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Support the Sanders-Feingold-DeMint-Leahy-McCain-Vitter-Brownback Federal Reserve Transparency Amendment to the Financial Reform Bill
- AIG
- Alan Grayson
- American International Group
- Bernie Sanders
- Bloomberg News
- Central Banks
- Chris Dodd
- Credit Default Swaps
- default
- Federal Reserve
- Foreign Central Banks
- Freedom of Information Act
- Grayson
- Great Depression
- House Financial Services Committee
- John McCain
- Lehman
- Lehman Brothers
- Monetary Policy
- Recession
- Ron Paul
- TARP
- Transparency
Here is how Ryan Grim from the HuffPo describes the latest attempt to curb the thieves in charge of this country, or at least make their endless robbery a little more transparent.
As unusual a coalition as can be crafted in the Senate plans to
fight for an amendment to the Wall Street reform bill that would open
the Federal Reserve to a serious audit by the Government Accountability
Office. Sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the language is
modeled after an amendment that passed the House, sponsored by Reps.
Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas).
Sanders is joined by four Republicans of varying politics: John
McCain (Ariz.), Jim DeMint (S.C.), David Vitter (La.) and Sam Brownback
(Kan.). If Democrats in the Senate back the measure, it would have at
least 63 votes, but Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) is
opposed and has argued against a broad audit.
The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), is
also a cosponsor, as is Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.). The group is
actively gathering cosponsors as the Senate continues to vote to break
a GOP filibuster which is preventing debate from beginning.
Needless to say, Zero Hedge fully endorses anything that will make the destruction of America at least a moderately more prolonged affair.
Full letter:
Support the
Sanders-Feingold-DeMint-Leahy-McCain-Vitter-Brownback Federal Reserve
Transparency Amendment to the Financial Reform Bill
The American people have a right to know who received over $2 Trillion in financial assistance from the Federal Reserve.
Since the beginning of the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has
provided over $2 trillion in taxpayer-backed loans and other financial
assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and
corporations in the world. Unfortunately, the Fed is still refusing to
tell the American people or the Congress who received most of this
assistance, how much they received or what they are doing with this
money. This money does not belong to the Federal Reserve, it belongs to
the American people, and the American people have a right to know where
their taxpayer dollars are going.
Therefore, during the consideration of the financial reform bill, we
will offer an amendment to increase transparency at the Federal
Reserve. Specifically, our amendment:
* Requires the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) to
conduct an independent and comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve
within one year after the date of enactment of the financial reform
bill;
* Requires the GAO to submit a report to Congress detailing its
findings and conclusion of their independent audit of the Fed within 3
months; and
* Requires the Federal Reserve within one month after the date of
enactment to disclose the names of the financial institutions and
foreign central banks that received financial assistance from the Fed
since the start of the recession, how much they received, and the exact
terms of this taxpayer assistance.
* Does not interfere with or dictate the monetary policies or decisions of the Federal Reserve.
59 Senators, 320 Members of Congress, and two federal courts have called on the Federal Reserve to become more transparent.
Our amendment is similar to an amendment that was offered to last
year's Budget Resolution that passed the Senate on a bi-partisan vote
of 59-39 on April 1, 2009; S.604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act that
now has 33 bi-partisan co-sponsors; and the Federal Reserve
Transparency Act (H.R. 1207) that has 320 bi-partisan co-sponsors (a
version of which passed the House Financial Services Committee by a
vote of 43-28 and was incorporated into the financial reform bill that
passed the House last December).
In August of 2009, the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York also ordered the Fed to disclose the recipients of
this taxpayer assistance as a result of a Freedom of Information Act
lawsuit filed by Bloomberg News. This decision was upheld by the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Manhattan on March 19, 2010.
The Senate Financial Reform Bill does not do enough to make the Fed more transparent.
While the Senate financial reform bill attempts to address the lack of
transparency at the Fed, as currently drafted, much of the information
regarding the details of who received this financial assistance could
be kept secret forever.
As long as the Federal Reserve is allowed to keep the information on
their loans secret, we may never know the true financial condition of
the banking system. The lack of transparency at the Fed could lead to
an even bigger crisis in the future.
We now know that the lack of transparency in credit default swaps led
to the $182 billion taxpayer bailout of AIG; the collapse of Lehman
Brothers and precipitated the worst financial crisis since the Great
Depression.
We know who received TARP funding.
Anyone with access to the internet can go onto the Treasury
Department's website and find out exactly who received a bail-out from
the $700 billion TARP program. The American people have a right to know
the same information from the Fed.
The Sanders Amendment does not undermine the Fed's independence.
This amendment does not take away the "independence" of the Fed and it does not put monetary policy into the hands of Congress.
This amendment does not tell the Federal Reserve when to cut short-term
interest rates or when to raise them. It does not tell the Federal
Reserve what banks to lend money to and what banks not to lend money
to. It does not tell the Federal Reserve what foreign central banks
they can do business with and which ones it cannot do business with. It
does not impose any new regulations on the Federal Reserve nor does it
take any regulatory authority away from the Fed.
This amendment simply requires the GAO to conduct an independent audit
of the Fed and requires the Fed to release the names of the recipients
of more than $2 trillion in taxpayer-backed assistance.
For nearly nine decades, the GAO has a proven track record of
conducting objective, fact-based, nonpartisan, non-ideological, fair,
and balanced audits. Through these audits, the GAO helped save the
American taxpayers $50 billion last year alone by rooting out waste,
fraud, and abuse in the federal government.
Let's not equate independence with secrecy. We cannot let the Fed
operate in secrecy any longer. There is simply too much money at stake.
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I notice that Ron Paul, the only truly honorable member of Con-gress, who was the originator and strongest (and for many years, the ONLY) advocate of auditing the Fed, is nowhere mentioned regarding this proposal, or even as a co-sponsor. Does anyone know where he stands on this latest proposed Fed Audit bill?
He is in the House, not the Senate.
May I suggest some Schoolhouse Rock?
That was a little demeaning... but still funny.
Yeah, I apologize, too good to pass up.
And that's what I get for posting a comment immediately after waking up --- and NOT being a morning person!
My apologies for my groggy morning stupidity.
Uh, you posted at 1257 PM. Now that's what I call groggy!
Actually, 6:57 AM my time!
You must be in the US Eastern Time Zone, where everyone seems to implicitly believe that they are the center of the universe, and their time is the ONLY time! Which has become abudantly obvious to me over the years, after having been woken up dozens if not hundreds of times by clueless East Coast callers at 3:00 and 4:00 AM.
you can change the time zone in your acct
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2010/04/27/...
This will cause the market to crash!!!!!
-Chris Dodd
OMG! Get a cup to protect the private parts then, Chrissy Boy.
I completely agree with the need for full transparency and think that everybody should be held to the same standard. However, let's say we do get this transparency and find that it's just as corrupt, broken and insolvent as we think. Then what?
Serious question: what are some realistic possibilities/outcomes from this?
Gold moves rapidly to its REAL high, holds there for a second to blow a kiss, and then moves upwards at rates only thought was possible when considering the speed of LIGHT.
A huge cover-up operation, I imagine.
I think the move up in gold, huge cover-up and imminent default as mentioned by Chumba below are all on the list.
Maybe I just can't get my head around it, but I don't see any real way of meaningfully moving beyond this on a global scale without an international default/reset. Is it possible to extend and pretend for another generation? Maybe, but as of now it doesn't seem likely...
I'm expecting they press the standard reset button in the near future - a land war in Europe
war has worked well in the past, but this time, if there is a land war, i doubt that it's in europe;
maybe some spirited paki-bashing, but, probably nothing more than that........................
I'm a little more radical on this, in that a privately owned cabal unconstitutionally controlling the money should be taken beyond transparency--to the point of vaporization. But, OK for the sake of your question, here are the possibilities:
-- we find they are broke, but we just print more money and sort of pretend we didn't see the ceiling just fall in
-- we start a war/false flag someplace else to get everyone's attention off of it
-- we orchestrate 'wardrobe malfunctions' for Pam Anderson every 20 minutes until the markets improve
-- we have a "truth and reconciliation" commission to investigate, and some of the perps move next to W. in Paraguay
-- we realize the complete sham that it is and declare a debt jubilee and start over
Of course some may argue that none of these are realistic, but I think we are so far on the other side of the looking glass that nothing is really out of bounds.
The ponzi's continuing survival is entirely dependent on continual economic growth in which to push further credit demand in order to payoff accruing principle+interest charges on past incurred debts.
But how is continued exponential economic expansion (necessary to offset exponentially compounding debts) achieved when the very thing that drives the engine is a finite source of fossil fuels?
What a system, huh? I guess the big question is how did this ever get to be our system? Who in their right minds would willingly adopt such a system to facilitate trade & commerce?
Imagine if heroin was not only legal, but was legally mandated (ie legal tender laws) to be included in all food substances. Who would agree to such an arrangement?
A reasonable person can only conclude that these guys know this fucker is going down. This is all subterfuge to ensure the PTB have enough time to get dressed in women's clothing in order to get on one of the last life boats.
+2005
He obviously has his investments in RE, Vegas Sands, and leprechauns.
Ahhh, the "You can't handle the truth" defence. AKA, Ignorance is Strength. George Orwell would be proud.
Whatever Mr Dodd - Markets to Crash? -As opposed to the stable, robust markets and economy we have?
"this will cause the wealth of the insider elite to crash - while the rest of us enjoy low costs for everyday things like food, energy and shelter"
-Moneymutt
Dodd is wondering what auditing the fed will mean for the "Friends of Angelo". What a piece of work.
They're lucky we're all doped up on fluoride, Zoloft, and American Idol. If not, we might actually have the inclination to do something about this crap.
Rather we sit by and allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the sheer impudence of it all. It's really something else...
I have absolutely no faith in any of these establishment surrogates.
+100
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There, I've just done as much as anyone to try to solve this crisis. It's still unsolvable.
Oh well, time to default.
I am Chumbawamba.
Its unsolvable, all the experts in the world cant put back together a termite destroyed house with more transparent putty, its all bullshit the only possible solution is collapse and rebuild. Too bad WW3 is the only answer and many millions of deaths for them to wipe the books clean.
WWIII is not the only answer, but it is infintely more likely than a jubilee.
I expect a "just add water" instant solution.
Bailout must be one size fits all.
Somebody is working on a pill to fix all of these .
I can see Blankfein in the dark, wearing shrinkwrap.
Here come dollar daze and viagrabucks.
F%ck them, f%ck you, and f%ck me too! Whos got my pajamas?
On a more serious note.
I am a contractor, there is no works in progress and nothing sheduled. No buyers, no money all around. Traffic is below normal and i see no point reupping my license because i see the disaster we are becoming.
I write this more to bring the point up that there are also psysich problems associated with this for many , especially men. I was disabled twice and unable to walk , it lasted a year each time and was devastating emotionally. I value myself by what i accomplish. Each day.
These days it feels useless to work for 35 per hour when goldfein et al make millions in minutes without great effort .
When i compare what i put my body truh, the accidents , laboring for a few paper dollars no longer makes good sense.
Further, knowing we are heading for the toilets my ambition fails me. Its a question if even planting the garden will pay off. If we have a war to cover the criminality many of us wont be here to complain. You all may fail secure in your estimations of "it cant happen here!".
I also comment on this because i have always been a go getter, never lazy. Just cant get motivated under these conditions and i bet i am not alone.
aware of typo.fail/feel.
Hang in there Bud.
MH, you are living right in the center of the land that is set to inherit the world. Trust me. We have renewable energy, fertile soil, and many forests which provide clean water. Your family will be fine. You will be fine. Be patient friend. We will win.
Thank, personally i am fine. Its the rest of the folks i am more worried about. Me, hell i am ready for the next adventure without this phisical appendage. Sooner or later J6P is gonna blow his cork over this. We ZH readers are prepared a little better than TV watchers.
Ok...good.
You had me a little worried.
As for the sheeple, they will figure it out. Seriously...but it may take some good sheep dogs.
merehuman,
You are correct. You are not alone. I've spent the better part of the last month weeding the lawn. I don't know why it's so satisifying, but it is. Getting rid of the bad guys before they go to seed. They have all sorts of sneaky ways to take over, the early grasses that produce seeds first thing, the dollar weed with it's complex underground root system, dandilions with their specialized seed/wind distribution system, clover that creeps under the grass and puts roots in all along the way then flowering as a secondary reproductive method. The most successful seem to be the ones that get busy before the lawn comes out of its dormancy...all trying to take over.
Anyway, the best way to avoid weeds to to have a healthy lawn. For me, that means getting rid of the weeds first. They really got a foothold in the last few years when I wasn't paying attention. I have my work cut out for me.
Not surprising that our "elected officials" find it necessary to make concessions to a private banking cartel that has done nothing for the past 100 years except enrich themselves.
ABOLISH THE FED!!!
Would this include Agency purchases or is that "monetary policy"?
"or at least make their endless robbery a little more transparent."
No kidding, if you're gonna stick it to me at least let me watch.
"There is simply too much money at stake."
It's not about the Benjamin's, IMHO it's about curbing those self-righteous, vanity ridden, power mad mongrels charading as public servants.
No taxation with fu$ked up representation.
How's this different than S 604? Where does that bill stand?
Last Action: Mar 16, 2009: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
See the Related Legislation page for other bills related to this one and a list of subject terms that have been applied to this bill. Sometimes the text of one bill or resolution is incorporated into another, and in those cases the original bill or resolution, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-604
appreciate the link
Or, maybe they simply abandoned it. I doubt the same text from S604 was used for the current bill on the table, what with Sanders being the sponsor of 604. Else he would not need to sponsor an amendment to the current bill.
THAT was the point that I was trying to make in my garbled first post under the above article.
Yes, why is this NEW bill being proposed, when the very tough S 604 was already in place? Something makes me suspect that it was watered down yet again, only maybe this time by not quite so much.
That's my sense too (see my comment above). Sanders proposed S604 and it pretty much reflected HR1207, that was my understanding anyway. They sent it to committee to die.
The only thing I support any longer that has to do with either party is their right to assisted suicide.
Their lips keep moving, but I no longer care what they are saying. It doesn't matter anymore, the time to do the right thing has passed us by. (several times)
I don't care anymore. I'm not a citizen of the US any longer, I'm a subject, I just happen to have been born here. I have absolutely zero faith in our political and monetary systems, or law enforcement.
Let the bankers pull the trigger to the gun they are holding to their heads, not only would it be fun to watch, but it will only speed up the inevitable.
HEHE Today's 5yr auction 90% alloted at the high 2.54% the FED goosed it like I said yesterday
Wall Street is often acused of being greedy - But what about politicians and the media? Greedy for power and the opinion of the masses. Which is worse: greed for power or greed for profit?
If H.R. 1207 would ever get passed, would we even need this one? I fear that like Ron Paul's 'Audit the Fed' bill, this bill will only serve to get the lobbiests to spend even more money. So far they've spent $9.7M to make sure that H.R. 1207 never gets anywhere.
Try this site out for fun - maplight.org (if you haven't already heard of it. Very enlightening indeed!
http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/111-hr-1207/360297/total-contributions
To my limited understanding, S604 was pretty much the equivalent of HR1207, and it got sent to committee to die a quiet death.
I think an FED audit is important, but has anyone thought of the ramificantions of such an action?
What if the Audit found out the FED has been the ONLY buyer of USA treasury bills and has hundreds of Trillions of dollars floating all over the place?
This would send the market crashing down and the entire global economy would totally collapse. Society would literally shut down and full marital law could be declared in America!
We would have years of Depression, civil unrest and possibly a World War. This would be ugly.
I agree people have rightful concerns about what a FED audit would mean!
"We would have years of Depression, civil unrest and possibly a World War."
We will anyway. Grow a pair, death is our companion, and most honest friend. Que cera cera.
Can't handle the truth? Audit the Fed already and let the chips fall where they may.
But this will also mean the DEATH of our REPUBLIC! A perfect chance for Barry and the New Cons to destroy all liberties we have been gaurentted from birth!
People really have to think about this.
A total RED DOWN. Society becomes unglued and the system doesn't function. Blood literally running in the streets! Not a soul would be safe in their homes.
Hundreds of thousands dead everyday. Seniors dropping dead like flys.
COME ON PEOPLE! REALLY THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS MEANS!
The Republic is already dead, and most likely hasn't been alive in my lifetime. You are living an illusion within your own pre fabricated and conceived reality. Waking up is painful, I understand, believe me I do.
At some point in time, these clowns at both the Fed and the government had an obligation to level with the public. Instead, they have engaged in a clear pattern of market manipulation, propaganda and worse for over two years without preparing anyone for what is in store or even explaining to anyone what actually happened when the shit hit the fan back in the miiddle of 2007.
i understand your concern, but what does it mean for the republic and what is the definition of a republic id a selecy group of guys can secretly run the counrty, its economy and in the process enrich a bunch 0f their friends. That sound more like a banana republic to me.
You must be new around here. Believe me, most of the posters here and some other political/finance web sites are completely aware of what this means.
Thought experiment: you know the USA is going to fail some day, don't you? Sure, most people might take that to mean 100, 500 years from now. But what would be the precipitating causes? Would it be any different than today?
What exactly is holding this place together? A common belief in a shared destiny? LOL! We're talking force, baby, pure force. The only reason the MIC doesn't walk in and relieve the Kenyan of his duties is because if the Fed goes down, they go down as well.
When you have collusion between the supposed defenders of the Constitution and a foreign criminal gang, you're already dead. You just don't know it.
Great script there buddy! The NIA is getting better in teaching their trolls drama.
And the paper-pushers have the nerve to call us goldbugs the "doom and gloomers"!
LOL!
toathis . fear has ruled the day too long. For the love of our children, for the love of honesty and a good strong base for the future, reality as it is .. must be accepted .
After thinking about it.......i dont want to live a lie. Open Pandoras box now!
"Open Pandoras box now!"
Thats what HE said! he he...
A specious argument. So by your "logic", the only solution is to continue to support and defend financial fraud and fictional accounting to prop up an unsustainable system?
No, the fraud WILL be outed, one way or another. And your hysterical doom-mongering sounds like it is coming directly from a bankster --- I strongly suspect that the end results of their corrupt regime falling into well-deserved oblivion will be much less grim that you suggest, and in fact much more positive in the long run. Central banksters are NOTHING but parasites on society, and their loss will only be the general public's gain.
The system can function, as the long as the FED can stay as secret as possible and raise the darn interest rates!
The dollar will never collapse because the hedge funds would never allow it to happen. Besides, people will never quit using dollars because they know if they did we will would blow them off the planet.
The system is functional! We are in a bit of a rough patch, but we will recover as we always do!
KEEP THEM SECRET! KEEP PEOPLE ALIVE!
You know, at first I took you to be an honest, if seriously deluded, poster, but now I can see that you are only a farce.
Please don't think that way, I am sorry if I offended you. I am just very worried about the safety of my family. History tells us that in the event of total economic collapse, the political system fails and there is war!
I think we can keep the system and keep people safe. Just raise interest rates and we will be fine!
That which cannot be sustained, will not be sustained.
The truth is NEVER your enemy, unless you willfully make it so.
LOL
Might want to read up on some prep strategies.
ummm...don't we already have wars? or has everybody forgot about Irag and Afghan and our soldiers being killed and maimed over there...and we'll probably be involved with a Pakistan or Iran/Israel war before end of year, with or without a financial collapse.
Yes, massa, give me some more!
Slave! You think like a slave, live like a slave, and write like a slave. You seriously want your children to grow up to be slaves, as long as the massa keeps them "safe"??! You think your family will appreciate your collaboration and cowardice?
I understand how scary this world is.
First, we can not raise interest rates. The interest on the National debt would INSTANTLY bankrupt us. Second, buy gold coins; if you can not afford gold, that is ok, buy silver coins. You will need roughly 1 silver coin per family member per month (conservative estamate). Good luck, and remember, we can win.
This is exactly my point above about what realistic options there are. If we "we can not raise interest rates" because "The interest on the National debt would INSTANTLY bankrupt us" -- What's the difference between this and having complete transparency where everyone sees it's all just a sham?
While possible, I don't see us quickly collapsing into a 'Mad Max' or 'Postman' situation. I'm fortunate enough to have some physical PM's, brass accelerants and land w/plenty of wildlife but I'd certainly prefer to have my family live through an orderly deconstruction/reorganization/rebuilding based on the terms of the people (i.e.: as our country was initially founded) rather than a collapse into chaos.
If it's all going down anyway regardless of transparency, rates, etc let's work for a positive outcome to it all and come out better on the other side and not just recreate the system we have now.
Agreed. So let us deconstruct the Fed, and move the gold vaults into State Banks. State Banks can issue their own currentsea, backed by gold and silver.
Let us not speak of tungsten [white lies for America and world so as to keep this shitshow hedgemony going, eh?]....cynical, I know.
So then let us buy gold and silver on the open market NOW. Counties and cities and states. People could open accounts in the banks with their metal too. I don't know though, but a plan like this is a decent start in my humble opinion.
I'm pretty sure that you are misinterpreting your desire for safety. Seems to me that you are suffering from a version of Stockholm Syndrome. You have fallen into sympathy for and ascribed undue fear of your kidnappers. The 'system' you are trying to 'keep' is, in fact, the very cause of your family's danger.
Appeasement allows you to live another day. That is until they ask for more than you have remaining. Then you are no longer worth anything to them.
It's very similar to battered spouse syndrome. If I can just give him what he wants, he won't beat me or the kids.
I failed to give him what he wants and that's the reason he beat me and the kids.
Another piece in the New American with yours truly...
Fed Facing Lawsuits, Criminal Complaints Over Market Manipulation
In addition to valiant congressional efforts for increased transparency, the Federal Reserve System and its cohorts are being targeted with criminal complaints and multiple lawsuits that attempt to shed to light on the central bank’s “bailouts” and its manipulation of the stock market, the precious-metals market, and more.
Some startling revelations have already surfaced, like the fact that under Timothy Geithner, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York set up front companies to purchase toxic assets from various firms. It has also become public knowledge that the Fed handed out hundreds of billions to foreign central banks and trillions to financial institutions. But there is still much more hidden in the shadows, and efforts to expose the secrets are growing.
Fox Business Network announced on April 20 that it was expanding its lawsuit against the Federal Reserve’s secret bailouts. And "The New American" has provided extensive coverage of Bloomberg’s lawsuit, which aims to force the banking cartel to disclose information about its so-called “emergency” lending program, which unconstitutionally and without appropriations from Congress provided trillions of dollars to various financial institutions.
read entire article: http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/economy/economics-mainmenu-44/3425-fed-facing-lawsuits-criminal-complaints-over-market-manipulation
Fabulous. Thank you.
FHA just caved on their honest three and a half percent down payment. They're going back to being the new subprime. I don't drink enough for the new normal.
i noticed that
OK; but whats the point in prolonging the inevitable. Sure I can stand behind any bill or amendment that puts a leash on Bernanke and his madness but i just dont see the longterm benefit in any action that is to be done by TPTB. The time for action has expired somewhere in 1914. Now we are just waiting.
"OK; but whats the point in prolonging the inevitable."
CB
I agree. It simply feeds into the self delusion of false hope if we are to string this out any further. Either tear it down or make serious efforts to fix the real and underlying problems. But sitting in purgatory (halfway between hell and heaven) solves nothing except to allow the few to consolidate their ill gotten gains.
You've probably thought this through, but I guess the thinking behind an audit of the Fed is to finally open as many eyes in the public as possible, prior to the great teardown. The strategy being, if the truth of the Fed were out there, publicized and unavoidable by the public (and I realize this may be a weak point in the argument), it would be a lot harder for the new/remaining powers-that-be to spin the cause of the final collapse to their favor.
As it is, we have an 'eyes wide shut' condition. I'd much rather have more people awake before the nightmare happens. A reset without knowing what happened (beyond what TPTB want you to know) will not provide much of an improvement.
I understand the argument.
I suspect the biggest lie we live is that this time (meaning a systemic crash, it's happened many times before over thousands of years) might, could, would, may be, will be different. As I've written before, if we aren't willing to look within, we will simply produce more of the same. Our "leaders" are home grown, they do what we want them to do.
ZH is a tiny minority in a vast sea of people who remain for the most part deliberately clueless. They know just enough to decide they don't want to know any more.
Cheeky one, have the progressive and populist efforts of US citizens been worthless over the last century? Many financial reforms started at the end of a pitchfork or torch in late 1800s, 30s etc have helped US pop immensely...civil rights movements, womans rights etc have made life better for many against very nasty and entrenched opposition...that is not to say were are not in a huge horrible mess and the TPTB don't have the upper hand, they do...but popular reforms are worth working for, I bet hardly a single American colonlist could have conceived of the colonies independence from Britain to become a democratic republic 20 years before it happened...but they rebelled against their money control being taken from them, they rebelled against being taxed without have any say or vote in the taxation, and they rebelled against crony insider Brit govt supported businesses monopolizing industries like the tea business, and they won...we can too
Yeah and which of the Founding Fathers would have believed that people that had no property could vote themselves free money ... without skin in the game you should not be in the game
McCain, huh? Isn't this the guy who chose Gramm as his economic advisor during his presidential run?
Get me Admiral Ackbar! It's a trap.
The trap is being set for Dodd and his ghost senators. If Dodd wants to shine his own sun on the disease then why not a second sun?
This is just an amendment. If it passes into the FinRefBill then it will lead to its defeat(likely tabling it so Dodd doesn't have to vote no to his masters).
The question is does the Sanders, Leahy, Feingold, McCain, Vitter, DeMint, and Brownback have another 44 votes?
The force field is still operational!!
Tyler, it would be useful to provide the Senate Bill Number, so when calling your Senators you could give them this number. I've called my Senators giving them the long winded titled with all the Senator's names, but they always ask for the Bill Number and I've googled around and I can't find it.
S604 is the Fed Sunshine Act
i dont think amendments have numbers
I don't believe this Amendment is S.604 though I could be wrong.
Amendments do have numbers, for example the Kaufman / Brown SAFE Banking Amendment is S.3241
The best place to track these things down is the Library of Congress server ( thomas.loc.gov ), where you can search by bill number or keyword.
S604 and HR1207 are the Senate and House versions of the same bill, with identical summaries: "Retains the authority of the Comptroller General to audit a federal agency," and directs the Comptroller General to "audit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve" before the end of 2010. ( http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN00604:@@@L&summ2=m&|/bss/111search.html| )
Previous posters (way above) have noted that the bill went off somewhere to die, and it looks like both bills were read twice and then referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. A brief search of the Thomas server turned up no further news, so maybe this is what happened. I hope not. I mean, S604 had Bernie Sauders and 32 co-sponsors behind it; Ron Paul's HR1207 had 319 co-sponsors. It's hard to believe that a bill with the support of a third of the Senate and three-quarters of the House could just disappear so quietly.
Thanks for the link Amish Hacker.
It's S 2939
Thanks
I'm in favor of a US taxpayer financed PIIGS bailout. It is our responsibility to keep the world financial system solvent.
sorry...thought i was on the FRBNY msg board
I don't know based upon our outlook, we should be asking PIIGS for a bailout
Notice the phrasing in the bill: backed, not financed. Backed. Very different.
McCain should retire. He lost all credibility with that "I gotta go back to D.C. to work on the bailout package" bullshit back in Oct 2008. he's toast and so is anything he puts his name to
I get so disgusted watching that albino chipmunk warmonger waving his little T-Rex arms around and flashing that shit-eating yellow teeth grin while making the latest case for Neocon militaristic adventurism in otherwise irrelevant third-world hellholes that just HAPPEN to sit on top of or next to major petroleum deposits, I want to puke!
Dramatic Muckraking On Moyer's Penultimate PBS Broadcast: www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04232010/watch.html
William K. Black, author of, The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own One, teaches Economics and Law at the University of Missouri — Kansas City (UMKC)
Tomorrow is his last show....hope he does a book soon.
I hope they get the ducks in a row before debate. Hoping they get the Volkner Rule and this audit the Fed deal in. We need to hold the Fed accountable to audit and stop the blood tap from tax payer to stock market via zirp. Trying to make the Republicans look like bad guys for wanting to get this right could back fire on Dems come November.
Wall Street (along w a half dozen other big money industries) owns the govt and media They have corrupted the system with business models steeped in fraud and deceit.