Late Wednesday the US House of Representatives passed HR 459 by a huge margin, 327-98.

The bill requires "a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks by the Comptroller General of the United States before the end of 2012." Among other things, it requires full disclosure of loans made to homeowners who were foreclosed in 2009 & 1010, and what advice and warnings independent consultants gave the Fed regarding the likelihood of financial injury to homeowners.

The Bill, introduced by Texas Republican Ron Paul, came to the House floor with 270 co-sponsors - both Democrat & Republican. Even fiery Dennis Kucinich, outgoing Democrat, praised it. Democratic leadership, however, was quick to criticize the bill, claiming it will "Politicize" the Federal Reserve's decisions.

Steny Hoyer, House Minority Whip, said:

"This bill would ... jeopardize the Fed's independence by subjecting its decisions on interest rates and monetary policy to GAO audit."

So far Obama has not commented on the bill, but he has made it clear that "the most transparent Administration in history" does not favor auditing the Federal Reserve. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, applauded the decision, calling it a "tireless effort to promote sound money and a more transparent Federal Reserve."

Republicans were nearly unanimous in their support for the bill; only 1 voted against it. Democrats were split; 89 voted for it, 97 against it. 5 Democrats and 1 Republican abstained or were absent.

However, the bill is considered Dead On Arrival in the Senate, where Harry Reid, Senate Majority leader, has vowed to NOT put it to a vote.

abcnews.go.com . . .

facethepolitics.com . . .

facethepolitics.com . . .

www.dailypaul.com . . .

thomas.loc.gov . . .::

clerk.house.gov . . .

naturalizedtexan wrote:



However, the bill is considered Dead On Arrival in the Senate, where Harry Reid, Senate Majority leader, has vowed to NOT put it to a vote.

They should keep sending it up until that old faggot dies.

who was the conservative that voted nay?

Fearless_Leader wrote:

naturalizedtexan wrote:



However, the bill is considered Dead On Arrival in the Senate, where Harry Reid, Senate Majority leader, has vowed to NOT put it to a vote.

They should keep sending it up until that old faggot dies.

Absolutely. Seems like he won't let half of the House's bills get a vote.

goodinfidel wrote:

who was the conservative that voted nay?

New York Congressman Robert Turner of the 9th District. He won the special election to replace Anthony Weiner.

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... The Federal Reserve can't be legally audited because it isn't part of the federal government. It's a foreign entity that doesn't have to open its books to anyone. ... Thought everyone knew that.



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This should be useful for the Republicans to use as campaign material. If they wind up retaking the senate in November we'll find out if this was just a publicity stunt, since we can probably count on Ron Paul to reintroduce the bill.

TexanForever wrote:

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... The Federal Reserve can't be legally audited because it isn't part of the federal government. It's a foreign entity that doesn't have to open its books to anyone. ... Thought everyone knew that.



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I disagree. Once an organization is allowed to created tens of trillions of dollars, with the push of a button, to loan out interest free, and at the bequest of the Feds, they are subject to accountability.

JacquesOff wrote:

TexanForever wrote:

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... The Federal Reserve can't be legally audited because it isn't part of the federal government. It's a foreign entity that doesn't have to open its books to anyone. ... Thought everyone knew that.




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I disagree. Once an organization is allowed to created tens of trillions of dollars, with the push of a button, to loan out interest free, and at the bequest of the Feds, they are subject to accountability.

Even more damning is the fact that those customers lining up at the discount window are the share holders of the FED and and the very institutions whose corruption has destroyed the global economy. Privilege, incest and outright theft!

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The FED has been officially recognized as a consortium of U.S. and foreign "for profit" banks. Accountability to any government is severely limited. About the only things the U.S. government can do is appoint some of its board members and either accept or reject the FED, but not audit it. Here's an extract from Wikipedia: (there's lots more elsewhere)

"the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit stated that: "The Reserve Banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of the FTCA [the Federal Tort Claims Act], but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations." The opinion went on to say, however, that: "The Reserve Banks have properly been held to be federal instrumentalities for some purposes." Another relevant decision is Scott v. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,[98] in which the distinction is made between Federal Reserve Banks, which are federally-created instrumentalities, and the Board of Governors, which is a federal agency.

Regarding the structural relationship between the twelve Federal Reserve banks and the various commercial (member) banks, political science professor Michael D. Reagan has written that:[100]
... the "ownership" of the Reserve Banks by the commercial banks is symbolic; they do not exercise the proprietary control associated with the concept of ownership nor share, beyond the statutory dividend, in Reserve Bank "profits." ... Bank ownership and election at the base are therefore devoid of substantive significance, despite the superficial appearance of private bank control that the formal arrangement creates.

Member banks

According to the web site for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, "[m]ore than one-third of U.S. commercial banks are members of the Federal Reserve System. National banks must be members; state chartered banks may join by meeting certain requirements."[101]

Accountability

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve banks, and the individual member banks undergo regular audits by the GAO and an outside auditor. GAO audits are limited and do not cover "most of the Fed’s monetary policy actions or decisions, including discount window lending (direct loans to financial institutions), open-market operations and any other transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee" ...[nor may the GAO audit] "dealings with foreign governments and other central banks." [102] Various statutory changes, including the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, have been proposed to broaden the scope of the audits.

November 7, 2008, Bloomberg L.P. News brought a lawsuit (Bloomberg L.P. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) against the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to force the Board to reveal the identities of firms for which it has provided guarantees during the Late-2000s financial crisis.[103] Bloomberg, L.P. won at the trial court[104] and the Fed's appeals were rejected at both the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. The data[105] was released March 31, 2011.[106]"

Bottom line, the FED can't be audited.


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TexanForever wrote:

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Regarding the structural relationship between the twelve Federal Reserve banks and the various commercial (member) banks, political science professor Michael D. Reagan has written that:[100]
... the "ownership" of the Reserve Banks by the commercial banks is symbolic; they do not exercise the proprietary control associated with the concept of ownership nor share, beyond the statutory dividend, in Reserve Bank "profits." ... Bank ownership and election at the base are therefore devoid of substantive significance, despite the superficial appearance of private bank control that the formal arrangement creates.




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In other "news" today, Bigfoot landed in a UFO and had sex with Justin Bieber in the back of a truck load of horse shit.

lord_of_the_air wrote:

TexanForever wrote:

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Regarding the structural relationship between the twelve Federal Reserve banks and the various commercial (member) banks, political science professor Michael D. Reagan has written that:[100]
... the "ownership" of the Reserve Banks by the commercial banks is symbolic; they do not exercise the proprietary control associated with the concept of ownership nor share, beyond the statutory dividend, in Reserve Bank "profits." ... Bank ownership and election at the base are therefore devoid of substantive significance, despite the superficial appearance of private bank control that the formal arrangement creates.




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In other "news" today, Bigfoot landed in a UFO and had sex with Justin Bieber in the back of a truck load of horse shit.

You're just trying to make Old Pippy jealous!

ibigmang wrote:

lord_of_the_air wrote:

TexanForever wrote:

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Regarding the structural relationship between the twelve Federal Reserve banks and the various commercial (member) banks, political science professor Michael D. Reagan has written that:[100]
... the "ownership" of the Reserve Banks by the commercial banks is symbolic; they do not exercise the proprietary control associated with the concept of ownership nor share, beyond the statutory dividend, in Reserve Bank "profits." ... Bank ownership and election at the base are therefore devoid of substantive significance, despite the superficial appearance of private bank control that the formal arrangement creates.




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In other "news" today, Bigfoot landed in a UFO and had sex with Justin Bieber in the back of a truck load of horse shit.

You're just trying to make Old Pippy jealous!

I don't know,Pip should have known Justin was a slut.....but Bigfoot? I thought he had more class.