Free Republic

The slickly organised theft of one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust sent a wave of outrage around the world yesterday. The sign that hung over the gates of Auschwitz extermination camp, where more than a million people died during the Second World War, was stolen in minutes. Polish police suspect that the culprits were either neo-Nazis or acting on behalf of collectors or a group of individuals. The slogan wrought in iron, Arbeit Macht Frei (“Work sets you free�), was the cynical welcome to those entering the camp in the 1940s. One million of the 1.1 million...

People often mistake being named Time’s “Person of the Year” as an honor, but that men as sinister as Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Rudy Giuliani have all been given the title suggests otherwise. According to Time, the award is primarily a recognition of influence and by that measure the 2009 selection of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke makes sense. Explains Time, the Fed is “an independent government agency that conducts monetary policy, which means it sets short-term interest rates - which means it has immense influence over inflation, unemployment, the strength of the dollar and the strength of your...

On December 16, 2007, supporters of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul broke the all time fundraising record by raising $6 million in a single day, holding tea parties throughout the USA to protest an oppressive government. The sentiment spread like a flame of liberty across the entire country, as more people became aware of the dangers government control poses to their lives, liberty and property. Millions of people from all political backgrounds now participate in local tea parties, and are proving too volatile to channel into supporting politics as usual, causing headaches for politicians of both parties who would ignore...

One of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's biggest critics said that he deserves Time magazine's "Person of the Year" award bestowed to him on Wednesday. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), one of Bernanke's greatest critic, said that the award is fitting because Bernanke is the "most powerful man in the world." MSNBC's Joe Scarborough said that Paul had admitted off camera that Bernanke deserved the award because of his economic power. Paul replied "He is. He is the most powerful man in the world. I believe a case can be made for that... He controls the supply of money, which is...

Paul ranks alongside ultra-liberal Dennis Kucinich as having the weakest foreign policy stances in the U.S. House. Tuesday, Paul and Kucinich were two of only 12 House members that voted against imposing new sanctions on Iran. The resolution that would penalize foreign companies from selling oil to Iran passed 412-12. "This will unify the Iranian people against us," Paul incorrectly predicts.

The House voted overwhelmingly to implement new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for its saber-rattling over building a nuclear weapons arsenal. By a 412-12 vote, lawmakers approved legislation that would penalize foreign companies that sell oil to Iran or help the country with its oil-producing capacity. While Iran is a major crude oil producer, its lack of ability to produce enough gasoline and other refined petroleum products is a major economic vulnerability. With no Senate action on the legislation expected this year, the House vote was for the time being mainly a warning that the United States is ready to...

Last week, in the name of protecting the little guy from Wall Street, the House passed HR 4173 to increase the little guy’s false sense of security in the financial system. This mammoth piece of legislation would massively increase government regulation and oversight in the banking industry under the misguided reasoning that more government could have stopped faulty lending practices, when in actuality it caused them. This bill would also greatly increase the powers of the Federal Reserve, which too many in Congress still see as savior rather than perpetrator in this mess. One silver lining is that the amendment...

Many years ago, John D. Rockefeller, Sr. famously stated, “Competition is a sin.” He preferred a monopoly, the very antithesis of economic freedom, in order to increase profits. A monopoly accomplishes for its creator the opportunity to gouge the public, a consequence generally well-known, and generally despised. There is, however, one commodity existing as a monopoly that the public does not loathe, the creation of money. This monopoly seems to most Americans to be the only way to proceed. They are unaware that our nation once had competing currencies and this competition led to honesty in the field of money....

Congressman Ron Paul has introduced a new bill in the House of Representatives. The bill calls for the elimination of legal tender laws, the elimination of laws that prohibit the operation of private mints and the elimination of capital gains and sales taxes on gold and silver coins. His statement introducing the bill in the House is here.

Norwegians Rally for Ron Paul. An interesting video from Norway taken during the Nobel Peace prize events. Rally opposing Big government. video (2:20 min.)

The anarchist libertarian socialist Noam Chomsky told Press TV on Wednesday that the nation of Israel is more like a military base for the United States. American linguist and author of such books as “What Uncle Sam Really Wants” and “Rethinking Camelot: JFK, the Vietnam War, and U.S. Political Culture,” Noam Chomsky, was interviewed on Wednesday by Press TV to explain the complicated relationship between Tel-Aviv and Washington. The American sociopolitical analyst said, “Israel is essentially a US military base, the US positions weapons there, that's a very close military and intelligence tie.” Commenting further on the weapons Israel received...

As the U.S prepares to send more troops to the war in Afghanistan, Barack Obama’s in Norway to receive his Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in October. The Nobel Committee said it wanted to praise Obama’s efforts to strengthen diplomacy and co-operation between nations. But for many, the 44th U.S. president was a surprise choice. Republican Congressman Ron Paul says Obama’s recent war plans show he shouldn’t have been awarded the peace prize.

Rep. Ron Paul's attempt to rein in central bank is finally close to passing -- just don't expect him to vote for it. Ron Paul is used to going it alone. During 20 years in Washington, the libertarian Republican congressman from Texas has proposed doing away with personal income taxes, federal antitrust laws and the minimum wage. He's advocated pulling the United States out of the United Nations, NATO and the International Monetary Fund. Those efforts have mostly been legislative non-starters. Many of his bills fail to attract a single co-sponsor. But one of his perennial causes is headed to...

If anyone still doubted that this administration’s foreign policy would bring any kind of change, this week’s debate on Afghanistan should remove all doubt. The President’s stated justifications for sending more troops to Afghanistan and escalating war amount to little more than recycling all the false reasons we began the conflict. It is so discouraging to see this coming from our new leadership, when the people were hoping for peace. New polls show that 49 percent of the people favor minding our own business on the world stage, up from 30 percent in 2002. Perpetual war is not solving anything....

There’s a strange political cocktail brewing in Washington, one that mixes top conservative strategist Grover Norquist and tea party organizers at FreedomWorks with democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), progressive activists and public interest advocates. The unlikely coalition’s bid to block Ben Bernanke’s nomination to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve until Congress votes on legislation to audit the secretive central bank is tapping into a growing anti-establishment mood — and legislators up for reelection next year are taking notice.

This talk was originally delivered to a Campaign of Liberty chapter on December 3, 2009. Video will be available shortly. Today President Obama will tour Allentown, Pennsylvania, in my home congressional district as part of a "Main Street Tour" to show his concern for economic plight of the masses. Many of the people I have spoken with while campaigning innately realize that government is at fault — or at least complain a lot about how the government should "fix" the economy. Unfortunately, many do not have enough of a grasp of economics to understand exactly how the government is ruining...

Ben S. Bernanke used a hearing for his reconfirmation as Federal Reserve chairman on Thursday to express concern about legislation that would put the Fed on a tighter leash and let Congress “second-guess” its decisions. Mr. Bernanke’s chief concern was a proposal by Representative Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, to “audit the Fed.” The amendment to the House of Representative’s bill overhauling financial regulation would submit the Fed to audits of its decisions concerning monetary policy. “To be very, very clear, I in no way object to — in fact I welcome — transparency about the Fed’s activities and the...

Let's get right to heart of what really matters here for the Fed. Just two questions need to be asked. 1. Why should the Fed have any regulatory oversight considering what a poor job they did in the past? 2. Why should the Fed have a dual mandate?

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (November 29th Washington Post) does not want us to know any of the details of the Fed's secret operations. This position is not surprising and has been typical of all central bank chairmen. Bernanke's stated goal in his editorial is "To design a system of financial oversight..." that will "provide a robust framework for preventing future crises." During its 96 years of existence, the Federal Reserve has played havoc with our economy and brought great suffering to millions through unemployment and price escalation. In addition, it has achieved what only a central bank can: a...

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning that further regulation would "impair" the economy is a "hoax," according to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas). Responding to Bernanke's op-ed in The Washington Post this past weekend, in which the Federal Reserve chairman said that Paul's bill to audit the Fed would harm the U.S. economy, the Texas congressman accused Bernanke of dodging responsibility for his role in causing the recession. "He claims that they're rescuing, and making things better. But he takes no responsibility for causing all the problems," Paul said during an appearance on the Fox Business Network. "So I think it's a...

Link only, per FR copyright rules

The U.S. Preventive Task Force caused quite a stir recently when they revised their recommendations on the frequency and age for women to get mammograms. Many have speculated on the timing for this government-funded report, with the Senate vote on health care looming, and cost estimates being watched closely. Just the hint that the government would risk women’s health to cut costs is causing outrage on both sides of the aisle. Even the administration is alarmed at its own panel’s recommendation. One official, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius told women to ignore the new guidelines, keep...

Is libertarian rock star and Texas Republican Ron Paul going mainstream? He’s got everyone from South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint to Minnesota moderate Democrat Collin Peterson to California liberal Barbara Boxer on his side in his audit-the-Fed crusade. He’s drawing liberal support in his push to rein in the cost of the war in Afghanistan. Senate candidates like Democratic Rep. Paul Hodes of New Hampshire are finding Dr. No’s populist economic anger to be useful in the campaign, echoing Paul’s criticism of the Federal Reserve. “This brought people together [from] the whole political spectrum, from progressives and liberals and...

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Representative Ron Paul proved to be a surprising presence in the presidential race in 2008. Now his son, Dr. Rand Paul, has become an unexpected contender in the 2010 Senate race in Kentucky. Dr. Paul — an ophthalmologist and a son of the congressman, a Texas Republican and former presidential candidate — has become a serious challenger in the race to succeed Senator Jim Bunning. Capitalizing on a hearty distrust of government and an anti-Republican-establishment fervor among conservatives, he has used the Internet to raise more than $1.3 million since he began his campaign in August. “This...

For many Americans, the financial crisis, and the recession it spawned, have been devastating -- jobs, homes, savings lost. Understandably, many people are calling for change. Yet change needs to be about creating a system that works better, not just differently. As a nation, our challenge is to design a system of financial oversight that will embody the lessons of the past two years and provide a robust framework for preventing future crises and the economic damage they cause. These matters are complex, and Congress is still in the midst of considering how best to reform financial regulation. I am...

Sarah Palin 2012 Presidential Betting Odds: Former Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin is making headlines once again this week with the release of her already best-selling memoir “Going Rogue”, as well as much speculation that she might be the next G.O.P entrant in the upcoming 2012 Presidential Betting Odds elections. With the current state the country finds itself in and with so many Americans in disapproval of the job current President Barack H. Obama is doing, the Sarah Palin camp might be gearing up to give the leftist a run for their money in the 2012 Presidential Betting Odds. But...

(snip) I am concerned, however, that a number of the legislative proposals being circulated would significantly reduce the capacity of the Federal Reserve to perform its core functions. Notably, some leading proposals in the Senate would strip the Fed of all its bank regulatory powers. And a House committee recently voted to repeal a 1978 provision that was intended to protect monetary policy from short-term political influence. These measures are very much out of step with the global consensus on the appropriate role of central banks, and they would seriously impair the prospects for economic and financial stability in the...

Why do so many people love Sarah Palin? Why do so many hate her? I cannot recall a politician in recent memory that has been both so loved and so reviled for no discernible reason. When Palin was announced as John McCain’s running mate on the 2008 Republican presidential ticket many conservatives were intrigued, including me. It was reported that the Alaskan governor had been a member of Pat Buchanan’s “Buchanan Brigades” during the commentator’s presidential bids in 1996 and 2000 and that Palin had ties to the secessionist Alaskan Independence Party. An “America First” states rights’ radical on a...

Spots urging shoppers to use their credit cards wisely will be shown on big screens in 12 U.S. cities. The central bank has long been accused of neglecting its consumer protection duties. BY JIM PUZZANGHERA Washington - The Federal Reserve isn't too popular these days, what with its failure to predict or prevent the financial crisis and recession, not to mention its involvement in last year's bailouts. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a bestselling book out called "End the Fed," and some lawmakers are looking to cut back the central bank's power. It sounds like a perfect time for an...

You might think it is hard being a legislator: You have to come to work on a Saturday, read thousands of pages, debate, vote — what a mess! Those poor congressmen and senators, sacrificing their weekends and doing all they can to save a troubled nation, right? Nope. Being a legislator is easy. If you're having a hard time, you're doing it wrong. Every federal elected official takes an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution. That oath should trump any campaign promises, back-room lobbyist deals and even a legislator's better judgment. If a particular bill is unconstitutional, no matter...

Wall Street is an economic extension of the big banks, which are the government-protected segment of a government-created cartel: the national bank system. The government controls entry into this cartel, thus offering above-market rates of return to those who are approved. The primary enforcer of this cartel is the Federal Reserve System. The FED provides the fiat money that in turn provides banks with reserves to lend. It also serves as the lender of last resort -- officially, to the government; operationally, to the banks. This keeps the largest banks from having to face free market competition. We can use...

I was pleased last week when we won a vote in the Financial Services Committee to include language from the Audit the Fed bill HR1207 in the upcoming financial regulatory reform bill. As it stands now, if HR 3996 passes, because of this action, the Federal Reserve’s entire balance sheet will be opened up to a GAO audit. We will at last have a chance to find out what happened to the trillions of dollars the Fed has been giving out. Finally, the blanket restrictions on GAO audits of the Fed that have existed since 1978 will be removed. All...

Vanity

The more I observe U.S. politics, the more I am sickened by racial politics. Don't get me wrong; this is also an observable trend in Europe. The fact is that race and nationality have always been explosive issues. Politicians and political interest groups know this and use it to damage or completely discredit the opposing ideology. Liberals in the U.S. would have you believe that conservatism or rightist politics is the source of all racist thought in America. To believe this, one would have to ignore history completely and the fact that many of the most brutal racist policies the...

It's an issue that libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-proclaimed socialist agree on: Congress should have the authority to call for the Federal Reserve to be audited. But it is also something that some in the financial media are reluctant to support, especially judging from the tone of CNBC "The Call" co-host Trish Regan and comments CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Liesman. On the Nov. 20 broadcast of "The Call," CME Group reporter Rick Santelli made the case that Federal Reserve should be audited. He cited opposition to the Fed audit proposal from Sen....

A top Senate Republican lashed out against lawmakers of both parties for supporting legislation that would audit the Federal Reserve, accusing the bipartisan group of “political pandering” to populist anger. Sen. Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, says he’s worried that politicians on Capitol Hill are sacrificing the Fed’s historic independence because the Fed has become unpopular during the economic crisis. “This move to bring the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy under the control of Congress is a grave threat to our economy. Congress has demonstrated time and again its inability to manage the nation’s fiscal...

It's about damn time. Yes, it's a first step - but an important first step, and it happened yesterday. Here's what Representative Grayson said at the time of debate: Bloomberg wasted no time giving the "loyal opposition" to transparency all the digital ink they desired: “It’s going to be seen as weakening the independence of monetary policy with consequent negative implications,” Frank told reporters after the vote. “People are going to be worried about the impact on the dollar, on the interest rate.” Go listen to Mr. Grayson's statement again. Now tell me how The Fed's move to dilute our...

A bipartisan effort gaining momentum in the House to require periodic audits of the Federal Reserve is little more than "great PR," one Republican senator stressed Friday. Although Reps. Ron Paul (R-Tx.) and Alan Grayson's (D-Fla.) effort to subject much of the Fed's records, communications and decisions to public scrutiny now has well over 300 supporters in the House, not among them in the Senate is Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who told CNBC this morning that the amendment was little more than "pandering [to] populism." "For the Congress to get into monetary policy, it's just absolutely inexcusable," he said. "We can't...

Thanks to your quick action in contacting Congress, the House Financial Services Committee earlier today rejected Representative Mel Watt's attempt to hijack Audit the Fed by voting 43-26 to pass Ron Paul's amendment to the financial regulatory reform bill. Dr. Paul called me right after the vote to personally express his thanks to C4L members for all of your efforts! It is an incredible testament to the growing power of the liberty movement that we were able to get such an audit passed by a major House committee, but this is by no means the end of our fight. Financial...

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker wrote the House Financial Services Committee earliy this month that they opposed a provision, backed by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) that would expand the congressional Government Accountability Office’s audits of the Fed. The committee, ignoring the pleas from the two, endorsed the provision Thursday. Greenspan and Volcker, in a letter sent to the committee’s chairman and ranking Republicans, warned that the provision threatened the ability of the Fed to foster price stability independent of political interference.

Israel bashing, Houston hair care executive Farouk Shami, is throwing his hat into the ring and has stated that he is 100% sure that he will be the next Governor of Texas. Here is one of his past comments. "Polls show that our unquestioning support of Israel fuels anti-American sentiment in the Arab and Muslim worlds." If he wins, I am sure that he will get along just fine with Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison. Democrat Joins Gubernatorial race, Says He’ll Spend $10 Million in Primary November 19, 2009 by TMO Houston hair executive Farouk Shami says his focus is stimulating...

The House Financial Services Committee has approved Rep. Ron Paul’s measure to drastically expand the government’s power to audit the Federal Reserve. The measure, based on a Paul proposal that has attracted more than 300 co-sponsors, passed, 43-26, as an amendment to a financial reform bill. Florida Democrat and fellow Fed critic Alan Grayson co-sponsored the amendment with Paul and played a leading role drumming up support for it among committee members. The adoption of this amendment is an extraordinary victory for Paul, whose libertarian, anti-Fed leanings have often been dismissed by the political establishment.

For nearly a century the Federal Reserve has operated in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of Congress, journalists and the American people. Created in 1913, the Fed was given enormous responsibility to protect the value of our currency. Yet in the last 96 years the U.S. dollar has lost more than 95% of its purchasing power. The Fed's unprecedented actions over the past year in attempting to stabilize the financial system have now forced it into the spotlight, and caused millions of people around the country to question the opacity of the Fed's financial transactions. While the Fed...

She sounds off on Ron Paul, health care, and, of course, liberty. BY MATT SNYDERS Michele Bachmann is a regular fixture on the cable news circuit. When it comes to print, however, she takes a more measured approach; she declined a phone interview with the New York Times last month, insisting on a Q&A via email. She gave City Pages the same deal. Here's what she had to say: City Pages: Your appearance with Rep. Ron Paul surprised some folks. At first blush, it would seem the two of you might come down on very different sides on a lot...

Last Saturday many concerned Americans watched in horror as the House passed the healthcare reform bill. If this bill makes it through the Senate, it would massively overhaul the way healthcare is delivered in this country. Today, obviously, we don’t have a perfect system, but this legislation takes all the mistakes we are making with healthcare and makes them worse. Most of what is wrong with healthcare stems from decades of government intervention and the resulting unintended consequences. But the government’s prescription for the ills caused by intervention is always more intervention. We see this not only in healthcare policy,...

In a segment titled "Chuck and Gena Norris on American Politics" Sean Hannity asks Norris if he would ever consider runnning for the U.S. Senate. Norris scoffs at the idea, saying "with all the senators there you can't get anything done. What would I do, I'd have to choke out all the democrats?" Norris continues, "it's kind of my sayings, one of the facts, America's not a democracy, it's a Chucktatorship. Hannity: I'd like a Chucktatorship. Norris: Yeah and if it was, I said I would go to congress , I'd line up every member of congress, and I'd have...

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a bill with 300 sponsors that won’t pass, which is very unfortunate, but revealing. Let me suggest a variation that might pass, and would be extremely valuable: Let’s begin with a complete audit of all bailout programs initiated by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other relevant agencies. This audit would be all-inclusive, from top to bottom. It would include zero- to low-interest loans and financing facilities. It would include federal purchases of any form of financial instrument that was initiated in response to the financial crisis. It would include all...

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul built a nationwide army of fiercely loyal, enthusiastic, young supporters during his 2008 Presidential run. It appears Paul is hoping to expand upon that base and possibly gear up for another run in 2012. Paul visits Ames tonight for speech at Iowa State University....

Transportation Security Administration screeners at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport probably wish that the fellow they chose to grill last March about a box of cash wasn't a Ron Paul devotee who runs a committee devoted to individual rights and constitutional government. But grill Steven Bierfeldt they did, and eight months later the incident has yielded revised rules requiring TSA agents to stick to matters related to flight security rather than policing airports for other crimes. Bierfeldt and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him in a lawsuit, announced in a news release this week that the TSA had changed...

A University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs professor called for an unprecedented audit of the Federal Reserve Bank balance sheet expansion of $2trillion during the 2007-09 financial industry crisis. During a San Antonio appearance Friday, Robert Auerbach, author of the 2008 book “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” argued for an audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as he spoke at an event sponsored by the Henry B. Gonzalez Foundation for Inspiring Public Service in San Antonio. Auerbach, who served on the U.S. Housing Banking Committee staff when Gonzalez was chairman in the 1990s, said...