HR 1207 (Audit the Fed)...

[david austin]

Gets its 2/3rds majority.

Sadly... The Senate will not likely pass this essential bill.

Obama. Do you want transparency? If so... this is a really big opportunity to change the minds of a fast slipping public perception.

[SeedfulMusic]

David you know better. He's in bed with the most powerful man in the world... Bernanke. In fact, Obama's dark horse rise to election was simply b/c of the support he had from the Fed. And this is exactly why... its time to pay them back. This will never happen in our time, unfortunately.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by SeedfulMusic

David you know better. He's in bed with the most powerful man in the world... Bernanke. In fact, Obama's dark horse rise to election was simply b/c of the support he had from the Fed. And this is exactly why... its time to pay them back. This will never happen in our time, unfortunately.

He isnt exactly in bed with Ben. Its just that the Fed controls so much that under most conditions the status quo would be kept.

This however is a unique crossroads.

Obama and his administration and, frankly, the whole government system, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. There has been a large enough public shift in perception of monetary control that I believe there will be very heated debates much like we have been experiencing with the health care issue.

THIS is where Obama will either rise up and make good on his promises for change, accountability, and transparency or be seen as just another politician with a growing power binge drinking addiction.

If the health care debate goes to extra innings over the next months this could be valuable trump card he can play. The public seeing him working on his 'promises' will go a long way towards buying time towards possible acceptance on other issues within the public eye.

Of course... auditing the Fed would also show that the market is being propped up with nothing more than hot air.

So... yeah... I get why many dont want it. We will continue to suffer the consequences of monetization and lack of control until we do...

[BD Slide]

The Fed will never allow this to happen anyway. They're the ones in charge.

We can thank Woodrow Wilson for destroying the American Dream about a hundred years ago.

[Deff Gordon]

Originally Posted by BD Slide

The Fed will never allow this to happen anyway. They're the ones in charge.

We can thank Woodrow Wilson for destroying the American Dream about a hundred years ago.

pfft... it was Keoki.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by david austin

Obama. Do you want transparency?

bwaahahaha

[david austin]

In light of the 2/3rds (small) victory... heres an interview with Alan Grayson who is one of the co-founders of HR 1207.

Exclusive Interview: Congressman Alan Grayson Talks Fed Transparency and Missing Money, from Damien Hoffman, of Wall St. Cheat Sheet

In May, a cool and collected Congressman Alan Grayson questioned the Federal Reserve Inspector General about the trillions of dollars lent and spent by the Federal Reserve. Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman said she had no idea where the money went. Two months later, Congressman Grayson asked Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke the same questions. Here is the exact exchange:

Grayson: “So who got the money?”
Bernanke: “Financial institutions in Europe and other countries.”
Grayson: “Which ones?”
Bernanke: “I don’t know.”
Grayson: “Half a trillion dollars and you don’t know who got the money?”

As you can see, like Congressman Ron Paul, Congressman Grayson is one of the rare voices asking the most important questions on behalf of the US Taxpayers. Most importantly, Congressman Grayson understands the Fed’s secretive transfer of wealth from taxpayers to private interests as “The story of the millennium.”

If this sounds like the stuff of conspiracies, simply look at any chart of the US dollar and you can see it has lost over 95% of it’s value since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913.

I caught up with Congressman Grayson to better understand the problem with our Federal Reserve, the rising momentum for the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 (H.R. 1207), and how we can make the Fed more accountable to their four government delegated duties …

Damien Hoffman: Congressman Grayson, I recently penned an article called “Has the Federal Reserve Failed?” in which I looked at their four government delegated duties and concluded they simply have not done their job. What is your proposal to make the Federal Reserve more transparent and accountable?

Congressman Grayson: H.R. 1207 is one of the simplest bills imaginable. Unlike the healthcare bill which is over 1000 pages, H.R. 1207 is a page and a half. The bill lists the existing exclusion of the Federal Reserve from oversight by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and allows the GAO — an independent body — to audit the Federal Reserve Bank.

The Federal Reserve Bank has not had an independent audit since it was created almost 100 years ago, and it needs an audit. Many times we have exposed gross acts of irresponsibility on the part of the Federal Reserve. So, we need to dig in and get details.

Just a few weeks ago, while Chairman Bernanke was testifying to Congress, we examined the Fed balance sheet and P&L statement only to find what looked like the Fed handing over half a trillion dollars to foreigners. This was very surprising! When I asked Chairman Bernanke if this was true, he said, “Yes.” When I asked him who got the money, he said, “Fourteen foreign Central Banks.” And when I asked to who did they give the money, he said, “I don’t know.” “I don’t know” is not good enough when you’re talking about $500 billion. That’s $1700 for every man, woman, and child in this country.

Damien: What is the status of the bill?

Congressman Grayson: I am very sure the bill will pass — possibly by the end of September, but more likely by the end of October.

Damien: Congressman, what do you say to the primary criticism that auditing the Fed’s book is like exposing confidential information which can lead to harm?

Congressman Grayson: The Fed made that exact same argument in court and recently lost across the board in the case of Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System [U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan), No. 08-9595.]. The judge looked at the facts and noted that shining a spotlight on what the Federal Reserve’s actions will only be a good thing. So, that argument has been demolished based on the evidence.

Damien: Congressman, while we are waiting for a Fed audit, does anyone know what the Fed has been doing given that they have not fulfilled their government delegated duties as listed on the Federal Reserve website?

Congressman Grayson: They are performing a truly remarkable, surreptitious transfer of wealth from public to private hands. They are taking their ability to print money and shore up failed banks. They are simply stuffing money into the pockets of private interests.

In the case of the half a trillion dollars, they stuffed the money into foreign private pockets. In the case of another $230 billion, it has been tracked as a secret bailout to Citicorp in the US. The fact is the Federal Reserve continuously puts all of us on the hook for decisions they make to play favorites with private interests to the tune of trillions of dollars.
Damien: Congressman, what do you say to those who call your allegations a conspiracy theory?

Congressman Grayson: Something I found very intriguing was the Semi-Annual Report from the Federal Reserve to the Congress. That’s a mother-load of secrets if you read it very carefully and ask the right questions.

Since it looks like the Federal Reserve may soon be subject to the Freedom of Information Act, that opens many opportunities for the public to see the facts.

These are not conspiracies. The Federal Reserve’s own website has some incredibly interesting information about the general state of the US economy and the distribution of wealth in our country. I was recently reading our national wealth capped out at $62 trillion two-years ago has crashed to $50 trillion since. Those are Federal Reserve statistics on their website.

Damien: Congressman, I know you have another interview in a moment, so thanks for your time. I would love to follow up with you on this story sometime soon.

Congressman Grayson: Super. This is the story of the millennium. There are very few stories you can ever write about where the numbers involved have 13 digits in them. I look forward to staying in touch.

[SeedfulMusic]

Anyone familiar with M3?

[david austin]

Are you talking about empirical measures?

Like what happens when QE winds down in a few days M3?

[SeedfulMusic]

Yes empirical measures. More specifically I was describing the report that the US government, and Fed run monthly to keep a tally of the total amount of money in the economy. Ironically, the Fed, and our own government have failed to report this over the last few years. 2006 was the last known report. The reason they stopped reporting it, is b/c they dont want us to know how much money is being pumped into the system. In just a matter of 3 years M3 has grown from 10 trillion to 14.5 trillion, which is a damn near 50% increase. Can you imagine what it will be like in just another year or 2?!

Check this link for statistics run by these independent economist

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/money-supply

Edit: I also like the fact that its called "empirical" measures. What a well-suited word for it.

[david austin]

Originally Posted by SeedfulMusic

Yes empirical measures. More specifically I was describing the report that the US government, and Fed run monthly to keep a tally of the total amount of money in the economy. Ironically, the Fed, and our own government have failed to report this over the last few years. 2006 was the last known report. The reason they stopped reporting it, is b/c they dont want us to know how much money is being pumped into the system. In just a matter of 3 years M3 has grown from 10 trillion to 14.5 trillion, which is a damn near 50% increase. Can you imagine what it will be like in just another year or 2?!

Check this link for statistics run by these independent economist

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/money-supply

Edit: I also like the fact that its called "empirical" measures. What a well-suited word for it.

First: The off balance sheet (lack of) info isnt really all that new and groundbreaking. You can see discrepancies just by looking at their weekly and monthly balance sheets. One of the reasons the Fed is under 'more' fire than normal is the simple fact that when the tide is out its easier to see the surface. Much like the Madoff Ponzi scheme... It was only really when investors werent receiving there returns that more people started questioning what was going on. When things really starting hitting the fan during the summer and fall of last year more people starting raising their eyebrows. Numbers werent adding up and the reality started creeping through to the mainstream... who in turn started a grass roots backlash.

Second: There really is no correlation between the word 'empirical' and the idea of the Fed in a literal sense. Empirical Measures are simply bits of information gained by use of a scientific method. Notably in math 'P' can define probability of random variables. This transfers to quantity theory in economics by replacing 'P' with a definition of 'Price'; At what price will random variables equal a desired constant. Based on price to achieve a constant you can play with 'M', Money Supply. Different 'M' levels are used to achieve different results across broad spectrum.

/Geek lol

[SeedfulMusic]

I'm not as familiar with the quantitative process in which they derive the information from. As you stated P = price, M = money supply, Labor and services = another. The Fractional Reserve system is so skewed with algorithms, and boggled down mathematics that its almost impossible for every day economist to keep up with it, let alone someone like myself. However, there are certain things they use such as M3 that simplify these crazy numbers into an easy, legible way of reading what they are doing.

Curious though, how can you explain, or more so, how can THEY explain not releasing M3 and sharing this information with us publicly? Doesnt this just go to show the deceit and lies they're made up of? There is literally NO oversight for any of the Fed's actions, or the way we create and spend money. That is beyond scary... but when you mention this to a normal every day Joe, they have no concern simply based on the complexity of it all.

[zerojunkie]

Originally Posted by david austin

First: The off balance sheet (lack of) info isnt really all that new and groundbreaking. You can see discrepancies just by looking at their weekly and monthly balance sheets. One of the reasons the Fed is under 'more' fire than normal is the simple fact that when the tide is out its easier to see the surface. Much like the Madoff Ponzi scheme... It was only really when investors werent receiving there returns that more people started questioning what was going on. When things really starting hitting the fan during the summer and fall of last year more people starting raising their eyebrows. Numbers werent adding up and the reality started creeping through to the mainstream... who in turn started a grass roots backlash.

A certain amount, ok, a lot of SEC ineptness had it's part in the whole Madoff thing not being brought to light earlier.

So, what's the whole story here? I've been wanting to have an in depth conversation on this for a long time because the shit is pretty interesting to me.

While the interview with Grayson alludes to the bill being simple compared to healthcare. I'm afraid what it deals with is a great deal more complex than the healthcare debate, and that's saying a lot. First off, it seems disingenuous for articles supporting the bill to say stuff like the Fed isn't accountable and hasn't been audited. It has been, and is continually audited, but I know you've mentioned a specific exception that makes up a substantial portion of the balance sheet. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it dealt with transfers to foreign central banks. So a big question I have, which I haven't been able to find a good answer to online, is why is direct oversight and auditing ability so important? Is this what the bills supporters are talking about when they say this is the "story of the millennium?" Another thing that throws up a red flag for me is supporters like to make the fed out to be this 4th branch of the government who goes around doing whatever the hell they please to whoever they want to...big bad bankers. Which again seems a bit disingenuous because congress is very much in control of the fed. The chairman has to report to them something like twice a year to make sure the decisions they're making are in keeping with its mandate. At anytime congress can vote to abolish the fed and that'd be it. It doesn't seem to be the rouge institution some people make it out to be. Not that you have, but this is just what I seem to pick up on in some other people.

I guess another set of questions I had concerns the general economic theory surrounding the 'devaluation' of the dollar, gold standard, etc. What makes the gold standard so awesome? I get that it's based on something more "tangible" than some paper and a promise, but in the end gold's only considered valuable because...it's shiny? Probably didn't state that as well as I would've liked to, but maybe you get my point. The whole devaluation thing I don't get either. What's the basis of comparison? It would seem since we have a floating currency, along with most of the rest of the world, that it's value would be compared to those currencies, would it not?

Dammit, I wrote a novel.

[david austin]

Sorry... I didnt see this reply. I will respond to this later

[david austin]

Rep. Alan Grayson: "Has the Federal Reserve Ever Tried to Manipulate t

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