Tag Archives: Money/Economy/Taxes

The Opposition to Fed Transparency

Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC) – $319,822 to buy a Congressman

From an email I received:

Ever want to buy your very own Congressman? A legislative tool to get the job done, especially dirty jobs that violate the trust of the American people? How much do you think it would cost?

It turns out surprisingly little.

Meet Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina’s 12th District. Commercial banks have been his largest career donor, giving a total of $319,822 over the past ten years. That’s just a little over $30,000 per year.

What do banking lobbyists get in return?

Rep. Watt chairs the House Financial Services monetary policy subcommittee. Last Friday, Rep. Ron Paul reported that our Federal Reserve Transparency Act (HR 1207) was “gutted” in Rep. Watt’s subcommittee. Rep. Watt’s changes restricted inquiry around transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff.

Not a bad return on investment for the Fed and its lobbyists.

In defense of Rep. Watt, however, it’s not totally his fault. His district is the most obviously gerrymandered in North Carolina, following I-85 like a snake from Charlotte to Winston Salem. It is overwhelmingly Democratic, and his re-election has never been seriously challenged. Why should he represent the people when he is electorally invincible?

An invincible incumbent is the most useful tool, and a bargain to boot.

Ron Paul on recent elections, economy & more

Marc Faber

Common Sense. “The U.S. dollar will be like wall paper.” Real estate in China.
“The sad part of the current crisis is that no problems were solved, they were postponed.”

Obama stimulus a failure. Asia doesn’t need the U.S..

“Economies will continue to disappoint.” The dollar rebound (short term).

Ron Paul: Update on HR 1207’s many enemies.

Fantastic Overview of Economic Crisis

The economic crisis is (not) over

Fed Chairman Bernanke maintained his perfect record of always being wrong last month when he said the recession is very likely over.

See also this cnbc article which credits the “heroes” in the Federal Reserve with saving us from the crisis.

The only people saved were those on wall street.

Reality check:

Congressmen Grayson and Paul Ask Senate Banking to Delay Confirmation of Bernanke Until Fed Releases Information on Secret Bailouts

Banking Cartel: “Silly congressmen, you work for us!”

Below is letter text, and attached is the letter that was faxed to every member of the Senate Banking Committee.

10/07/09

Chairman Chris Dodd
U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
534 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20551

Dear Chairman Dodd and members of the Banking Committee,

We are writing to ask you to postpone the confirmation of Ben Bernanke until the Federal Reserve releases documentation that will allow the public and the Senate to have a full understanding of the commitments that the Federal Reserve has made on our behalf. Without such an understanding, it is impossible to know whether Chairman Bernanke is fit to serve another term and fulfill the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate to ensure price stability and full employment. A list of said documentation is enumerated below. (Read more from prisonplanet.com)

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduce the bullshit Federal Reserve Accountability Act

Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN)

Washington D.C. October 20, 2009 -Today, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced the Federal Reserve Accountability Act, an attempted compromise on the issue of transparency for America’s secretive central bank. The bill would permit an audit of the Fed’s actions in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and similar high profile bailouts, but would not allow Congress to review the Fed’s inflation of the money supply or the its agreements with foreign central banks.

Legislation that would bring a full audit of the Fed, Congressman Ron Paul’s H.R. 1207 and its Senate companion S. 604, has gained strong grassroots support and built tremendous pressure on banking special interests.

Opponents of Fed Transparency argue that a full audit of the Federal Reserve would damage the central bank’s “independence” and allow Congress to dictate monetary policy.

“Claims that transparency at the Federal Reserve would leave Congress in charge of monetary policy are simply bogus,” said Jesse Benton, Senior Vice President of Campaign for Liberty. “There is absolutely no reason why The American People should not be able to review the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee after a reasonable amount of time has passed.”

“The Federal Reserve Accountability Act does not audit the monetary policy functions which have been responsible for our deteriorating dollar and so many of our current economic problems, and it is not an acceptable piece of legislation. Campaign for Liberty will continue to push for a full audit of the Fed.” (Read more from campaignforliberty.com)

Rep. Alan Grayson: “Hank Paulson Had a $700M Conflict of Interest”

SEC Names Goldman’s Storch as Enforcement Unit Operations Chief

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission named Adam Storch, a 29-year-old from Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s business intelligence unit, as the enforcement division’s first chief operating officer.

“Adam’s skill in technology systems, workflow process, and project management will greatly benefit the division,” SEC enforcement chief Robert Khuzami said in the statement. “He will help to make us more efficient and nimble and permit us to put more of our investigators on the front lines.” (Read more from bloomberg.com)

The crooks are in charge. They have been for a long time. Our government is the exploitation of our labors to enrich the powerful.

Hank Paulson Held A Secret Meeting With Goldman Sachs In Moscow

During that long summer between the collapse of Bear Stearns and the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Hank Paulson held a secret meeting with the board of Goldman Sachs in Moscow.

Andrew Ross Sorkin tells the tale of the meeting in his new book, Too Big To Fail:

When Paulson learned that Goldman’s board would be in Moscow at the same time as him, he had [Treasury chief of staff] Jim Wilkinson organize a meeting with them. Nothing formal, purely social — for old times’ sake.

For fuck’s sake! Wilkinson thought. He and Treasury had had enough trouble trying to fend off all the Goldman Sachs conspiracy theories constantly being bandied about in Washington and on Wall Street. A private meeting with its board? In Moscow?

For the nearly two years that Paulson had been Treasury secretary he had not met privately with the board of any company, except for briefly dropping by a cocktail party that Larry Fink’s BlackRock was holding for its directors at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi in June.

Anxious about the prospect of such a meeting, Wilkinson called to get approval from Treasury’s general counsel. Bob Hoyt, who wasn’t enamored of the “optics” of such a meeting, said that as long as it remained a “social event,” it wouldn’t run afoul of the ethics guidelines.

Still, Wilkinson had told [Goldman chief of staff John] Rogers, “Let’s keep this quiet,” as the two coordinated the details. They agreed that Goldman’s directors would join him in his hotel suite following their dinner with Gorbachev. Paulson would not record the “social event” on his official calendar…

“Come on in,” a buoyant Paulson said as he greeted everyone, shaking hands and giving bear hugs to some.

For the next hour, Paulson regaled his old friends with stories about his time in Treasury and his prognostications about the economy. They questioned him about the possibility of another bank blowing up, like Lehman, and he talked about the need for the government to have the power to wind down troubled firms, offering a preview of his upcoming speech. (Read more from businessinsider.com)