Vote NO – Do Not Audit the Federal Reserve

Sourced via The Daily Crux and with some excerpts originally published at Zero Hedge.

In 1995 Senator Harry Reid delivered a speech to Congress in which he unequivocally supported legislation that would force the Fed to be open and transparent about their activities.

I think it would be interesting to know about the Federal Reserve. I think we should audit the Federal Reserve. It’s taxpayers’ money that’s being used there, but we don’t do that.

…But even though there is no entity in the world that controls our lives more than the Federal Reserve System his speeches go unnoticed. People just don’t care, it seems, about the Federal Reserve. Maybe because it’s a subject that’s not very interesting. It’s not pornography. It’s not murder…

But we don’t talk enough about the Federal Reserve and the impact it has on our lives.

Harry Reid – January 23, 1995

(Starting around 0:40)

Oh, how things change after a couple decades of politicking and lobby money:

At around 40 seconds into this lengthy diatribe, everyone’s favorite Las Vegan utters the most two-faced hypocritical words that he could possible have uttered: “I think we should audit the Federal Reserve”. Between Harry Reid’s recent vehement anti-Paul behavior and the whip-order that Democrats received on Ron Paul’s bill yesterday, this is stunning. While the sell-out nature of this kind of politician does not surprise us, we thought it prudent for all US citizens to understand the true nature of the political class that decides an increasing amount of our day to day lives.

Yesterday’s whip order…

Subject: WHIP ALERT – DEMOCRATS ARE URGED TO VOTE NO ON H.R. 459 – FEDERAL RESERVE TRANSPARENCY ACT

This week, the House is expected to consider H.R. 459 – Federal Reserve Transparency Act.  This bill directs the GAO to complete an audit of the monetary policy deliberations, actions, and related matters taken by the Federal Reserve System before the end of 2012, followed by a detailed report to Congress. Most significantly, the bill would repeal existing restrictions on the GAO’s authority to perform audits of Federal Reserve monetary policy activities.

Like all other major central banks around the world, the Federal Reserve is an independent central bank, and its monetary policy actions are not subject to approval by the Administration or Congress. While Congress has set out the policy goals the Federal Reserve is to pursue – maximum employment and price stability – the ability of the Federal Reserve to pursue monetary policy independent of political influence is critical to its ability to fulfill its dual mandate.

Moreover, Congress already conducts regular and robust oversight of the Federal Reserve and actually expanded GAO’s audit authority two years ago in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It expanded the types of audits GAO may conduct of the Federal Reserve, as well as the data that must be disclosed to the public. The Federal Reserve’s financial accounts have long been subject to audit both by the GAO and an outside, independent audit firm.

This bill impedes the independence of this critical institution. In order for the Federal Reserve to do its job effectively, it should not be subject to short-term political pressures. The experience during debate on the debt ceiling last summer should demonstrate to the American public that House Republicans cannot be allowed to hold our economy or our critical economic institutions hostage in order to further their extreme agenda.

DEMOCRATS ARE URGED TO VOTE NO ON H.R. 459.

Indeed, probably the most hypocritical man in the world…