Posted on 08/18/2011 7:34:33 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Texas Governor Rick Perry has been on a Bernanke-bashing binge this week, demanding on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve "open their books up."
That comment comes after Perry said earlier this week that it would be "treasonous" if Chairman Ben Bernanke used Fed policy to stimulate the economy before the election.
But what books exactly does Perry want opened?
The Federal Reserve already publishes its balance sheet online every Thursday for the entire world to see.
Not only that, it is audited regularly. Every year, an external accounting firm audits the financial statements of the Federal Reserve and all 12 of its regional banks. Last year, that firm was Deloitte and Touche, but PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG have also done it over the years.
Those financial statements are also posted online.
"Every aspect of the Fed's financial dealings are wide open -- wide open," Bernanke remarked at the National Press Club in February. "There is no sense in which the Fed has secret financial dealings."
[snip]
"Now, what 'audit the Fed' means in the language that has been used by some members of Congress, is not about the financials of the Fed," Bernanke said in February. "Rather, it's about, quote, auditing monetary policy," meaning Congress would evaluate the central bank's decisions.
"I think this is very much different from what most people think about, when they think about an audit," he said.
Congress already has some ability to examine the Fed through its own investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office.
In fact, the GAO's most recent report, released in July, investigated the Fed's emergency-lending programs spanning from December 2007 until July 2010.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I don’t know what Rick Perry wants but sure a heck know what I want from the fed! I want it GONE! A footnote in the history books! That’s what I want!
What was the whole failed ‘audit the feds’ movement about the past couple years?
Ron Paul has been saying this for years.
You CAN get all the Fed’s records. I think Perry, and many others, simply want it more out in the open.
I do NOT, like some, want the Fed eliminated, we’re far better off with it than we’d be with nothing at all (look at the 1800’s booms/busts) but it needs some discipline.
Perry for President, Herman Cain for Fed Chairman.
We’re still waiting to see what happened to two trillion dollars that disappeared during the Wall St. meltdown in the fall of ‘08. Bernanke knows.
I agree. The Fed did not come clean with their activity with the money center banks in late 2008. Bernanke whined about how doing so would compromise the integrity of the fed.
All one has to do is look at the value of the dollar pre-1913 and post 1913 to see what a malignancy the fed has been.
Anyone with a clue knows knows that the general "audit" is not what's being called for. The "audit" refers to the extensive one that the fed and its apologists have been resisting for years, going so far as to tell us that doing so would crash the economy.
It's the one that would tell us who, when, why and how much of our treasury is being plundered at will by national and internations banking cartels.
There’s a difference between the superficial - check the books audit that the fed goes through, and then there is a full-blown audit that actually examines where the money really goes, who’s making the decisions, what means of control are used to prevent fraud, theft, and other grift - and also examines connections those running or employed by the fed and outside interests that may be inappropriately be benefitting from the connections... there are a lot of ways the Fed could be audited beyond the BS done annually.
Open books at the Fed! Who are they trying to kid?
Perry is talking about their meetings and discussions.
These media idiots are such stool pigeons.
Perry wants Mr. B’s head. He wants to freeze the easy money policy because it destabllizes the dollar and leads to inflation. But, it is also a shrewd political move because it pins down Bernacke as an 0bama pawn. The easy money policy, like a drug addict taking one more hit, keeps the economy going a little longer before the inevitable hangover after the ‘12 election. Perry probably will soon say the he would never re-appoint Bernacke thus forcing 0bama to defend the Fed policies.
Perry said earlier this week that it would be “treasonous”
I thought he said ALMOST treasonous. This is how they like to morph what someone says. A correction should always be called for even if this looks like a slight edit of the original words. “Would be” and “almost” are two qualifiers that distance the words from calling someone flat out treasonous. I am happy to hear that Perry seems to not have the apologize reflex and is able to direct the attention where it ought to be.
Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution says in part that:
“The Congress shall have Power... To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;”
Can’t find the part that says they can delegate that power to anyone much less a consortium of international bankers!
Well, I hope that one day you'll come around to our way of thinking. But, in the meantime, remember two things:
1) Every single bust in the 1800's was created by a bank or banks issuing loans far in excess of reserves, usually with the government's approval.
2) Despite those busts, prices in 1900 were the same as they'd been in 1800. The dollar held its purchasing power because of its definition as a weight of gold.
Since the formation of the Fed, the dollar has lost about 90% of its purchasing power. Much, much more if you use today's gold price. The Fed exists purely to help banks make money and to fund the federal government's deficits.
There is really no place for a government-sponsored central bank in a free society.
Great Post!
I’m borrowing the graphic!
Well as usual CNN proves why it is Junk media and not worth 1 penny as a news source. That is not at all what he said and CNN knows it.
One more thing, please. There may have been fewer booms/busts since the Fed was formed, but they've been lollapaloozas. Great Depression, 70's Stagflation, 82 Depression, The Great Recession. In each one, billions and billions of wealth were destroyed and masses of people put out of work.
And every one of those was the result of the Fed's inflation. Combined with the drop in the dollar's purchasing power, I just can't see how anyone could justify its continued existence.
By contrast, the busts of the 19th century were short and localized.
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