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Economist With Financial Services Committee For Eleven Years, Assisting With Oversight Of The Fed, Supports Ron Paul's Questions
Today, Ron Paul accused the Federal Reserve of having a hand in nefarious plots such as Watergate and arming Saddam Hussein.
A 1992 article
in the Los Angeles Times reports that the Fed had only a minor,
indirect role in providing loans to Saddam (it was mainly the
Department of Agriculture which made the loans, with backing from the
State and Treasury Departments). The Times article also appears to say
that most of the government officials involved thought that Saddam
would use the loans for humanitarian purposes, and paints the Fed as
the most reluctant of the involved agencies.
However, in 2008, the University of Texas published a book by Robert
D. Auerbach - an economist with the U.S. House of Representatives
Financial Services Committee for eleven years, assisting with oversight
of the Federal Reserve, and subsequently Professor of Public Affairs at
the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of
Texas at Austin - which seems to support Paul's questions.
In Deception and Abuse at the Fed, Auerbach claims:
Major instances of Fed mismanagement and abuse of power that were exposed by [House Financial Services Committee Chairman/Ranking Member Henry] Gonzalez, including:
- Blocking
Congress and the public from holding powerful Fed officials accountable
by falsely declaring—for 17 years—it had no transcripts of its meetings;- Manipulating the stock and bond markets in 1994 under cover of a preemptive strike against inflation;
- Allowing
$5.5 billion to be sent to Saddam Hussein from a small Atlanta branch
of a foreign bank—the result of faulty bank examination practices by
the Fed;- Stonewalling Congressional investigations and misleading the Washington Post about the $6,300 found on the Watergate burglars.
You can read details of Auerbach's allegations about Iraq here, and about Watergate here.
Moreover, a 1982 article from the Miluawakee Sentinel alleges:
Police who searched the room the Watergate burglars used
found $4,200 in $100 dollar bills, all numbered in sequence. [Senator] Proxmire
asked the Federal Reserve Board where the money came from. As he
explained in a letter to the late Rep. Wright Patman (D-Tex.), chairman
of the House Banking Committee: “I got the biggest run-around [from the
Federal Reserve] in years. They ducked, misled, lied, and gave me the
idiot treatment."
I
don't yet have an opinion as to what this means, whether Auerbach has
his facts right, or whether his allegations - if true - really amount
to proving that the Fed had a major role in arming Saddam or
stonewalling Congressional investigators about Watergate.
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While Bernake denied having "... any plans whatsoever to be involved in any foreign bailouts (Greece) or anything of that sort," It is important to note that the FED is able to accomplish many of these types of objectives through proxy by simply offering to guarantee, say Pimco's , purchase of foreign bonds.
yup... +10000000
Notice that Barney Fwank actually said they would like into the Federal Reserve UNDER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS. The little details are key. I'm ok with it either way, even under silly partisan pretenses (from Chairman Fwank's POV).
Who else laundered money for illegal deals at the highest levels?
http://www.skolnicksreport.com/greenspan7.html
good comment
In truth I think there are a group of folks who go out and post on blogs in an attempt to discredit Mr. Paul. His post is over the top and he shouldn't have said it. Regardless, if you know about the federal reserve you don't like it.
The idea that the federal reserve can't be involved in conspiracy is absurd. Currently there is ample enough evidence regarding AIG, the role of the NY fed, Geitner to prove that the federal reserve does engage in such things.
If the federal reserve does what it says, why does it go so crazy with secrecy. Just open the damn books. We know the federal reserve alters a number of statistics for public consumption. Inflation data tailored to exclude food and fuel. We know Bernake's fed has a history of telling lies. In the summer of "08" officials of the federal reserve were meeting with treasury making plans for the meltdown ( this is when Geitner initially proposed backing all bank debt 100% with public funds). Yet, the public was the last no know, as Bernanke kept saying all was fine. (SORRY i DO NOT HAVE THIS LINK).
How does one explain the fact that despite repeated warnings about the housing bubble and fraud warnings from the FBI he ignored what he was being told.
I'm sorry, but objective evidence (while not concrete proof) points to the federal reserve beng involved in a conspiracy or multiple ones. If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, etc. I would say we can say it is a duck without having to do a DNA test. Or when you hear hoof beats don't think zebra, think horses. Yes there isn't scientific proof but I'd say there is clearly enough to convict in a civil court where the burden of proof is less. Maybe there would be enough to convict in a criminal trial, but they won't open the books will they???
The FED is delaying this but will have to open the books eventually. Probably around the time it is wound up.
What suprised me was that Barney Frank said that they wanted to look into it. So it appears that they think that Ron Paul was on the level and knew what he was talking about.
Ron Paul smirked at that because he knows that the only reason frank mentioned it was because they happened during republican presidents (nixon and reagan). It was a purely partisan statement, bypassing paul's point of fed illegality.
Dude, didn't you see the other committee members smirking when Barney Frank said that? They think RP's a joke.
After I had graduated H.S. I was at an old friend's house complaining about how college felt no different from our last decade in school. He was wiser than he knew when he responded that "Life is like a H.S. cafeteria." It is true as for most places, and it is true for congress.
Dude. Do you have any idea what the public opinion is of the clowns that were smirking?
And your point is?
When those that are smirking are no longer in office they may want to reconsider. Ron Paul isn't dumb. He wanted to get Bernanke on record saying that the Fed could bail out Greece. Bernanke was still thinking about the other things that Ron Paul had said. So, Ron Paul fooled him. Now it is on record.
Dude, ron paul is on the record for a lot of things.
Now he is on the record for saying the fed COULD bail out Greece? What, did he want to spawn his ronbots into action even though nothing has happened and even the concept of the EU allowing that is LUDICROUS? All it takes is a suggestion to get you all horny to screw any conspiracy theory?
Btw ron paul is also on the record for 'predicting' there will be "massive social unrest in the 1980s". Really? I remember the eighties working out a little different. Seems like we beat inflation, with help from the independent FED and won the cold war. RON PAUL FAIL.
Wake up, ron mccarthy has activated your lizard brain.
I agree with some of your criticism of Paul, not the least of which is his claim that all govt involvement and regulation is inherently bad, as I see non-transparent, non-regulated derivative markets as the ultimate private monied tool...but anybody, anybody, questioning our completely corrupted politics and pointing a finger at Wall Street and FED is very welcome by me if all their allegations and predictions are not always on target
Ron Paul isn't dumb. He wanted to get Bernanke on record saying that the Fed could bail out Greece.
On it's face, this does appear to be a highly probable goal of Dr. Paul's questioning/allegations.
IMO, much more subtle though was his use of two Republican administrations for allegations of shenanigans. He could've picked allegations occurring during Democratic admins and didn't. I suspect that Dr. Paul anticipated Rep Frank's and others' smirks, perhaps even the pointed way that Frank referenced "those administrations." Dr. Paul may have been setting Frank up to appear the partisan hack that he is, while Paul himself shows no hesitation to allege misdeed's during his own party's administration. Remember, Dr. Paul is serious about running for President. To be a legitimate, viable "non-traditional" candidate, lack of partisanship must be part of his message.
honestly, i doubt the Dr. Paul has any intention of running for President, but your comment still holds merit even if his only goal is to further undermine the moneyed interests, which is what he has been working on for the past 30 years.
Pretty typical criminal reaction.
Why should this even be a game.
As a citizen, show me the money, let me count it - all of it.
Vote out absolutely every politician in favor of corporate welfare allowed to be hidden under the rug.
Welfare is welfare folks, open your eyes.
I'm really surprised Ron hasn't had some type of accident yet.
Today, Burnyankee called Ron's acusations "bizzarre".
my sense is that in the US we have free speech until is effective....so most things get spoken, they are just ignored, marginalized, essentially censored by alleging its crazy, keeping it out of MSM media etc...Off top of my head I can think of several significant, well-supported, never-factually-rejected simple stories that are real bombshells that just are not in public conscientiousness because MSM refuses to cover despite their reliability and interest to population...such as Sibel Edmonds revelations of corruption and several significant NSA whistle blowers that certain folks we manipulating compartmentalized portions of intelligence communities so they had them datamining and spying on US population phone and email communications extensively without restrictions or oversight.
If anything Ron Paul alleged started to have real traction, things would change.
The cop is not clever, he's just being a d1ck...and no one in their right mind would let a cop search the car who was falsely accusing them of having a dead body...they'd call 911 and say 'this cop is harrassing me, and is out of his mind'.
But I get it now...Ron Paul is a power tripping cop. Cool.
you obviously know nothing about Dr. Paul. but it doesn't take much character or cahones to come into the comment section of an internet blog as "Anonymous" and spout a lot of bile from your ass does it?
If I were to say Dr. Paul is dealing with frontrunners for mass murder would I be senile? To the inexperienced mind it would sound outrageous - to anyone paying attention it is only one of the crimes - the most heinous out of many.
If an officer knows he is dealing with a criminal it is society's duty to support this officer in legally uncovering any sleight-of-hand.
I believe Dr. Paul is much more astute, and clever, than he appeared to the typical viewer - he has been presenting the same logical arguments for decades, but is marginalized by mass media. Dr. Paul has something up his sleeve - we have yet to see Dr. Paul's response to the inevitable spin that will ensue. Give it some time to develop.
Yes, senile just like Samuel Adams.
When the enemy, with comments like this, hauls itself into the cave and the challengers come with their torches and start into the cave, the enemy becomes ferocious--lying, attacking, and misrepresenting. We are down the road in the wave that is building against the Federal Reserve System and torch bearer Ron Paul, winner of the CPAC straw poll and now mentioned as one of the top contenders for 2012, will see the arrows from the Establishment.
The Tea Party movement drew its strength, not from Limbaugh, Hannity or Palin, but from Americans’ waking-up to the dangers from big government socialism and the financial oligarchs.
This morning’s Portland Oregonian quotes one of the new awakening Tea Baggers, Leah Southwell, who said her turning point in joining the movement came when she stumbled upon Ron Paul’s speeches on YouTube. “He blew me away.”
Says The Oregonian: Until recently Southwell was in the top 1% of all Mary Kay sales representatives with a company car and a frenetic corporatic life.
“I knew zero about the Constitution,” Southwell confessed.
Today, when asked about her commitment to the uprising, she recites a line from the Declaration of Independence, a Tea Party “favorite” quote: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
Paul led Southwell to patriotic ideology, which holds that governments and economies are controlled by networks of elites…
Continued The Oregonian: This idea has a long history with variations found at both ends of the political spectrum. But to Southwell, the government’s culpability for the recession—the serial failures of regulation, the Federal Reserve’s epic blunders, the cozy bailouts for big banks—made it resonate all the more, especially as she witnessed the impact on family and friends.
“The more you know, the madder you are,” she said. “I mean when you finally learn what the Federal Reserve is!”
Senility? Whose?
“How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don’t think.” - Adolf Hitler
.
I've always been supportive of Ron Paul's plight, but today he was kinda off his rocker. Bernanke's response of "bizarre" was perfect. And the soap opera continues...
Yeah, of course. Anyone who brings up the idea that massively powerful monopoly institutions might have had a hand in things of questionable ethics or legality is clearly off their rocker.
please mr etf guy
ron paul was right on about iraq,, watergate ,, you need to pay more attention to the guy behind the curtain ,,
ron paul knows what the fed is up to and been up to,,
those snarky enough to think ron paul is off his rocker ,, need to do their homework
"but today he was kinda off his rocker. Bernanke's response of "bizarre" was perfect. "
What the Hell Are You Talking About?
He who does not read and understand historical FACT is off of his rocker.
It is historical fact that during the 1980s the Reagan administration AND Congress appropriated money for arms to Iraq. From 1980 to 1990, Iraq was our best friend since they were gassing, bombing and shooting Iranians.
The Alzheimer's Puppet Reagan:
1. February 1982, the State Department dropped Baghdad from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, clearing the way for aid and trade.
2. Reagan ordered as US policy passing high-value military intelligence to Iraq.
3. Economic aid poured into Iraq in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loan guarantees to buy US agricultural products, indirectly aiding the war effort.
4.Sales of UH-1H helicopters and Hughes MD-500 Defender helicopters were approved by Washington.
5. May 9, 1984 memo noted US policy for the sale of dual-use equipment to Iraq's nuclear program.
6. March 1985, the United States issued Baghdad export permits for high tech equipment crucial for its weapons of mass destruction programs.
All that takes bank credit...
Tricky Dick Nixon
When arrested for the Watergate break ins, former CIA case officer E. Howard Hunt demanded a million in cash or he would start talking.
1. March 21, 1973: Nixon repeatedly discussed different methods by which as much as $1 million could be paid to the burglars without the payments being traced to the White House.
2. E. Howard Hunt received $75,000 cash 12 hours after the above taped conversation in the Oval office.
3. March 21, 1973: A special $350,000 cash White House fund then was discussed by Haldeman.
That is a lot of cash... in 1974 dollars...
I did not say it. Richard Fucking Nixon and his cronies said it right on the oval office tapes. I might add that GHW Bush was on the White House staff along with a John Erlichman aid by the name of ... drum roll please....
Hank "Keep My Skirt Neatly Pressed Through This" Paulson.
Paulson... the Bitches' Bitch.
Ron Paul is on his nut... not off of it.
Paulson was Erlichman's bitch back then? Figures. What an asshole.
Good, but please also read "Silent Coup". Guaranteed to make you lose a few nights of sleep.
Would agree "Silent Coup" is a good read. However keep in my mind, in addition to the historical info, one of the central themes in this book was to identify Alexander Haig as "DeepThroat" which has been proven to be false, as well as a lot of other info in there.
A great snapshot to see just how f-ed up politics is though.
That's quite a generous spin. I guess I won't hold my breath waiting for Bernanke to deliver, as he is still working on that 30 Sept 09 court-ordered deadline on turning over the documents requested by Bloomberg in their FOIA request.
Ron Paul may be crazy, but he's my kind of crazy.
Good observation. Glad I am not a politician who has to play mind games 24x7 just to get one thing done! I suppose it can be thought of as the ultimate challenge - similar to trying to seduce someone who is playing hard-to-get and downright uncooperative. The FED sure plays the hooker to so many on Wall Street and DC......
BTW, on another topic:
FBI raided Toyota suppliers
http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/BREAKING-FBI-Raids-Toyota-Suppliers/5nRkv...
not sure if they were wearing brown shirts or SEIU t-shirts.
Normally the FBI wouldn't get involved. But now that the USG is an auto company GM gets to call in black ops on Toyota.
Not a joke. Not laughing. Not funny.
Agreed, the sudden timeline on the entire Toyota fiasco does not pass the smell test.
The insult is how they just think they can serve this shit up and all good citizens just believe it as true.
So now big brother is going to force us all to drive piece of shit GM guzzlemobiles? "First they came for our cars that didn't suck, and I didn't speak up because my car sucked..."
Yeah, even communist China isn't as f*cked up- they essentially blocked an acqusition of Hummer. Oh the irony in all of this!
"Bernanke .... seemed to agree with Mr. Paul’s request to review every loan made to foreign governments."
Aren't foreign central banks private and not part of the governments of the countries in which they reside? In this case, Ben could simply say that they haven't lent money to a government but, via currency swaps, to a foreign central bank, making it possible for him to refuse to disclose the counterparties to the swap? Also, perhaps the ECB can buy Greek bonds from the Greek government with full knowledge that they (the ECB) will sell them immediately to the Fed. In that way, the Fed bails out Greece and doesn't have to disclose it, since they bought them from a foreign central bank and not a foreign government.
I'm just sayin'
*Dr.* Paul
I think GW may be on to something here. At the end of the clip, Barney Frank says the committee will 'look into' the allegations about Saddam Hussein and Watergate.
Watch Ron Paul's reaction in the last two seconds of the video... hilarious!
The only reason Frank said that was because Reagan and Nixon are both republicans, it was a little political humor (and by humor I mean bullshit).
More kabuki theater.
Then Barney went fishin....
yep - you could see the folly and opportunity to put and fund some committee to 'investigate' in some hawaiian library for an hour on a week long taxpayer paid trip
"At the end of the clip, Barney Frank says the committee will 'look into' the allegations about Saddam Hussein and Watergate."
Ron Paul maybe smiling because he know Bwarney Frank often makes populace sound bites with out any intention of follow through.
A more deceptive, disingenuous MoFo cannot be found this side of the White House.
Just like Bwarney stated publicly he supported Paul's bill to audited the Fed and then voted against it in committee. Bwarney talking out his ass. Surprise, surprise.
Disclosure: I stole "Bwarney" from Karl D...
"Bwarney talking out his ass."
There is a party trick his friends may enjoy?