Ron Paul and Barney Frank...Our White Knights or Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

[Razor]

Ron Paul has sponsored and wrote legislation entitled HR 1207. Information on the Bill Here

Essentially, the bill is meant to force an audit of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve regularly deals with trillions upon trillions of tax payer dollars, and has as of yet enjoyed outright immunity from inquiries. I direct you to this video:

[YOUTUBE]yt6maprKisI[/YOUTUBE]​

Representative Alan Grayson asked the Chairman of the Reserve where our trillions of dollars are going, and the Chairman either feigns ignorance or refuses to answer? Well, Ron Paul figured that shouldn't be going on. He authored a bill known as HR 1207, and I also like to think he sent a video to Ben Bernanke which included nothing but him yelling "FUCK YOU!"

The bill went to Committee, the House Committee on Financial Services to be exact. Barney Frank helms that committee, and Ron Paul sits on said committee. They pushed for a hearing, and after Ron Paul got more than 290 co-sponsors from all sides of the political spectrum, a hearing was called.

The hearing was held today, and a video is kept on CSPAN for your viewing pleasure. CSPAN, totally serving a purpose.

Watch the three hours. It's really got some hard hitting questions, and it really shows the extent to which the Fed hides transactions and happenings. Barney Frank also rears his head a few times, to hilarious results.

However, despite all of this fervor from Ron Paul and Fed Audit supporters, I have heard some rumblings. A rumbling that claims the audit of the Federal Reserve would lead to no faith at all in the dealings of the Fed and lead to global economic meltdown. Which will, of course, lead to my lord and saviour Obama ascending to his righteous place as the Anti-Christ and leading the world through Tribulation. (Bonus Points if you get which part I made up.)

Seeing as though I have no idea whatsoever about the implications, I'll leave the arguing to people who have a clue. Will this legislation lead to a era of economic transparency, or economic Armageddon? Stake your claim.

 

[FromTheSouth]

I've worked in the economy for a while, so I like to think I understand it a bit. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the dealing of the Fed, but I can cite a few things I've seen on TV to illustrate the faults I perceive.

Now, it is important to remember that faith in the economy is what backs to United States dollar. We don't back our currency with gold, and haven't for a century or more. I would like the fed and the Treasury Department to explain why there is stimulus money earmarked for schools in West Virginia that has not been dispersed. All the while, a school that had it's roof blown off remains closed and the surrounding communities have to shoulder the load for these kids. I want to know why North Dakota has not been able to execute a plan that would spend 20% more per child grades K-12. (NPR) I want to know why Recovery.gov shows that while there $240 billion dollars of stimulus money available for dispersal this week, and they only sent $100 of it out when people need jobs. I want to understand how we can borrow a trillion dollars and then give tax cuts.

Auditing the IRS, and by extension the treasury will answer these question. If these dealings are the slightest bit shady, faith in the United States economy will suffer, there is no question. Of course, if everything is kosher, and there is an answer to every question, it will increase faith in the dollar. Now, I guess the question here is, Is it worth it?

I would argue no. This is just a terrible time to push in that direction. There are several points I would like to use to illustrate why.

1. The world wide econony is being held with fishing line. The global economy is good because the added convenience has lowered prices and increased availability of necessary goods for poorer countries. Everyone gets a piece of the pie. When all this business is done, it is done with the dollar. The risk of investigating and turning up something shady would effect all world markets.

2. The Dollar is the currency used in international transactions. In oil and gold purchases, nations use the dollar (these are the biggest items on the commodities markets and account for trillions on annual business). Companies and governments trade in dollars, as the decimal currency provides the most efficient means of trade. The value of the dollar making a massive change downward will rise the price of the commodities, and they are now more valuable as tangible goods for trade. If gold and oil cost twice as much, and the value of the dollar drops, the upheaval on those markets is liable to topple the economy. We're talking $10 a gallon gas bad.

3. A loss of value of the dollar will cause a massive withdraw of foreign money from the American market. This will cause companies to lose capital, go deeper into debt, and not be able to meet payroll. This will lead to a far greater depression. There is more financual security today that folks who lived harvest to harvest in the 1930's. It's good to be "higher up the chain." But it also makes it further to fall.

4. Worldwide currencies are pegged to the dollar. The actions of the commodities markets, determines that most worldwide currencies be pegged to the dollar. The value of those currencies, the exchange rates, are calculated based on the value of the dollar. Throwing off exchange rates would inhibit international business in every currency, causing, one again, a complete worldwide meltdown, wars over resources, and complete global thermonuclear war.

Now, do I think the bill is a good idea? Absolutely. I see so much misspent money. We all do. It's all around us. There are six guys on a road crew and two working. Take three of those guys and put them on other projects. Get those done, so we can start more and hire more people. I want this to happen. The problem is, the real world applications of the bill make it less than pragmatic at this time. It's a matter of trust, and at a time like this, where 80% of the world is pegged to the dollar, and I don't trust our government, this administration or the last two, to come up smelling like roses. To need to borrow two trillion dollars to keep entire industries solvent, some money was misused, miscounted, etc.

Razorback:

However, despite all of this fervor from Ron Paul and Fed Audit supporters, I have heard some rumblings. A rumbling that claims the audit of the Federal Reserve would lead to no faith at all in the dealings of the Fed and lead to global economic meltdown. Which will, of course, lead to my lord and saviour Obama ascending to his righteous place as the Anti-Christ and leading the world through Tribulation. (Bonus Points if you get which part I made up.)

I hope to God it's the lord and savior part, because the other part is possible.