Dems: Nobody has a job and the banks are screwing everybody..let's at least try to stop letting the banks screw everybody.

GOP: Look, a chicken!

Ok, I'll bite. Forgetting for a moment whose idea this is, is it necessarily a bad idea? If so, why?

re: #2 Fozzie Bear

Ok, I'll bite. Forgetting for a moment whose idea this is, is it necessarily a bad idea? If so, why?

I don't know that it's a bad idea, but is it going to solve any problems other than to satisify the guanomanic base who think that there's something to find? What will they do if there's no there, there?

re: #1 PT Barnum

Dems: Nobody has a job and the banks are screwing everybody..let's at least try to stop letting the banks screw everybody.

GOP: Look, a chicken!

you forgot the part about the GOP base claims the Dems are in pockets of Wall Street execs the financial elite, while simultaneously complaining about government takeovers and socialism whenever new regulations come up.

I think that this is actually a good idea. Why shouldn't the fed be more transparent?
Maybe I'm missing something.

re: #4 Vambo

you forgot the part about the GOP base claims the Dems are in pockets of Wall Street execs the financial elite, while simultaneously complaining about government takeovers and socialism whenever new regulations come up.

Consistency has never been one of their strengths.

It's a push for Congress to have control over the money supply.

Anybody think that would be a good thing?

re: #7 wrenchwench

Good point. *shudder*

Where's a viable third party when you need it?

re: #7 wrenchwench

It's a push for Congress to have control over the money supply.

Anybody think that would be a good thing?

What an audit of the fed or the financial regulations?

I don't want to think about Congress having control of the money supply...

re: #4 Vambo

you forgot the part about how the GOP base claims the Dems are in the pockets of Wall Street execs and the financial elite, while simultaneously complaining about government takeovers and socialism whenever new regulations come up.

3-letter words elude me.

And with this chance for me to find some faith in humanity thoroughly smashed to pieces, I must head to bed.

Nighty.

re: #9 laZardo

Where's a viable third party when you need it?

hey, we have the Tea Party now! No need to worry. ///

re: #6 PT Barnum

And these days sanity isn't one of their strengths either.

It's no shock to me that lot of people just plain hate politics in general.

re: #9 laZardo

Where's a viable third party when you need it?

I'm looking for a responsible adult party.

OT the amazon ad on the right is flashing pictures of an old brick phone and old Palm Pilot, products they probably don't even sell anymore.

Ron Paul doesn't try to hide that his real goal is to destroy the Fed entirely. This will be a giant fishing expedition into one of the country's important financial stability mechanisms, at a time when the country needs financial stability more than ever.

It's a horrible idea, being pushed by horrible people for horrible reasons.

re: #2 Fozzie Bear

Ok, I'll bite. Forgetting for a moment whose idea this is, is it necessarily a bad idea? If so, why?

Getting rid of The Federal Reserve is sorta like one more step in some insane people's plan to move our modern country with a modern economy, albeit flaws and all, back to the days when your gold coin was worth a gold coin and you knew just how many slaves it would buy.

The real interesting thing here is you have a high profile Republican speaking to a group that not that long ago was osctraized by the right. I mean seriously. The Birchers thought that Eisenhower was a covert Communist. It needs to be pointed out time and time again that they are nuts. Ron Paul is nuts too. How anyone takes him seriously as a "defender of liberty" is beyond me.

As I recall - and I could be wrong - it was Republicans who helped reduce the existing audit the fed element of the bill. Which means they're not fighting to include something good. Instead they're seizing yet another straw to block Democratic governance.

re: #7 wrenchwench

It's a push for Congress to have control over the money supply.

Anybody think that would be a good thing?

Mark Twain on Congress:

Fleas can be taught nearly anything that a Congressman can.
- What Is Man?

...the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes.
- Letter fragment, 1891

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

Congressman is the trivialist distinction for a full grown man.
- Notebook #14, Nov. 1877 - July 1878

All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.
- Mark Twain's Autobiography; also in Mark Twain in Eruption

The lightning there is peculiar; it is so convincing, that when it strikes a thing it doesn't leave enough of that thing behind for you to tell whether--Well, you'd think it was something valuable, and a Congressman had been there.
- Mark Twain's Speeches, "The Weather"

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.
- Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

It is the foreign element that commits our crimes. There is no native criminal class except Congress.
- More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

Whiskey is carried into committee rooms in demijohns and carried out in demagogues.
- Notebook, 1868

...I never can think of Judas Iscariot without losing my temper. To my mind Judas Iscariot was nothing but a low, mean, premature, Congressman.
- "Foster's Case," New York Tribune, 10 March 1873

re: #17 Summer

Getting rid of The Federal Reserve is sorta like one more step in some insane people's plan to move our modern country with a modern economy, albeit flaws and all, back to the days when your gold coin was worth a gold coin and you knew just how many slaves it would buy.

That seems to be an overriding theme with these folks..to go back to a time when homosexuality was totally unacceptable and anyone darker than a sheet of paper still knew their place.

re: #3 PT Barnum

I don't know that it's a bad idea, but is it going to solve any problems other than to satisify the guanomanic base who think that there's something to find? What will they do if there's no there, there?

9/11 Truthers... isn't Paul one of them?

///So who exactly should we get to audit the fed? It obviously can't be more federal employees because that would just mean more big government spending. It can't be home grown accountants because Arther Anderson has showed us how well that can work out, and it can't be oversees accountants because that would be akin to letting other nations have control over part of the US.

Where's Superman when you need him?

any comment on the bill itself?...will it be effective to loosen credit? rein in the banks?...what is the purpose of the bill? it goes over my head...so why is the GOP unhappy with it?

re: #24 albusteve

any comment on the bill itself?...will it be effective to loosen credit? rein in the banks?...what is the purpose of the bill? it goes over my head...so why is the GOP unhappy with it?

Because its an idea the Democrats are supporting.

QED.

re: #25 jamesfirecat

Because its an idea the Democrats are supporting.

QED.

have you read it?...can you help explain it?

re: #25 jamesfirecat

Because its an idea the Democrats are supporting.

QED.

QFT. The GOP has been voting against it's OWN ideas when they are adopted by Democrats. This is hardly surprising in that context.

re: #20 Shiplord Kirel

Good Morning Shiplord, you gotta love Marks Twain, even after all this time the man manages to make sense in a world that makes no sense at all. Id vote for him anytime. ;)

re: #26 albusteve

have you read it?...can you help explain it?

Not yet, but I'm good enough at noticing patterns to realize that it doesn't matter what the Democrats put forward these days, the GOP (or at least their representatives and Senators) will be against because the Democrats put it forward, that's all the reason they need...

Good Morning and Happy Thursday Everyone! :-)

re: #28 Dragon_Lady

Good Morning Shiplord, you gotta love Marks Twain, even after all this time the man manages to make sense in a world that makes no sense at all. Id vote for him anytime. ;)

PIMF! Sorry Mark! :(

Buy gold!

I don't get it. Will auditing the Federal Reserve reveal hidden caches of loot? Do you mean to tell me there's currently no accounting? (I'm asking this seriously. I really don't get this.)

It reminds me of when Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor. He ran an ad showing a QA session. When asked how he'd fix the school's (alleged) money problems, his answer was "open the books", (sorry, I couldn't find the ad on YouTube) as if an audit would reveal all this extra money.

re: #29 jamesfirecat

Not yet, but I'm good enough at noticing patterns to realize that it doesn't matter what the Democrats put forward these days, the GOP (or at least their representatives and Senators) will be against because the Democrats put it forward, that's all the reason they need...

yes, that's obvious...ho hum

Next Paul will say we need to go back on to the GOOOLLLD standard, then he will peel off his mask and reveal himself as Beck.

re: #32 Mad Al-Jaffee

It took a little hit today.

/// I think the average gold bug only likes to buy it when it's up, and avoids it when it's depressed.

Disclaimer: I'm a bit of a gold bug, but I'm not a nutjob.

The Fed is audited by Deloitte each year and the results reported to Congress.

What they mean by "audit" in this case is to allow Congress to scrutinize Open Market policy decisions and emergency loans to banks temporarily depleted of capital.

Hedge funds would use this info to a short bank and add to its problems righting itself.

Letting Congress bicker about the type assets the Fed buys will only lead to financial calamity.

re: #33 reuven

I don't get it. Will auditing the Federal Reserve reveal hidden caches of loot? Do you mean to tell me there's currently no accounting? (I'm asking this seriously. I really don't get this.)

How the Federal Reserve Is Audited

Periodic Reviews and Examinations
All Federal Reserve Banks and branches, like commercial depository institutions, are audited and examined regularly.

Internal audits are conducted by a permanent audit staff at each Reserve Bank. Each audit staff is headed by a general auditor who reports directly to the Bank's board of directors. In addition, a private CPA firm conducts an annual examination of each Reserve Bank and its branches on behalf of the Federal Reserve Board. External audits were instituted in recent years in place of annual examinations by the Board of Governors to ensure total independence in this process.

Etc. Lots more at the link.

Ok. So the fed already is regularly audited and this is pure unadulterated demagogic bullshit.

Got it.

re: #36 reuven

In the Harry Crews novel All We Need of Hell (one of my favorite books), the protagonist keeps gold coins in a safe in case of emergency. And they come in handy when his wife leaves him and drains all of their bank accounts.

re: #36 reuven

It took a little hit today.

/// I think the average gold bug only likes to buy it when it's up, and avoids it when it's depressed.

Disclaimer: I'm a bit of a gold bug, but I'm not a nutjob.

Unfortunately when gold is up the jewelry industry goes down and more people loose their jobs. If Ron Paul really wanted to do something meaningful he'd lobby to have Fort Knox open its vaults and make a full inventory of what their sitting on! Buuut nooo, that's not going to happen! Heaven forbid the government actually account for the most valuable commodity this country has besides the oil fields. Like I said before, politics as usual, S.N.F.U.

re: #40 Mad Al-Jaffee

All 4 of my grandparents had to get the out of where they were living for generations in a hurry. (Two from Lithuania, one from Belarus, and one from Gaza.) That's where my paranoia of having some method of paying/bribing my way out of my present situation comes from. And gold coins, in theory, would work well.

But I'm not a "gold nut"

The only argument I've heard so far for not doing an audit boils down to "we're better off not knowing " and Ron Paul! I'm going to have to disagree. After the financial melt down and everything we've learned about all the backroom deals I don't think there's a valid reason for NOT doing the audit. It amazes me that the people who pay the bills have never had the opportunity to see what the fed is doing in our name. My company had to submit to an audit again this year, why shouldn't the fed? It's a popular idea because we deserve to know.

re: #43 RogueOne

The only argument I've heard so far for not doing an audit boils down to "we're better off not knowing " and Ron Paul! I'm going to have to disagree. After the financial melt down and everything we've learned about all the backroom deals I don't think there's a valid reason for NOT doing the audit. It amazes me that the people who pay the bills have never had the opportunity to see what the fed is doing in our name. My company had to submit to an audit again this year, why shouldn't the fed? It's a popular idea because we deserve to know.

Umm... see 38...

re: #43 RogueOne

The only argument I've heard so far for not doing an audit boils down to "we're better off not knowing " and Ron Paul! I'm going to have to disagree. After the financial melt down and everything we've learned about all the backroom deals I don't think there's a valid reason for NOT doing the audit. It amazes me that the people who pay the bills have never had the opportunity to see what the fed is doing in our name. My company had to submit to an audit again this year, why shouldn't the fed? It's a popular idea because we deserve to know.

Repeat after me:
It. Already. Is. Regularly. Audited.

Ron Paul (admittedly I didn't have the patience to read through all of it), claims that the Federal Reserve and their ability to "print money" is what cause the Collapse.

My question for those of you who know how this works is, do we really need the Federal Reserve to "print money"? Weren't the banks printing money when they'd make loans secured by houses with inflated valuations, and selling bonds (and credit default swaps/options) derived from these? Weren't Americans "printing money" by selling house to each other at inflated prices, and then taking loans against the imagined equity in these houses? Does the Federal Reserve actually have to print more money to make these transactions work?

re: #41 Dragon_Lady

Unfortunately when gold is up the jewelry industry goes down and more people loose their jobs. If Ron Paul really wanted to do something meaningful he'd lobby to have Fort Knox open its vaults and make a full inventory of what their sitting on! Buuut nooo, that's not going to happen! Heaven forbid the government actually account for the most valuable commodity this country has besides the oil fields. Like I said before, politics as usual, S.N.F.U.

In years past, and perhaps still, the Depository at Ft. Knox was opened once a year to Louisville and other media. There is a lot more than bullion in there. While I was at Knox, they shipped the Hungarian crown jewels back to them. It also had (has) the nation's strategic morphine reserve.

re: #46 reuven

Absolutely.

Banks don't print money (called QE) - only the Fed does.

Bank stability is vital for healthy commerce. Its still hard economic work - the Fed tightened in the early 30's and made the Great Depression worse.

re: #39 Fozzie Bear

Ok. So the fed already is regularly audited and this is pure unadulterated demagogic bullshit.

Got it.

It's a baby step in Paulian schemes to dismantle the Federal Reserve, put us back on the Gold Standard, and... it's a fishing expedition for evidence of those "Damn Illuminati/Bilderberger/Joo bankers that rule the world and want to enslave us with debt!" or some thing asinine like that. Luap Nor only barely conceals his anti-Semitism.

re: #45 Fozzie Bear

If you don't know the difference between a normal financial audit and what the Senate wants to know then don't make smart ass comments.

The last time this idea passed 96-0. This time might be another fishing expedition but we deserve to know what they're doing.

re: #49 ArchangelMichael

WaPost just last month published Paul's stock holdings and it contained mostly gold miners. (no surprise I know)

re: #49 ArchangelMichael

Luap Nor only barely conceals his anti-Semitism.

That may be true in other cases.

I don't see it here. Unless you somehow admit the Fed is controlled by Joos!

In their desperation to do anything possible to obstruct financial regulatory reform, House Republicans
umm,,,eerrr,,aahhh
Paul's legislation has 320 co-sponsors, including Dems as diverse as Reps. Jason Altmire (D-PA), a centrist, and Steve Cohen (D-TN), a liberal.

1. AUDIT THE FED! GOLD! SEEDZ! OLIGARGHY!
2. ???
3. PROFIT!

#54 Lidane

Forget "GOLD, SEEDZ, OLIGARCHY! The chance of the US going back to a "Gold Standard" are about ZERO! A modern economy would be HOBBLED by such a standard. "SEEDZ" are a chimera - UNLESS we are in the times of "Mad Max." More likely is a "RENTEN-DOLLAR" - a "New Dollar" - backed by the resources under US Federal Lands. It worked for Germany in the 1920's, bet it would work for us in the "TwentyTens." -S-

re: #21 PT Barnum

That seems to be an overriding theme with these folks..to go back to a time when homosexuality was totally unacceptable and anyone darker than a sheet of paper still knew their place.

Oh, ok - so not believing that the federal reserve is good for stability and, in fact, a bad thing automatically makes you a homophobe and someone who condones slavery? I guess it means you automatically like Ron Paul and white supremacists too, hey?

re: #56 zoidberg

Oh, ok - so not believing that the federal reserve is good for stability and, in fact, a bad thing automatically makes you a homophobe and someone who condones slavery? I guess it means you automatically like Ron Paul and white supremacists too, hey?

No, it just puts you in the paranoid crackpot category, far far far outside the mainstream. Just like people who think the dept. of education and the income tax should be abolished are in the paranoid crackpot category.

re: #50 RogueOne

If you don't know the difference between a normal financial audit and what the Senate wants to know then don't make smart ass comments.

The last time this idea passed 96-0. This time might be another fishing expedition but we deserve to know what they're doing.

might want to get that paranoia looked at

re: #45 Fozzie Bear

Repeat after me:
It. Already. Is. Regularly. Audited.

Aren't the demagogue commenters cute? Waving their little internet pitchforks

re: #57 WindUpBird

"No"
No!? And miss out on a golden opportunity to lump people like me together with Ron Paul, homophones, white supremacists, fascists, etc? Surely that would make it much easier for the "mainstream" to ignore us paranoid crackpots, wouldn't it?

"it just puts you in the paranoid crackpot category"
Consider me tarred and feathered! Although I'm not sure where I displayed any paranoia in my last comment... Maybe you're projecting...

"far far far"
Blimey! Not once, not twice, but thrice!

"outside the mainstream. "
You know, as I was growing up in the early 90s, I used to listen a lot of doof-doof. None of my high school friends listened to it and for a while, neither did any of my Uni friends either. I guess being "outside the mainstream" suits me well.

"Just like people who think the dept. of education"
No, not at all; education is a great thing to have around.

"and the income tax should be abolished"
Yeah not a big fan of income tax. I don't see why I'm forced to work an extra 1.5 days a week for a bunch of idiot bureaucrats just because they say so. But that's ok; I gratefully say "thank you sir, can I've another" when they throw me a bone once in a while... Oh look! Public edumacation! And it's teh free! Nom nom nom! It's funny though - you're the kind of person who fears that free, quality education cannot possibly exist without extorting tons of money from the masses.

"are in the paranoid crackpot category."

Yep, that's me! I'm glad you reiterated that point, because I don't think it sunk in the first time!

You know, you really haven't provided any kind of meaningful response; you sound not much better than a religious nutjob having a go at me 'cause I don't believe in god.