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Charter Member
Senate Torpedoes Fed Reserve Audit
But House plan already has majority support
But House plan already has majority support
Posted: July 06, 2009
8:54 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily
Members of the U.S. Senate today rejected a proposal for an audit of the Federal Reserve, the private institution that virtually controls U.S. interest rates, money supply and other economic influences.
The Senate vote against the plan from Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., was among a series of voice votes on a number of amendments to a spending bill that provides money for Congress' own budget.
According to Roll Call, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had wanted the spending bill approved last month, but DeMint had resisted having the spending approved by unanimous consent.
The DeMint plan was to add an amendment to the spending bill that would have provided for an audit of the Fed to include information about its funding facilities, market operations and any agreements with foreign banks and governments, DeMint told senators, according to Reuters.
"The Federal Reserve will create and disburse trillions of dollars in response to our current financial crisis," DeMint said. "Americans across the nation, regardless of their opinion on the bailout, want to know where the money has gone.
"Allowing the Fed to operate our nation's monetary system in almost complete secrecy leads to abuse, inflation and a lower quality of life," he said, according to Retuers.
DeMint also has said he supports a bill that now is pending in the U.S. House that would call for such an audit.
WND has reported the plan, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, already has collected co-sponsorship from a majority of the members.
Paul has said shortly after his proposal reached that "crucial benchmark" that the bipartisan support is an indicator of how American is fed up with secrecy.
"I look forward to this issue receiving greater public exposure," Paul said.
His bill has support from 245 members of the 435-member House already.
Paul long has opposed the power held by the Federal Reserve and its ability to manipulate the nation's economy. He has launched multiple proposals to get rid of the private banking powerhouse, without significant support.
But in light of the current economic dowturn – the government takeover of the banking industry, the government's demands for various auto industry bankruptcies, the government's appointment of a "pay czar" – change apparently is coming.
"To understand how unwise it is to have the Federal Reserve, one must first understand the magnitude of the privileges they have," Paul wrote in a recent Straight Talk commentary. "They have been given the power to create money, by the trillions, and to give it to their friends, under any terms they wish, with little or no meaningful oversight or accountability."
He's even said Congress should "reassert its constitutional authority over monetary policy."
A companion bill to Paul's also has been introduced in the Senate and was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
The Constitution, Paul said, gives Congress, not the private Federal Reserve, "the authority to coin money and regulate the value of the currency."
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