my district thinks that the Fed has done such a wonderful job of running...

Editor's Note: After many long years of working to shed light on the ultra-secretive Federal Reserve, Ron Paul's "Audit the Fed" bill is finally getting a hearing on Friday, 09-25-09. In that spirit, we present to you this speech he made in 2007 on the dangers of Federal Reserve policy, and the institution itself... please read, comment, and share.

Statement before the United States House of Representatives, September 23, 2009. Government has been mismanaging medical care for more than 45 years; for every problem it has created it has responded by exponentially expanding the role of government. Points to consider: No one has a right to medical care. If one assumes such a right, it endorses the notion that some individuals have a right to someone else’s life and property. This totally contradicts the principles of liberty. If medical care is provided by government, this can only be achieved by an authoritarian government unconcerned about the rights of the...

When FOX News host Glenn Beck said during an interview with Katie Couric this week, “John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama,” his comments made headlines. Beck explained that “McCain is this weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt was.” Beck laid out this view in better detail on his television program earlier this month: I am becoming more and more libertarian every day, I guess the scales are falling off of my eyes, as I’m doing more and more research into history and learning real history. Back at the turn of the century in 1900, with...

<p>Legislation giving U.S. government investigators broader authority to audit the Federal Reserve could erode confidence in the central bank’s independence and ability to conduct monetary policy, a top Fed official will tell lawmakers Friday.</p> <p>Fed General Counsel Scott Alvarez, in testimony prepared for a Friday hearing, said legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives giving the Government Accountability Office greater leeway to examine the central bank could have a detrimental effect.</p>

Long before he danced with the stars, then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay two-stepped all over fellow Texas Rep. Ron Paul's hopes of overseeing the Federal Reserve, according to an account provided by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank. In a broader interview with my colleagues Phil Mattingly and Benton Ives, Frank offered this assessment of how DeLay and other GOP leaders tiptoed around giving Paul -- who wants to abolish the Fed -- the gavel of the subcommittee with jurisdiction over it: "In 2003, Ron Paul was in line to be chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee of...

Ron’s editor, Ben Greenberg, writes to him: END THE FED is debuting on the New York Times bestseller list at #6!!! Keep in mind that the Fall is a much more competitive time in terms of #s than April (when we published THE REVOLUTION last year), so I think this is a very auspicious start. This week and next are the crucial times…there are big, year-making nonfiction books coming out every week from here on out, so it’s a very difficult time to maintain traction, but I believe we can. Of course, The Daily Show and Glenn Beck will help...

It’s been over a year since Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) energized libertarians with his presidential candidacy, but the movement he inspired continues to ripple across the landscape. In at least a handful of House, Senate and gubernatorial contests across the country, former Paul supporters have emerged as credible contenders — or possible spoilers — ensuring that his message, once relegated to the fringes of Republican politics, continues to be heard. Paul began the 2008 presidential campaign as an afterthought but quickly won the attention of a previously dismissive GOP establishment and news media by generating intense grass-roots and online...

I’ve mentioned in the past the importance of electing officials who share our principles of liberty, limited government, and personal responsibility. That’s why I’ve ardently supported Senator Ken Cuccinelli as our next Attorney General. Both Virginia and our nation as a whole could benefit from more leaders like him. I’m pleased to announce that my former employer, Congressman Ron Paul, has taken note of this race as well. From an email earlier today: Dear Friend in Liberty, The 2009 elections in Virginia promise to be very important for the direction of our Country. America has taken a dangerous turn away...

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fired a shot at the Federal Reserve in her coming-out speech in Hong Kong today, blaming the central bank for the current crisis and disagreeing with the idea that the Fed should have a greater role in preventing the next crisis. It was an echo of fellow Republican and Texas congressman Ron Paul, who has led the charge in Congress to perform an audit of the Federal Reserve with an eye to eventually eliminating it. “How can we discuss reform without addressing the government policies at the root of the problems? The root of the...

Things Sean Hannity Would Never Say Posted on September 22nd, 2009 by Jack Hunter Digg!Digg Stumble Upon Newsvine SlashdotSlashdot Add to Mixx!Mixx Diigo Google Delicious Reddit Facebook On yesterday’s drive home I listened to Sean Hannity, as I often do. Hannity was upset, as he often is, about President Obama ”weakening” American defense - scrapping missile defense shields in Europe, not escalating troop levels fast enough in Afghanistan, ignoring an Iran on the verge of getting nukes - you know, not being “conservative.” “You’re a great American!” one lady caller told Hannity. While I’m not sure how great an American...

Mark Levin slams Glenn Beck for telling Katie Couric that McCain would have been worse for the country than Obama. He also goes after Ron Paul for his statements and positions on foreign policy.

Two weeks ago, both the administration and the Fed announced with straight faces that the recession was over and the signs of economic recovery were clear. Then last week, the president made a stunning decision that signals the administration’s determination to repeat the mistakes of the Great Depression. Much like the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs that set off a global trade war and effectively doomed us to ten more years of economic misery, Obama’s decision to enact steep tariffs on Chinese imported tires could spark a trade war with the single most important trading partner we have. Not only does China manufacture...

Mark Levin expressed his disgust with Glenn Beck's fascination with Ron Paul and comments about McCain on with Katie Couric (audio at the jump).

So over at New Majority David Frum has a rebuttal to my post calling out his distortions on Glenn Beck. He accuses me of "not doing my homework" on Beck's positions on Paul: You’d think that review would be a matter of some urgency for David Horowitz. After all, Horowitz himself described Paul as “a crackpot, a conspiracy nut and a public menace… an anti-Semite and an America-hater.” To date, however, Horowitz has not found time to consider the record. Soon afterward, David Swindle appeared on David Horowitz’s Newsreal blog to deny that much of a record even existed. Swindle...

One of the strongest opponents of government intervention in reforming the health care industry is Ron Paul — a Republican congressman from Texas. He's known to some as "Dr. No" for his opposition to tax hikes and refusal to vote for spending bills. He's a doctor by training — an OB-GYN — and he's written a new book called End the Fed — as in the Federal Reserve. He tells Weekend All Things Considered host Guy Raz that he doesn't believe health care is a right. Ron Paul: I do not believe peoples' needs or desires or wants or demands...

Chris Simcox, the co-founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, is in D.C. this week — he marched in the “taxpayer march” on 9/12, and he was working radio row at the Federation for American Immigration Reform’s “Hold Their Feet to the Fire” lobbying event. And Simcox, who’s running in the 2010 Arizona Republican primary against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), told me he expected to kick his campaign into higher gear with Ron Paul-style fundraising organized by Trevor Lyman, the activist who organized Paul’s “moneybombs” during the 2008 presidential campaign. Lyman confirmed the plans, though there are no dates yet...

A day after former Baptist minister and likely presidential rival Mike Huckabee offered a withering critique of Mitt Romney's record, the former Massachusetts governor made his pitch to the same group of religious conservatives. Romney appealed to attendees at the Values Voter Summit in Washington on Saturday, using a speech that drew heavily from his address to social conservatives at the same hotel earlier this year. "Putting such a spirit-crushing, back-breaking debt burden on our children is unworthy of our national character," he said. "That is why I believe that this spending and borrowing is not just economically irresponsible, it...

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Saturday won a 2012 presidential preference straw poll of social and religious conservative activists from 49 states gathered in Washington, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said at an afternoon press briefing at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. It was sweet revenge for Mr. Huckabee, who narrowly lost a similar poll in 2007 to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Only in-person voting was permitted in this vote -- Mr. Romney had won with combined Internet and in-person voting. On Saturday Mr. Huckabee took 28.48 percent of the vote, while Mr. Romney was in a four-way...

Two high-profile entrenched New England Democrats -- Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- have new challengers. Republican Peter Schiff, a broker, financial pundit, and supporter for Ron Paul, is in an increasingly crowded Republican primary for Dodd's seat. "He inherited the seat," Schiff said of Dodd today on Fox Business Network. It's like he's living in the House of Lords." (snip) Meanwhile, Republican Keith Messina, a mechanical engineer, announced today he's running against Frank in the Fourth Congressional District of Massachusetts. In a statement, Messina promised a "fresh perspective," pledged to focus on jobs,...

I received lots of comments and mail about an entry here Thursday relating Ron Paul to Sarah Palin in a political atmosphere where 43 percent consider themselves independents. Many were from Paul supporters who didn’t like the connection. Others did. Glen, who says he has supported Paul for 20 years and Palin for one possibly got closest to the current reality: “I think Palin and Paul have a lot in common,” he wrote. “They are both libertarians, but they come to it from different approaches. Paul is an erudite scholar on both economics and foreign policy. Palin comes at it...

Obama and his banker friends can't stop the Fed audit, 290+ co-sponsors in Congress means it's veto proof.

Rep. Ron Paul being interviewed by TIME magazine and answering questions [Click Here to Watch]

For three decades, Rep. Ron Paul has waged a lonely battle in Congress to abolish the Federal Reserve. But he has more foot soldiers across the nation today, particularly after the financial crisis, who are leading the drive for wider congressional audits of the central bank. In his new book — “ End the Fed” — released today, Rep. Paul walks through his critique of the central bank and lays out a strategy (briefly) for eliminating it. We sat down with the congressman to hear his views on a money system backed by gold, the Fed’s challenge of withdrawing its...

Fed Plans to Limit How Lenders Can Structure Compensation for Executives, Traders, Loan Officers; 5,000 Firms Affected Policies that set the pay for tens of thousands of bank employees nationwide would require approval from the Federal Reserve as part of a far-reaching proposal to rein in risk-taking at financial institutions. The Fed's plan would, for the first time, inject government regulators deep into compensation decisions traditionally reserved for the banks' corporate boards and executives. Under the proposal, the Fed could reject any compensation policies it believes encourage bank employees -- from chief executives, to traders, to loan officers -- to...

Ron Paul announces that HR 1207 now has 290 co-sponsors, and if the bill were to be brought to the House floor today it would pass.

"The central point that Ron Paul makes again and again throughout the book, is that not only is the Federal Reserve and the idea of a central bank bad economic policy, it is immoral and criminal. He repeatedly equates the lowering of interest rates with counterfeiting currency."

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), informs Congress that there will be hearings to audit the Federal Reserve and why he supports them.

At the core of a congressional push to audit the Federal Reserve are activists with a larger purpose: to abolish the central bank. Thousands of Americans are joining protests and lobbying their lawmakers in pursuit of the ultimate goal of replacing the Fed with a money system backed by gold or other commodities. Largely inspired by Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican whose latest book, "End the Fed," will be released Wednesday, the movement draws its strength from people who want a sharp shift away from government dependency and toward a truly free-market economy.

In the recent dialogue between David Frum and David Horowitz about the place of Glenn Beck and other bold talkers in the Conservative Movement Frum shot out a claim which threw Horowitz off guard: Third – how do we define “our side”? Horowitz harshly condemns Obama appointee Van Jones. Van Jones was eventually forced to resign not because of any of the allegations Glenn Beck hurled at him, but because the Gateway Pundit blog unearthed evidence that Van Jones had consorted with 9/11 denialists. So that’s the other side, right? Except… the American politician who most closely associates with 9/11...

   The SPEAKER pro tempore.: Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Mrs. Bachmann) is recognized for 5 minutes.    Mrs. BACHMANN.:    Mr. Speaker, the context of my remarks is engaging the issue of the current financial situation that the United States finds itself in.    Mr. Speaker, it was less than 1 year ago that the government began Bailout Nation, which was $700 billion in tax money that was given to the United States Treasury Secretary for the purpose of stabilizing America's financial situation. Let's take just a brief history of what has happened...

Last Wednesday the nation was riveted to the President’s speech on healthcare reform before Congress. While the President’s concern for the uninsured is no doubt sincere, his plan amounts to a magnanimous gift to the health insurance industry, despite any implications to the contrary. For decades the insurance industry has been lobbying for mandated coverage for everyone. Imagine if the cell phone industry or the cable TV industry received such a gift from government? If government were to fine individuals simply for not buying a corporation’s product, it would be an incredible and completely unfair boon to that industry, at...

The 2008 presidential campaign may be over, but the "revolution" spawned by Rep. Ron Paul's candidacy continues to echo through the political world. Paul (R-Tex.), capitalizing on a healthy distrust of government and his strident opposition to the war in Iraq, became an Internet phenomenon -- using the Web to raise an astounding $35 million for his long-shot candidacy. The financial network Paul built during his campaign has, amazingly, continued to reap dividends for two men seeking to be the congressman's political heirs in the 2010 elections. Rand Paul, who is running for the Senate in Kentucky and is the...

The entire federal government,” laments Congressman Ron Paul in his newest book, End the Fed, “is one giant toxic asset at the moment. It certainly has no business telling the private sector how to run its affairs. It is in worse financial shape than all the companies in the private sector put together.” Hard words, but Congressman Paul knows whereof he speaks. It was Ron Paul, unique among congressmen for his understanding of how a free-market economy is supposed to work, who warned repeatedly of the coming economic calamity. It was Ron Paul, too, who warned both the Bush and...

NB: Ron Paul does not officially endorse candidates in primaries running against incumbents. Saying her two high-profile rivals have dropped the ball for Texas, Wharton County GOP chairwoman Debra Medina announced her campaign Saturday for the Republican nomination for governor. "We've done little to move in the right direction. Some may even say we've lost yardage," Medina said during a rally at the Westin Galleria. "I'm ready to take the field as quarterback, for a time, for Texas." Medina, a top volunteer in Rep. Ron Paul's presidential campaign, joins powerhouse Republicans Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison as candidates in...

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul will join U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., at a student town hall meeting Sept. 25 at the University of Minnesota. The topic of the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in Northrup Auditorium, is “Monetary Reform, Limited Government and Free Market Economics.” The event is being sponsored by the Republican Party of Minnesota, the Minneapolis City Republican Committee, College Republicans, Students for a Conservative Voice and the Minnesota Campaign for Liberty. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Seeing none from this year, I would like us to share our memories of 9/11. Like Kennedy's assassination or Pearl Harbor, few can ever forget where they were on that dreadful day. Please share your memory of 9/11, where you were, and also tell us in a few sentences how it changed you.

The event, hosted by Young Americans for Liberty, will be held Sept. 25 at Northrop Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Organizers said Bachmann and Paul will discuss "monetary reform, limited government and free market economics" and that their appearance is designed to counter "President Obama's health care proposal, bailout mania and the rapid rise of government control and spending." Bachmann, who is in her second term representing Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District, has attained a national profile as a conservative spokeswoman as a result of her regular appearances on cable television. Paul, of Texas, attained a similar...

Congressman Ron Paul informed Campaign for Liberty today that House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank will hold hearings on H.R. 1207, Congressman Paul`s bill to audit the Federal Reserve. The hearings are tentatively set to take place Friday, September 25th at 9:00 am. "The Federal Reserve wields tremendous power and is at the center of our current economic storm of deficits, debt and bailouts.Congressman Barney Frank should be commended for his willingness to hold hearings on Fed transparency," said Campaign for Liberty President John Tate. "A full and thorough Audit of the Federal Reserve is now supported by over...

Near the start of this year Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. As of this writing, H.R. 1207 has 282 cosponsors. A Senate equivalent, S.604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act of 2009, has been introduced by Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). It has 23 cosponsors. Both bills have received a tremendous groundswell of grass-roots support. Much of the support is coming from ordinary people who have become aware of the fact that the Federal Reserve has created trillions of dollars literally out of nothing...

We like to think Islamism represents only a fringe of the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims. But that’s because we confound Islamists and terrorists. The terrorists — those who commit and materially support violent attacks — are a fringe (bigger than we’d like to think, but still a tiny minority). By contrast, Islamists may be a majority, and, if they’re not, they constitute a very substantial minority. Islamism is not terrorism. To be sure, Islamism includes terrorism in its arsenal. Still, there is major disagreement among Islamists about when violence should be used and how effective it is. In any event,...