Posted on 09/25/2009 11:03:33 AM PDT by Palin Republic
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 near term."
The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, requires approval by the House Financial Service Committee and Frank said it would likely be included in broader financial regulatory reform legislation under consideration in the committee. GOP and Democratic lawmakers in the committee expressed support for the bill, which has 295 backers in the House.
The legislation would require the Government Accountability Office to complete a policy audit of every aspect of the Fed, including its interest rate policy as well as its wide variety of programs responding to the financial crisis such as its lender-of-last-resort authority. A similar bill is under consideration in the Senate.
The conceptual agreement between Frank and Paul would also permit the GAO to identify exactly which institutions borrow from the Fed's discount window.
However, the legislation is opposed by the Fed, which argues it would weaken the bank's independence and hamper the central bank's ability to protect the financial system.
Specifically, the Fed argues that institutions would be afraid to borrow from the discount window when they need to because they would be stigmatized as troubled firms, and the result would be a more troubled economic situation.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
So Frank wants to delay it until it can be repealed when the heat is off. Even if it can't be repealed, it will be so watered down as to be nearly meaningless. Don't take this far less than half a loaf offering, Rep. Paul. Now is the time to go for a complete x-ray of all of the Fed and exactly who gets my money laundered through it.
a third of the senate is already signed up
Call your senators now!
keep up the pressure!
Barney is into the act. We can sure expect accountability now.
/sarc
“said Frank at a hearing on the bill. “However, some time needs to elapse before certain disclosures take place.”
The Fed can not be opened up, and Ended, quickly enough. It’s been a source of Never ending mischief since its creation.
Delay for Any reason can only be viewed as a distraction in the hope that the bill will get shelved, or so drastically watered down as to be meaningless.
We Call that crawfishin' down here. Say one thing while leaving the backdoor open to escape through.
I do not trust or like Frank at all, but that may not mean that Congress isn’t annoyed at the total lack of control they apparently have over the Fed (and Treasury).
I’ve never seen anyone source the date before.
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