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Fed Agrees To Name The FOMC Leaker (As Long As Congress Keeps It Secret)
Having initially missed its deadline to provide a response to Congress with regard the 2012 leak of FOMC minutes to an external newsletter writer, The Fed reluctantly admitted that none other than Janet Yellen had met with them. Today, however, as The Wall Street Journal reports, The (unaudited) Fed has agreed to furnish a congressional panel with the names of its staffers who had contact with Medley Global Advisors in the months before the leak, “with the understanding that the names will be kept confidential."
As The Wall Street Journal reports,
The Federal Reserve is providing a congressional panel with the names of its staffers who had contact with a consulting firm that published details of market-sensitive policy deliberations in October 2012, “with the understanding that the names will be kept confidential,” Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said.
“As you are aware, the [Fed] Board’s Inspector General and the Department of Justice are in the midst of an investigation into this matter,” Ms. Yellen wrote in a letter dated Monday to Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R., Texas), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.), who chairs the panel’s oversight subcommittee.
“We are cooperating fully with them and look forward to the results of their investigation. To avoid compromising that investigation, these names are being provided with the expectation that they will be kept confidential.”
Mr. Hensarling did not respond immediately Monday to a request for comment.
So we'll happily tell you who leaked it... as long as you don't tell the public.
Audit The Fed!!!
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As we noted previously, it appears James Miller (of FreedomWorks.org) summed it up best, Fed Independence Is A Joke, So Why Not Audit?
A whistleblower-hating president, a bureaucrat who illegally targeted conservatives, and the former national intelligence director who lied before Congress walk into a bar.
The bartender says: what can I get “the most transparent administration in history”?
If Janet Yellen didn’t resemble a bookwormish teetotaler, perhaps she’d join her colleagues in a toast to suppressing democratic accountability. For now, she’ll order a club soda while working vigorously to keep Congress, and thus the people, out of her business of running the country’s central bank.
Yellen has only been Chair of the Federal Reserve for one year, but she’s already facing pressure to open the books from the new Congress. Leading the charge are two statesmen from Kentucky: Representative Thomas Massie and Senator Rand Paul. Both have introduced audit the Fed legislation in their respective chambers.
Wall Street’s cadre of financial oligarchs are predictably up in arms over an audit of their free money machine. Think tankers are antagonizing the campaign, with Jim Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute asserting that Sen. Paul has “a poor understanding of what’s actually on the Fed balance sheet and how the bank operates.” It’s expected President Obama would veto an audit the Fed bill. Even local bankers are scaremongering over the prospect of the Fed losing autonomy.
Yellen, for her part, isn’t about to let the nosy wolves in her henhouse. In a recent interview, she said she would stand “forcefully” against any audit measures. She justified her intransigence by citing the importance of “central bank independence” and being able to act without interference.
Nothing says limited government and separation of powers like a bureaucracy unaccountable to the voice of the people! Then again, Yellen doesn’t care much for democratic oversight. She’s a caricature of Randian libertarianism: someone who wants to do whatever, whenever, without rulers. The problem is Yellen isn’t operating a private railroad company. She’s the figurehead for a government institution created by Congress. If democracy means anything, it’s that voters have some measure of control over political bureaucracies.
So apologies Janet, you don’t operate in a bubble (insert Fed pun here). The people - those plain people who think economics is about supply and demand rather than complicated math formulas - deserve some level of sway over the Fed’s operations. So why not an audit by the Government Accountability Office? Last I heard, President Obama was all about accountability.
Yellen and company aren’t buying it. They don’t want anyone butting in on their micromanagement of the money supply. Outside observers would interfere with the Fed’s independence, which is a sacrament of the central bank.
In an illuminating interview with the Wall Street Journal, David Wessel does his best to explain the history of the Federal Reserve and Congress’s long trek to make its internal deliberations more public. For over four decades, the GAO (then called the General Accountability Office) was barred from investigating the Fed. That changed in 1978, when Congress passed a law allowing the GAO to look at the central bank’s “regulatory duties.”
Then the financial crisis of 2008 hit, and the Fed intervened in the financial markets at an unprecedented scale. Banks and Wall Street firms were bailed out to the tune of tens of trillions of dollars. Main Street was left high and dry. Voters were livid and rightfully so.
Congress - after ignominiously bailing out the banks further - expanded the GAO’s authority to examine Fed loans to private companies. With the passage of the Dodd-Frank bill in 2010, the Fed was further opened up, and had to disclose “internal controls, policies on collateral, use of contractors and other activities.” Currently, the GAO is not allowed to review the Fed’s discussions on monetary-policy decisions.
Rand Paul’s audit the Federal Reserve bill eliminates that barrier. And therein lies to the problem according to Fed apologists. As Mr. Wessel tells us, the central bank should be protected from the influence of short-sighted politicians. “[G]iving politicians power over interest rates and the supply of credit hurts an economy over time,” he explains. “Prohibiting the GAO—an arm of Congress–from second-guessing the Fed’s monetary policy decisions is part of that insulation.”
Now, it is indeed true that politicians tend to be myopic in their actions. An $18 trillion debt created by the refusal to don big boy pants and cut spending is indicative of Congress’s systematic immaturity. Having the likes of Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner in charge of the Fed’s printing presses is a startling notion. But that’s not what auditing the Fed accomplishes. There is no language in either the House bill or Senate bill that puts Congress in charge of monetary operations. Fed proponents like Pethokoukis are demagoguing when they say otherwise.
It’s true the Fed’s financial statements are audited every year by the firm Deloitte & Touche. That perfunctory measure didn’t reveal the fact that the Fed took advantage of the financial crisis to bail out foreign companies and central banks. Over $16 trillion was doled out to foreign institutions like Barclays and UBS. The American public only became aware of the monetary shenanigans because Dodd-Frank contained a partial audit of the Fed’s activities. Had that not happened, we would still be in the dark.
Central bank defenders who scream “independence” over the prospect of an audit are misguided. The idea that political institutions operate in a vacuum and are isolated from outside interests is college-level idealism. It doesn’t pass the smell test. Government officials are primarily interested in perpetuating their power - public good be damned.
Janet Yellen is just as beholden to everyday politics as President Obama. She’s not independent; her job depends on the president’s approval. In a recent testimony before Congress, Yellen wondered aloud, “I really wonder whether or not the Volcker-led Fed would have had the courage to take the hard decisions necessary to bring down inflation and get that finally under control.” What she referred to was the economic calamity that preceded the inauguration of President Ronald Reagan. When the Gipper took office, inflation was raging. Volcker was appointed to the Fed to clamp down on rising prices. This wasn’t popular at first; hiking interest rates tanked the economy. But Reagan stood by Volker, giving him the political cover to follow through. As Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson writes,
“[D]uring Volcker’s monetary onslaught, there were many congressional proposals, backed by members of both parties, to curb the Fed’s power, lower interest rates or fire Volcker. If Reagan had endorsed any of them, the Fed would have had to retreat.”
Volcker didn’t operate independently. He had the support of the Reagan White House. Just the same, Yellen isn’t free from democratic pressure. She has to obey political headwinds.
If the Fed is not immune from politics, then why keep up the facade of independence? Let’s acknowledge the central bank must answer to the political class. And then let’s look at the past: the Fed’s history is full of backroom deals for elite special interests. That’s not an accident. Darkness gives cover to all sorts of sleazy deeds. An audit would begin the process of weeding out this secrecy.
If the Federal Reserve has nothing to hide, it has nothing to fear, right?
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"as long as con gress keeps it a secret"
trust me, i swear ...
audit? try abolish.
Abolish? Try firing squad.
I prefer lampost decorating.
The FED is obviously criminal, otherwise transparency is a non issue. END THE CRIMINAL CARTEL !!!!!!
Lampost decorating?
Try crucifixion.
Crusification? Try disembowelment.
Must Read For Every Thinking American Who Cares:
The Creature from Jekyll Island : A Second Look at the Federal Reserve
http://www.amazon.com/The-Creature-Jekyll-Island-Federal/dp/091298645X/r...
Also, someone cognizant & brave high up in the U.S. Military needs to order devastating missile and/or aircraft strikes on the Federal Reserve NY branch, the BIS, the IMF and The World Bank.
Just like the pedophiles they all are, SHHHHHHHHHHHH, don't tell your parents. Its our little secret.
Institute for Historical Review
The Warburgs: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of a Remarkable Jewish Family, by Ron Chernow. New York: Random House, 1993. Hardcover. 820 pages. Photographs. Bibliography. Reference notes. Index.
Reviewed by John Weir
In November 1910, [Senator] Aldrich [of Rhode Island], Paul [Warburg], and four other experts sneaked off to discuss bank reform at a secret hideaway on Jekyll Island off the Georgia coast.
With Democrats now in control of Congress and Progressives railing against Wall Street, the bankers had to travel incognito, lest they be accused of hatching a cabal.
As part of the elaborate charade, the conference participants pretended to be sportsmen, outfitting themselves as duck hunters.
What Chernow does not adequately explain is why such secrecy was necessary if a central bank was really such a great idea.
We are told, in effect, that Warburg and others hatched a cabal to avoid being accused of hatching a cabal. Because it was the product of a furtive conclave, and secrecy still surrounds many central bank decision-making activities, it is hardly surprising that there are so many dark suspicions and “banking conspiracy” theories involving the Federal Reserve Bank.
According to Chernow, Paul Warburg was the only person in America who understood how a central bank works. In 1912 and 1913, he drew up the basic plan for the Federal Reserve banking system, and he drafted the Federal Reserve Act.
In December 1913 President Wilson signed the Act establishing the new central bank. If anyone can be called the father of the Federal Reserve Bank, the New York Times has rightly noted, it is Paul Warburg.
The new central bank’s board of governors — which for several years included Paul Warburg — became top-heavy with political appointees whose policy of loose credit set the stage for the Great Depression. America’s economic collapse of the 1930s can be traced to the Federal Reserve’s operation by incompetents and self-serving hacks.
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v15/v15n5p33_Weir.html
Disembowelment? Try goat enema
Goat enema? Try Hukum Sula!
i think there is still hope of fixing our country without resorting to violence. certainly, as a nation, we'll be better off if we solve this situation peaecably. the first step on that path is to not yell for bullets and bodies when we should be demnading responsibility from our politicians. they do what they are told by their money AND their voters. perhaps we should persuade a few voters to see the light and demand change from DC?
Voting makes a difference? Huh....... who knew?
Voting. HAHAHAHAHAHAH. I went through a whole slew of machincations on the local level to get a petition initiative to turn back a tax increase our village passed without any popular vote. After getting the first petition turned down on a technicality and three years of effort, I finally was able to get it on the ballot. The masses cheered and voted and the tax increase was turned back. The village immediately put up another tax increase on the ballot (funny how easy it is for the rulers to get shit on a ballot) and just changed the target of those they were going to tax (which happened to be the police, fire, and school workers as the only employees in the village) and it passed by the masses. So in the end, the village was still able to extract more money from its residents, it was just that now the village was skimming it off the public employees who are paid for by tax theft.
I didn't vote in yesterday's election and I will continue to not vote. I will, however, pull myself out of the system as much as I can.
Sure, and said public employees will demand a raise to offset the tax increase they just incurred. The masses will vote for the shaft every time.
Voters do make a difference. They're the ONLY reason those in charge are able to continue with the facade that we live in a free country, that indvidual votes matter and that there's any difference between Wall St/Banker Whore Candidate A and Wall St/Banker Whore Candidate B.
Anyone who votes gives their APPROVAL. If you vote, shut up! You're getting exactly what you voted for.
"Our country" and "our nation" are mere abstractions and thus do not exist except in your mind.
As for "our politicians..." well, I'd say your delusion is complete.
If you're going to solve any of society's problems, you'd better quit being an evil voter that supports systematic plunder.
take your meds
If you guys hadn't resorted to violence your head of state would now be Elizabeth II
Funny that you'd say that. Just the other day I mentioned to some people who are huge fans of Canada, Australia and NZ, that the US could've been just like them, had a few slave-owning rabble rousers not succeeded in 1776.
Of course if they didn't have tons of help from England's enemies/rivals, i.e. King Louis XIV and the Czar of Russia, they would have been snuffed very quickly.
These same slave owners then had the audacity to write "All men are creared equal". How ironic, if not hypocritical. BTW, about 1/3 of the population was for Independence, 1/3 was not, and 1/3 didn't care. If you look at US elections and it's parties, you see that little has changed in these ratios.
Something to ponder, before resorting to a knee-jerk response.
I'm well aware, just pointing out the sometimes violence is required to make a change. I'm not commenting on the ethics behind the change.
Well, here is a step in the right direction from my favorite socialist.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-06/sanders-proposes-b...
Should make for a more interesting campaign and some great debates...if the MSM wil even bring up the subject.
Well, here is a step in the right direction from my favorite socialist.
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-06/sanders-proposes-b...
Should make for a more interesting campaign and some great debates...if the MSM wil even bring up the subject.
Just more evidence that the congressional Leadership (both parties) is being bought off or blackmailed to keep silent. Nothing will come of this, they will keep it secret.
Exactly right. We know the Fed is in charge and not the people/congress because a real audit never gets enough votes and thus is not permitted by the real power in Washington. Only collapse and chaos will bring about new order. Hmmm sounds vaguely familiar..
Didn't the last flash crash happen during the vote for the Audit the Fed?
Keep it secret is code for not adjudicating that individual, don't you think?
Fuck those guys!!!!
My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... www.jobs-review.com
A leak nested inside of a leak nested deeper inside of a leak.
A leak with an audit trail leading to the top-tier?
Audit and end this criminal enterprise already. Do it now and we might let some of the bankers, financiers, and their political puppets live.
tick tock motherfuckers...
Didn't one of them run afoul of the Law or die or something in the last two years?
That must've been the one.
ELSE
Secretaries, and notetakers beware!
I bet it was that Indian they have in chains.
He even has a bumper sticker:
"I did it from the basement, Bitchez!"
pods
It's an Indian!!
For sure not a WASP or a Jew.
DEATH TO THE MONEYCHANGERS...
(Reuters) - "China conducted trial runs for the planned launch of a yuan-denominated gold fix last month, three sources familiar with the matter said, in a sign the world's second-biggest bullion consumer was moving closer to creating a benchmark price. The state-run Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), on whose international platform the fix will be launched, conducted the trial with major Chinese banks and a few foreign banks, the sources said this week. The SGE could not be immediately reached for comment. China, also the top gold producer, feels its market weight should entitle it to be a price-setter for bullion and it is asserting itself at a time when the established benchmark, the century-old London fix, is under scrutiny because of alleged price-manipulation.
The London Bullion Market Association said last week it was considering the possibility of creating an exchange for gold trading in the city, a shift away from the over-the-counter system. China plans to launch a yuan gold fix this year through trading of a 1 kg contract on the SGE, Reuters reported in February.
Participation for the fix will be open to members of SGE's international board and more trial runs are expected to be conducted later, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the plans are still in initial stages. The SGE, which has been at the forefront of China's pricing efforts, opened an international bourse last year, allowing foreigners to trade yuan-denominated gold contracts for the first time.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/us-gold-china-fix-idUSKBN0NR06...
I know this clip would be just a recap for most zerohedge readers, but for those new here interested in the Federal Reserve http://www.youtube.com/watchv=iFDe5kUUyT0 Understand, audit, regulate, eliminate?
Yellen looks like a bookish teetotaler? Just looks like a dwarfish asshole to me.
Audit the Fed, then hang them all!
Now that we’ve established they’re all whores, it’s down to negotiating the price.
"O.K. how about this deal, we’ll tell you who it was, but, you have to give us three months to hire the scapegoat."
AGREEED?! THE FUCK THEY MEAN AGREED? AGREED MEANS THEY HAD THE OPTION TO NOT TELL THE NAME. GOD THESE PEOPLE ARE CORRUPT!!! WTF???!!!
Nuke it from orbit.....
it all sounds very clubby
not that it matters. everyone knows what the fed is going to say &/or do on any given day. there will be MOAR.
What exactly is MOAR?
Moar is like more, except way moar.
This is why ANY congress critter that is against a full blown audit is a fucking traitor.
As is anyone who voted them into office. Only traitors elect traitors.
The Fed's done nothing wrong; indeed, the Fed is the one that saved the day during the crisis.
We're recovering and healing every day, which is why gold holders are losing every day.
Here is that new asshole who bastardized an old ZH name. WB7 called him out yesterday....another troll.
The Fed's done nothing wrong; indeed, the Fed is the one that saved the day during the crisis.
We're recovering and healing every day, which is why gold holders are losing every day.
Jump you fuckers...I found a nice place for you in Turkmenistan:
http://www.destinationspoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/gates-to-hel...
I think we should abolish the Fed, but what will replace it?
I hereby throw my hat in the ring to replace the Fed and do their job just as well or better. I will print money every day, as much ink and paper will allow, and hand it out to those who I want to do me favors. Then, I'll also rent a helicopter (or heck, just buy one, with pilot included) and drop boatloads of money over all the red states because I don't like the color blue. Vote for me! It seems like a fun job.
While there is no honor amongst thieves, there is collusion.
Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission.
Guillotine the Fed. Audit the heads.
Simple. Hang Mr. Yellen for Treason. And then open the books under her feet.
What a telling photo. Notice the suit wearing filth surrounding that whore LaGarde are all over her, and she is obviously liking the attention. On the other hand, no one is interested in anything that ugly sow Yellen has to offer. Being a hideous old sow must suck no matter how much money and power you have. LaGarde is no fox, but is relatively attractive compared to the old sow. I would consider giving LaGarde a good prodding........if she was gagged and chained. Maybe.
BASIC INKSTINCT
* How do I insert a photo? The photo of Yellen shows up Ok in preview mode, but not when it's posted. ???
"Over $16 trillion was doled out to foreign institutions like Barclays and UBS."
This fact causes me to consider, since there is no official accounting of who the actual owners of the private entity known as the FED are, and that giving US taxpayer money to foreign institutions carrys a degree of risk if discovered, that these institutions may well be on the owners list. Would it surprise anyone here if it turned out that foreign banks were partners in the FED crime syndicate? Fuck audit the FED!!! More like BAN THE FED!!!!!
Its the guy who just bought...sarc tag...a new mansion in Bermuda...
Fuck Of the Month Club?
It would be for the experts to determine whether the FED is indeed a criminal organization. It is obvious that absent an audit the likely wrongdoings of the FED are going to continue. It is inacceptable that the FED is not transparent and that there is absolutely no control over it.
Audit the Fed?
Fuck the Fed!
Jail all Fed Governors, past, and present.
Seize their assets, and turn their families out.
F' congress as well.
We need system wherein taxes equal the budget.
See how long these rat bastards can hold office.
.
The FED has been turned into a criminal empire almost equal with the "too big to fail" banks.
Even my 80 year old father is waking up to the fact that the U.S. has been taken over by a bunch of traitorous criminals.
What little credibility the FED has left is being lost and with that goes confidence in their ability to keep the markets propped.
The end game is near.
Hang em the fuckkalll
That is similar to ... 'I will tell you who is sleeping with your wife, as long as you do not tell your wife'...........