Posted: 22 May 2009, Fri 4:40 pm Post subject: Audit the Federal Reserve - HR 1207 Must Pass!
_________________ Cops that lie, should die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
Last edited by WaTcHeR on 29 Aug 2009, Sat 2:02 pm; edited 1 time in total
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
In an interview released today by Digg and the Wall Street Journal, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was pressured about the growing popular movement to Audit the Fed spearheaded by Texas Congressman Ron Paul. A visibly uncomfortable Geithner attempts to dismiss the question by stating “I’m sure people understand that you want to keep politics out of monetary policy.” When Geithner is again pressed on the issue, he makes the stunning assertion that conducting an audit of the Federal Reserve—something never before done in its 96 year history—is a “line that we don’t want to cross,” proclaiming that such a move would be “problematic for the country.”
Geithner’s response that auditing the Fed would give politicians dangerous control over American monetary policy is mistaken at best and a deliberate lie at worst. Allowing the public to know what happened to their $24 trillion in bailout money does not give undue control of monetary policy to the people’s elected representatives. Instead, such an audit would finally allow the public to see how their money has been spent in the midst of the largest spending binge in the history of the world’s economy, hardly an unreasonable demand given the well-documented revolving door between the Treasury and Goldman Sachs, the main recipient of bailout funds. Ultimately, the Treasury Secretary is left spewing the absurdity that “I think even the sponsor of that bill recognizes how important it is to us to have the Fed independent of politics,” which can only be said to be true insofar as Ron Paul—the sponsor of House Resolution (HR) 1207— wants to abolish the Federal Reserve system altogether.
That the Wall Street Journal would even pressure the Treasury Secretary on serious issues like the Audit the Fed movement may be surprising, given that the Wall Street Journal is a mouthpiece of the financial oligarchy and that editor Paul Gigot, like Geithner himself, is a Bilderberg attendee. Needless to say, this was not a typical inside-the-beltway interview. Instead, questions were submitted and voted on by the Digg community, with the top 10 questions being posed to Mr. Geithner.
As a result, the Secretary was bombarded by pointed questions about his documented tax evasion from 2001-2004, the wisdom of spending trillions of dollars in the light of long-term dollar devaluation and even, in the words of one particularly irate questioner, “Why are you running the Treasury Department?” Despite presumably having had time to prepare responses to each question well in advance, Geithner is still visibly discomfited by the entire exchange, picking at his shirt cuff and coughing nervously throughout the interview.
In one particularly telling moment, Geithner even admits “We have been forced to do just extraordinary things and, frankly, offensive things to help save the economy.”
That these questions are only being asked now, almost a year into the bailout and several months after the new administration has taken office, further highlights how the controlled corporate media is doing everything in its power to keep to well-trodden and uncontroversial areas in their interviewing of key administration officials. This interview is testimony to the power of the citizen journalism movement that is attempting to hold those in power accountable for their actions. We can only hope that the Obama Administration lives up to their promise to be the “cyber” administration by allowing more such question-and-answer sessions in the future. _________________ Cops that lie, should die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
House Financial Services Committee Chairman and Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Barney Frank believes that Texas Congressman Ron Paul's HR 1207, which is a bill to audit the Federal Reserve, will pass the house.
'Here’s what we plan to do: I want to restrict the powers of the Federal Reserve in a number of ways. First of all, they will be the major losers of power if we’re successful, as I believe we will be, setting up that, uh, financial product protection committee,' Congressman Barney Frank said in front of a group during a town hall meeting in the state of Massachusetts.
House Resolution 1207 has a majority of co-sponsors (282) in the House of Representatives and all Republicans have signed on. S. 604, which is the Senate version of HR 1207, has 23 co-sponsors. Even though Frank disagrees that the Federal Reserve is one of the causes of a devalued United States dollar, as a lot of the proponents of the bill state, he still believes in transparency in the Federal Reserve.
'The Federal Reserve is now charged with protecting consumers. They were supposed to do sub-prime mortgage restricted … Congress in 1994 gave the Federal Reserve the power to adopt rules to ban bad sub-prime mortgages. … They have the power to ban credit card abuses. They have the power to do most of it. They, under Greenspan, did nothing. Under Bernanke, they started to do things, but only after Congress started, when I became chairman of the [House Financial Services Committee], we began to act on these things: Sub-prime mortgages, credit cards, overdraft … And after we started, the Fed did. So, that’s why one of the reasons why in the new consumer protection agency we will take away from the Federal Reserve the power to do consumer protection.'
'Under section 13.3 of the Federal Reserve Act, they can lend money to whoever they want. We are going to curtail that lending power. We are going to put some constraints on it.'
Auditing the Federal Reserve has gained support in both Washington and among the general public. A recent survey shows that three in four Americans want an audit and transparency of the Fed.
The former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer was on MSNBC in mid-summer and called the Federal Reserve a 'ponzi scheme' and 'an inside job.' Former 2008 Democratic Presidential Candidate and Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich has said. 'The Federal Reserve is no more federal than Federal Express.'
Economic analysts like Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff and others have called for the end of America's Central Bank.
Barney Frank concluded, 'Finally, we are going to subject them to a complete audit. I’ve been working with Ron Paul, the main sponsor of that bill. He believes that we don’t want to have the audit appear as if it is influencing monetary policy because that would be inflationary … One of the things that will show you is what the Federal Reserve buys and sells. That will be made public, but not instantly. If it were instant, you would have a lot of people trading off that and it would have too much impact on the market. Again, Ron agrees with that. So, we will probably have that data released after a time period of several months — enough time so it won’t be market sensitive.'
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is "ultimately responsible" for regulators' failure to rein in massive bonus payments at American International Group because he led the agencies that provided AIG's lifelines, according to a bailout watchdog.
Geithner was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before taking over at Treasury in January. He has said he did not learn until March about the $1.75 billion in bonuses and other compensation promised to AIG employees. But Geithner's subordinates at the New York Fed learned of the payments in November, according to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the $700 billion financial bailout.
Even if no one told Geithner about the payments, "this is a failure of communication and a failure of management," Barofsky told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday. Geithner has been "the head of an organization that was involved in the bailout of AIG" since last September, he added.
A Treasury Spokeswoman would not address the comments about Geithner's leadership. She said in a statement that the Obama administration's pay czar continues to develop compensation plans for AIG and the other companies that received the costliest bailouts.
Geithner helped lead Fed efforts starting last fall to prop up AIG with billions in emergency financing. After becoming Treasury secretary, his department and the Fed continued unveiling new aid packages for AIG.
The government has committed a total of more than $180 billion to wind down the New York-based insurance and financial services conglomerate, and Treasury now owns about 80 percent of the company.
In a report released Tuesday, Barofsky wrote that Treasury did not understand AIG's pay structures when it gave the firm billions in aid last fall. He said Wednesday that officials at the New York Fed "still did not have their arms wrapped around" AIG's compensation structure when he finished his audit last month.
Officials discovered 620 bonus programs totaling $455 million, and 13 retention plans allocating $1 billion, according to the report. AIG has asked employees to return some of the money voluntarily.
Barofsky criticized Treasury, under then-Secretary Henry Paulson, for "outsourcing" its oversight duties to the Fed, which he said had different priorities from Treasury. As a financial institution, the Fed "didn't really view these (bonuses) as being much of a big deal," he said, because they were a tiny part of the aid AIG received.
Treasury was charged with recovering taxpayer money, and would have been "more sensitive" to the appearance that AIG used taxpayer money to grant large bonuses, Barofsky said.
Lawmakers questioned Geithner's leadership on AIG and whether he was truthful in saying he learned about the bonuses in March. Several said Geithner should have known, and that Treasury should have done more after the March news to recover the bonus money.
Geithner "failed to know what he should have known, failed to do what he should have done, and failed to give us transparency" by cooperating fully with Barofsky, said Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the committee's top Republican.
Barofsky's report said the Obama administration's pay czar recently has asked AIG not to pay some bonuses that have been promised to employees. Geithner said in March that the employees' contracts prevented Treasury from stopping the payouts.
Barofsky agreed that Treasury might have done more to recapture the money, millions of which went to employees in the unit whose bets helped sink the company.
The report said that Kenneth Feinberg, the special master for executive compensation, "has informally advised AIG not to pay the full $198 million" employees expect to receive.
Feinberg is locked in negotiations with the seven companies that received the most expensive taxpayer bailouts. AIG's was by far the largest. To secure its bailouts, AIG argued to Treasury that its failure would doom the broader financial system.
The company is talking to Feinberg about matters "including future payments to employees of AIG Financial Products," the division whose bets helped sink the company, spokeswoman Christina Pretto said in a statement Tuesday. Employees have until the end of the year to return voluntarily some of the bonus pay they received in March, she added.
Barofsky's report recommends that Treasury work closely with officials from the New York Fed, which is funding parts of the AIG bailout. It also suggests Treasury improve oversight of companies that it owns, including reviewing compensation programs before buying major ownership stakes in companies.
In a written response, Herbert M. Allison Jr., Treasury's assistant secretary in charge of the government bailout, said the department is implementing the guidelines and "has no present intention" of buying another financial company.
"We welcome your comments and suggestions as Treasury continues to strengthen oversight of financial institutions" receiving government assistance, Allison wrote. _________________ Cops that lie, should die!
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
The Federal Reserve first starts off by telling the truth about United States Notes:
“U.S. notes, the first national currency, began circulating during the civil war; they were authorized by the Legal Tender Act of 1862. The Department of the Treasury issued these notes directly. Issuance was subject to limitations; the Congress established a statutory limitation of $300 million on the amount of U.S. notes outstanding and in circulation. Although this amount was significant in Civil War days, it is a very small fraction of the total currency now in circulation in the United States.“
Then, they tell a big lie:
“U.S. notes serve no function that is not already served by Federal Reserve notes.”
Completely false! U.S. Notes were issued interest-free by the government. The purpose they served was to not bankrupt the American people in funding the Civil War, by not subjecting them to an unpayable, interest-accruing debt, from the moment of creation, as Federal Reserve notes do.
They lie, not only mislead, since they give so many accurate details, only to lie about the most important distinguishing function of U.S. Notes from Federal Reserve notes — their interest-free issuance. Sarah Emery, in her 1887 work, Seven Financial Conspiracies Which Have Enslaved the American People, states: “the enactments of July 17, 1861, and February 12, 1862, authorizing the issue of $60,000,000 treasury notes, not bearing interest and payable for all debts, public and private.“
The function they serve that isn’t already served by Federal Reserve notes is that not a single penny of interest was ever due on them, nor will ever be due, by the American people to the bankers or the government.
Furthermore, Federal Reserve member banks are unable to draw United States Notes whenever they please, unlike Federal Reserve notes. As the U.S. Treasury states,
“A commercial bank belonging to the Federal Reserve System can obtain Federal Reserve notes from the Federal Reserve Bank in its district whenever it wishes. It must pay for them in full, dollar for dollar, by drawing down its account with its district Federal Reserve Bank.“
While the Federal Reserve gives some very factual information on its website, such as the fact that they don’t ‘print’ any money, in this case, however, they told a lie about U.S. Notes — their interest-free competitor.
(Terrorism) noun: the use of violence (or threat of violence) by a person or an organized group against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.Doesn't that sound like what our government does to its own citizens?
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson
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