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From yesterday's Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee hearing, with
Fed Board of Governors general counsel Scott Alvarez and New York Fed
counsel Thomas Baxter:
See this for background.
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If you Americans want Ron Paul - go and vote for him in the republican primaries. Even if this means you have got to register as a republican and/or change parties. That´s his big challenge - getting the republican nomination against the gop neocon establishment. He polls very well among independents and even liberals, cnn recently polled him at the closest distance to O´bama of all likely republican nominees.
It´s your responsibility to get the gop frontrunner Romney - who is a Goldman Sachs / wall street puppet like O´bama - out of the way.
Vote for Ron - register republican.
As much as I respect Ron Paul and his efforts, pretending that any one person can rehab this evil system is to fail to understand how and why it operates
The beast cannot be defeated by confronting it in its own environment (divide and conquer feeds it). It can only die due to our abandonment of it, starving it of our energy while removing its legitimacy from the ideashpere.
The system will go down anyway because it´s bankrupt.
But a president Ron Paul could offer individuals the option to opt out, so you could at least take care of yourself.
If he were ever to obtain the office, the elite would unleash Armageddon, daring him to cut anything, while blaming the entire episode on his governance.
I don't see this having a positive effect upon my ability to care for myself. As Mises states, "there is no escaping the bust from a credit-fueled boom." At this point, we are fucked no matter what. The best Dr. Paul might do is to embarrass certain Wall St. CEOs (all of which are replaceable, complete with golden parachutes). While it might feel good, it isn't going to solve anything, as the revelations will only further fuel the cognitive dissonance amongst the true believers, whose lives would be shattered in the abscense of their beliefs. This is why social change is so hard, as it is based upon beliefs based upon ideas filled with lies. The bigger the lie...
There's still a century of government schooling to unwind first. Unfortunately, it's been unionized, so there is yet another mob to root out before that can even happen.
Taking care of yourself means to me:
- Don´t pay for the welfare of others.
- Use counterparty-free and debt-free currency (gold) as an alternative to worthless $.
- Be allowed to defend your life and your property.
+666
Indeed.
"The best Dr. Paul might do is to embarrass certain Wall St. CEOs (all of which are replaceable, complete with golden parachutes)"...but if we string a few of them up from the lamposts as a warning we would probably accomplish two things: 1. New CEO's would be careful to 'behave' lest they suffer the consequences of their dishonest behavior; 2. I would feel good (as a result of knowing justice was meted out to the deserving criminals who destroyed our system for their gain).
I don't think Dr. Paul is 'pretending' he alone can reform the beast. From his collective thoughts and writings on the subject he knows exactly what the Fed is and what can and cannot be affected against it.
Sorry, I was referring to the belief that putting anyone into the office of president is any form of a solution, rather than just another problem. I have no doubt about the validity of Dr. Paul's views of the Fed.
voting = pretend solution
Ah yes, gotcha. And, I agree. There is no top down solution in this unfolding drama..
The Fed's claim on the Treasury''s gold (if any) is really no claim at all. It is a meaningless accounting entry representing what the Fed turned over to the USG in 1934 and will never be repaid. Thus, while is is listed as an asset on the Fed's books at $42.50(!), it is a myth -- much like those toxic MBS pledged at par but worthless. The Fed is an empty shell pumping out hope for (small) change.
@doubleguns: we own the gold? Really? What gold? The gold that already sits in the European vaults of the elites? The gold that has already been sold, leased or otherwise encumbered to pay for endless wars? Or is there some other gold you are talking about; such as the gold fillings of every dead person since 1971? Or the unmined gold in all the western territories that Obama has expropriated from the states?
Yes we "treat" the foreign banks just like we "treat" domestic. We also turn "tricks" under the same rulebook
DaveyJones Yes we "treat"
the foreign banks just like we
"treat" domestic.
We also turn "tricks" under the
same rulebook sorry i
Desperate? in 2008 i try to open a savings
account at a Bank in North Bergen N.J. in 2008.
I SHOW THEM, Green Card Passport and Birth-certificate etc.
AND? They want to see a Lease, and Con Edison Bill
with my name on it, in order to OPEN a Savings ACOUNT.
Uh what a Trick, impossible for me to show them polite Bank
Manager, any Con Edison etc Paper, what they Desperate looking for.
I MAYBE WRONG ! YOUR BANKS DONT NEED MONEY !
What is it about that Fed Reserve Bank lawyer, Alvarez? I like that guy. Every time I see him give testimony I get the feeling he's lyin' through his teeth and he knows it. But I still like him, I would have a beer with him. Where did he learn to do that?
He's a lawyer. Its Number one on the qualifications list.
1. Must be able to lie, even extemporaneously, as necessary to get to the desired endpoint. The endpoint being the lawyer's needs and, if there is a happy coincidence, the clients.
1a. Perfects the lawyer to run for political office.
Hello? He's a lawyer?
Foreign banks borrow at the Fed window for .25% and then buy bonds from us at 4.25%. Tax payers pay 4% to foreign banks in a hidden bailout of foreign banks. Wonderful, simply fucking wonderful!!!
Luckily they don't trust fedgov enough to play out there much in 30 year land, instead "investing" closer to the short end where they hope to still get their principal back, while only skimming .25%-2% for their efforts.
The carry-trade has turned into a game of hot potato.
Attention Fed shoppers, todays Blue Light Special is the Combination Bailout/Money Laundering Platter. Throw in a side order of Ponzi Sauce and you've got a real early-summer treat.
From what I glean from the response to Paul's question is that the Fed Act gives the Fed authority to bail out foreign banks. Isn't that special.
According to the Fed Reserve Act the banks can lend money to foreign entities Baxter says. I wonder how many other bogus operating procedures obviously formulated by banksters and NOT representatives of the US were written into this ILLEGAL act. ABOLISH the FED! It's an illegal institution and the operating rules it operates under PROVE it.
I think in the Lehman failure a bank in Portugal was put on the edge as well as one money market fund that broke the buck. That was until some fancy footwork danced around those deals. The next step was jamming W's TARP through because a bunch of foreign banks and God knows who else were in deep swap doo doo.
They patched it up by preserving and expanding the mess at our expense but now it's just about time to pay the piper.
Brilliant.
I love Ron Paul.
One of the few true patriots in the U.S. Congress.
And he is coming from a state that once belonged to the CSA that wanted to separate from the Union.
Now he's the last man standing to defend it as it was oringinally intended in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
What irony.
About 1/3 of us want out again, bubba .
Constitution, Santa Anna.
States rights, Lincoln.
Constitution, states rights, rule of law and so on and so forth, Big Bro.
find this terrorist and his 1/3 of friends and dis-arm the whole state of san fransico!
Much more important admission from the hearing: the Fed owns no gold at all.
http://goldnews.com/2011/06/02/fed-lawyer-alvarez-the-federal-reserve-do...
That $400B in gold you think the Fed has on deposit at the Treasury, accounted at $43/oz on the Fed balance sheet ($11B)? Scott Alvarez says the Fed has no claim on at at all.
O.o
Ron Paul is having a 'Legalize Gold & Silver' MoneyBomb this Sunday, June 5th. If you could spare a bit to help his campaign that would be great. Thanks.
http://www.ronpaul2012.com
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
G - O - P!!
Republican 4-eva
Cool, I'm in.
OMG looney gold bug goes gaga upon learning well known and rudimentary facts about nation's monetary system.
Of course the FED doesn't own the gold, they haven't since the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Reserve_Act).
But what good are facts to the promotion of mindless hysteria?
The two posts above mine were far more eloquent than mine but, I'm going to keep it simple. You're a douchebag.
That's great and all, except that usually when dont own something you dont get to slap it on your balance sheet as an asset and mark it's value at $11B.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm#h41tab11
But you are right to be talking about the treasury's decision to monetize its gold and mark its gold to 42.22/oz, that's where you are getting warmer.
Open Letter to Ron Paul...Rather than selling the gold, why don't you just value it like the rest of the world? Why not just mark it to the market price of gold on the Treasury books? If you, Congress, are going to insist on an honest accounting of America's liabilities, why not properly account for her ASSETS as well?
And then… the US Treasury, under the daft guidance of the G-man, can issue new gold certificates to the Federal Reserve. As anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of double-entry bookkeeping knows, the balance sheet must balance. For every asset there is a liability, and vice versa. This is basic stuff. You don't need to be a banking "expert". And so far the Fed only carries $11 billion of the Treasury's gold on the asset side under the gold heading. Today we have room to add $370 billion more, and that means fresh Fed liabilities—also known as US dollars—accruing as fully paid-up credits to the Treasury account for the government to use however it deems appropriate.
Again, I realize this doesn't solve any of the big problems, but it does buy some time. And furthermore, it is not a bad or reckless thing to do. It is the right thing to do! America has an untapped asset. You can use it without selling it for gosh sake! And just like the old gold certificates, the new ones will NOT be redeemable by the Fed or any other banks in physical gold. They will simply be an accounting entry on the Fed balance sheet. In the future, that gold can be mobilized, if necessary, in defense of the US dollar. But only with the approval of Congress. The physical gold remains the property of the United States. It will simply be monetized by properly revaluing it as the monetary reserve asset that it is, and placing it—at its proper valuation, updated quarterly—on the asset side of the central bank's balance sheet, just like the ECB...
The gold certificates on the asset side of the Fed's balance sheet are not even paper certificates with fancy fonts and pictures. They are electronic book entries representing the dollar-denominated amount of $11 billion. They no more represent the US gold by weight than they are redeemable in that gold. They are a nominal dollar token accounting entry...
http://fofoa.blogspot.com/2011/06/open-letter-to-ron-paul.html
Hmm, probably largely well intentioned but clueless gold bug continues with the nonsense:
That's great and all, except that usually when dont own something you dont get to slap it on your balance sheet as an asset and mark it's value at $11B.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm#h41tab11
*****
Its a good thing the FED doesn't have gold it doesn't own on its balance sheet, and instead holds dollar denominated certificates issued by the treasury:
Gold certificate account 11,037
Dollar denominated, non negotiable cetificates issued by the Treasury - *NOT GOLD*
You are correct.
Mea culpa.
The gold certs issued by the Treasury to the Fed and now held in the gold certificate account are dollar denominated in the value of the gold stock at the official price. They are a liability of the Treasury to the Fed in exchange for FRNs, allowing the Treasury to monetime the gold stock.
While I was 100% wrong here, this was still instructive, as it is a widely held mistaken believe that the Fed owns old-style gold certificates for $11B worth of gold valued at $42.22/oz; essentially that the Fed "really" has $400B worth of gold tucked away on the asset side of their balance sheet. It doesn't. It has IOUs from the Treasury for $11B in FRNs. There is gold pledged as collateral for these gold certs, but NOT at the official price of $42.22/oz, but rather the market price (at least the market price as of September 2010; it's not clear).
+1, Borodog.
Yeah like the debt. The deficit. The stealing, the jobbery, the crime syndicate and the mindless hysteria of war on everything that moves or doesn't move. The groping, the economic fallacies, the crushing grip of shallow logic dressed in shit while they thrust their lies deeper and deeper with the propaganda machine. Their tax farm, their debt slaves, their indoctrination system parody of education. Their tax farm, their vote imports, their piece of shit shills and useful idiots that defend them for their worthless currency they stole from the hardworking. The lives they waste and the minds they rape. No innovation, no creation, no individual and no goddamn hope for humans.
Land of the fleeced and home of the slave.
Suck on that, corporate slave. When they're through the bankers want their slice of cake.
Taking any admssion re: gold with a grain of salt. Possession will be 9.9/10ths the law at the waterfall moment, and no way they want to publicly reveal they have hedges against a $USD collapse.
this must be the redistribution that hussein scumbama promised durring his 1st campaign
This is a good thing. It means the treasury or hypothetically we the people own the gold. Let the fed go under, we got the gold.
Now they all have to do what we say.....RIGHT
take it about 3 levels deeper and you won't feel so optimistic. think gold leases, naked shorting & the COMEX. the Fed doesn't need to OWN the gold, just be able to be the one to lease it out. but what you should really worry about what the FED owns is all those potential deeds to the land underneath all that toxic mortgage crap they have on their books.
Non-performing mortgages were pawned off on FNM and FRM,
ie the taxpayer.
Such government guaranteed agencies lost billions
on derivative hedges gone bad
0's response was to hike the salaries of their top 6
execs by $35 Million
Our Treasury committed $200 B to them so far
Too bad this is the same off-budget government
financing that got us into trouble with Defense
and Entitlements
ie all their bad debts are not included in the US
balance sheet of liabilities
two words : Maiden Lane
Everytime I see that title, 'Maiden Lane', I think of bras.
what is the average interest earned on the $15 Trillion outstanding.. (just the money we have the paper trail for, I am sure it is much.. MUCH! Larger!!)
what kind of cash flow position does the FED maintain pre and post 2007 - 2011?
revenue 2006 was.. v. 2011?
I think that instead of kill the FED that we the people should take over the FED's Books for the betterment of "We the People"!
My mind is changing on what is the best course of action, instead of burn it down! we should take it over and let the People.. our Country men and women enjoy the benefits of what "We the People" ultimately backstop!