For three decades, Texas congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul’s extreme brand of libertarian economics consigned him to the far fringes even among conservatives. Not a few times, his views put him on the losing end of 434-1 votes on Capitol Hill.
No longer. With the economy still struggling and political divisions deepening, Paul’s ideas not only are gaining a wider audience but also are helping to shape a potentially historic battle over economic policy — a struggle that will affect everything including jobs, growth and the nation’s place in the global economy.
His warnings on deficits and inflation are now Republican mantras.
And with this year’s congressional election campaign looming, the Texas congressman’s deep-seated distrust of activist government has helped fuel protests such as the tea-party movement, harden partisan divisions in Washington and stoke public fears about federal spending and the deficit.
"People are wondering what went wrong. And they’re not happy with what the government is offering up," said James Grant, editor of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, offering an explanation for why seemingly wonkish arguments over interest rate policy and the money supply are spilling over onto ordinary Americans.
And so far, Paul and his fellow conservatives are on the offensive. President Obama and congressional Democrats are repeatedly pledging not to increase the deficit and to begin cutting back soon.
"I think we’re going to be in for more revival of fiscal responsibility," said William Niskanen of the Cato Institute, who headed the Council of Economic Advisors under President Reagan.
Niskanen sees the Texas Republican’s increasing influence as stemming from the continued economic weakness. "To this extent, Ron Paul gains voice," he said.
Paul would go a lot further in cutting back the government’s role than even free-marketers like Niskanen support. If Paul had it his way, for instance, he would do away with the Fed entirely. In his bestselling book "End the Fed," he lambasted the central bank as an "immoral, unconstitutional . . . tool of tyrannical government."
Such rhetoric might once have been dismissed as extremism. But Paul’s anti-Fed message has drawn broad support because of the central
Ron Paul “No Longer Fringe”
by ilene - January 4th, 2010 10:13 pm
Ron Paul "No Longer Fringe"
Courtesy of Mish
Mainstream media and the public are both at long last starting to realize Ron Paul’s ideas no longer fringe. From the LA Times …
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DiggPawns For The Fed: George Will, Robert J. Samuelson, Bonddad, Time, Others
by ilene - December 17th, 2009 2:26 pm
Pawns For The Fed: George Will, Robert J. Samuelson, Bonddad, Time, Others
Courtesy of Mish
The Fed is fighting tooth and nail Ron Paul’s Audit The Fed proposal. Along the way it has picked up backers in some surprising places.
Without even looking at the bill (or perhaps simply not caring to report the truth), rumors abound that the bill will purposely interfere with the Fed’s monetary and interest rate policy.
Please consider Why the "Audit the Fed" Movement Is Dead Wrong by Hale "Bonddad" Stewart. Here is a summary of points Bonddad, followed with my rebuttal.
Bondad asks:
“So — we already have an audit every year. Why do we need another one?”
“There are two answers to that question. The first is downright scary: the Texas Republican’s proposal requiring audits of the central bank’s interest-rate decisions is getting traction.”
Mish Reply:
If there is nothing to hide, why object?
Bear in mind there are many things the Fed does not report on but should. There is is no marked-to-market reporting of what is on the Fed’s balance sheet nor is there accounting for currency swaps to foreign central banks.
Moreover, Ron Paul explicitly put wording in his bill to not question the Fed’s interest rate decisions or monetary policy, and Ron Paul himself has concerns about the Fed’s independence from politics.
Please consider the New York Times article Ron Paul Defends His Plan for Fed Oversight.
Defending himself against critics, Representative Ron Paul of Texas played down continuing concerns on Friday that his amendment to give Congress sweeping new oversight powers over the Federal Reserve would compromise the central bank’s political independence. He asserted that the Fed was not truly as independent as it would like the public to believe.
“There is already a tremendous amount of political pressure on the Fed,” Mr. Paul, a libertarian Republican, told DealBook. “The Federal Reserve Board chairmen have notoriously been sympathetic to the presidents who might be reappointing them and there has been evidence to show that.”
Mr. Paul also asserted that the Fed was beholden to pressures beyond the government from special interests, including Wall Street. “It’s not like the banks and Goldman Sachs doesn’t have influence over the Fed,” Mr. Paul said. “Every time the Fed says it wants its
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Ron Paul reacts to Ben Bernanke being named TIME ‘Person of the Year’
by ilene - December 17th, 2009 10:55 am
Ron Paul reacts to Ben Bernanke being named TIME ‘Person of the Year’
H/t to Edward Harrison at Credit Writedowns
Ron Paul Tells Alex Jones the Fed’s Days are Numbered
by ilene - December 14th, 2009 1:15 pm
Ron Paul Tells Alex Jones the Fed’s Days are Numbered
Via Infowars.com
December 14, 2009
Ron Paul, Alan Grayson Audit The Fed Bill Approved In House Finance Committee
by ilene - November 20th, 2009 10:29 am
Ron Paul, Alan Grayson Audit The Fed Bill Approved In House Finance Committee
Courtesy of Mish
Chalk up a rare victory for the little guy (and the nation itself). The Bill To Audit Federal Reserve Passes Key Hurdle
In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter.
The measure, cosponsored by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), authorizes the Government Accountability Office to conduct a wide-ranging audit of the Fed’s opaque deals with foreign central banks and major U.S. financial institutions. The Fed has never had a real audit in its history and little is known of what it does with the trillions of dollars at its disposal.
Backers of the Watt amendment pressed their case on Wednesday by sending a letter from a "political cross section of prominent economists" backing a measure like Watt’s. HuffPost reported, however, that those economists might well have be prominent, but they certainly aren’t a "political cross section." Seven of the eight economists in question have extensive connections to the Fed — and half of them are currently on the Fed payroll. Those affiliations were not noted in the letter.
The playbook in Washington often goes like this: When a measure that threatens the establishment builds enough momentum that it must be dealt with, it is labeled as "unserious." The Washington Post editorial board, true to the script, called Paul’s measure "an unserious answer to a serious question."
And it particularly rankles the center that a pair of "wingnuts" are behind a successful effort to challenge the prevailing order. [See Grayson Called "Wingnut" By New York Times].
For anyone remaining confused, the debate was further clarified by the central bank itself: Federal Reserve Vice Chair Don Cohn and General Counsel Scott Alvarez spent much of the day calling committee members, urging them to oppose the Paul-Grayson amendment in favor of Watt’s, a member of Congress who asked for confidentiality told HuffPost.
Paul’s opponents also placed a letter from former Fed chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker on the seats of every committee member. Such a move
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Dylan Ratigan Discusses The “Audit The Fed” Support Letter
by ilene - November 19th, 2009 1:52 pm
Must see video with Dylan Ratigan, Ryan Grim (featured here yesterday) and Naomi Klein. Naomi talks about the zombie banks actually being vampires, sucking the blood (money) out of our society, fearing the fate of withering and dying in the light. How can we help? Naomi suggests that we need to "out the lobbyists." – Ilene
Dylan Ratigan Discusses The "Audit The Fed" Support Letter
The pressure on both Geithner and Bernanke is finally reaching a crescendo. Fixing the US economy would start with the departure of Geithner (forced or otherwise) and the full audit of the Fed. Everything else is smoke and overleveraged, uncollateralized mirrors (perfectly acceptable in the Fed’s discount window). An interview by Dylan Ratigan of Ryan Grim and Naomi Klein makes this point loud and clear. The castration of Ron Paul’s bill must not occur if America does not want to end up in the same financial collapse gutter it found itself in 2008. Mel Watt and others have to look beyond their immediate financial gain and consider what is critical for the American people.
DYLAN RATIGAN: How is the Federal Reserve trying to basically game this Ron Paul amendment which looks like it will pass, and then chop its head off just as soon as it makes it into the room?
RYAN GRIM: This is an immensely consequential debate that’s going on in the House right now, and it also tells you a little bit about how Congress works.
The Ron Paul/Alan Grayson bill has enough support to pass. So instead of trying to kill it, which they can’t do any more, they come in with what they call a “compromise.” A serious with a capital “s” amendment, but if you look at the fine print of it, it actually just extends the secrecy of the federal reserve, and as you said it’s backed by prominent economists at the fed and formerly at the Fed. They didn’t say that they that they were with the Fed when they sent a letter around backing it, but a Google search checking their resumes show that these are Fed bankers behind it.There is really unprecedented and very meaningful opposition to the Federal Reserve that has come together from the left and the right kind of opposing the center that is
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Ron Paul Discusses The Gutting Of The “Audit The Fed” Bill, Provides Observations On Collateral And Systemic Dangers
by ilene - November 5th, 2009 11:48 pm
Ron Paul Discusses The Gutting Of The "Audit The Fed" Bill, Provides Observations On Collateral And Systemic Dangers
Courtesy of Tyler Durden
Again, the simple truth boils down to the concept of collateral, or more specificall, lack thereof:
"Pretending [$8 trillion worth of collateral] is worth $2 trillion or even less doesn’t solve our problems, it just delays the agony. It would be like in medicine somebody had cancer, and we treated him with aspirin saying you don’t want the truth and give him real treatment. You have to know the truth and you have to have the real treatment… They are doing everything that caused the bubble before to try to reinflate the bubble but believe me thay are not going to be able to do it this time."
Unfortunately Ron Paul’s cause is for now doomed as the Goldman – Fed – Administration power arrow has the adminsitration at its "rightful" place in the bottom. Who is first and second is not even that relevant, although [one] can likely guess the distribution.
And an observation from Ratigan on why the swap market is kept off exchanges based on banker input: "because if we bring it into the public, we would have to post collateral, and we don’t have any collateral."
The next risk flaring episode is lurking so close, just off in the shadows… We need just one failed auction, and when interest rates explode, the entire $1 quadrillion IR derivatives house of cards will collapse and take everything away with it. America has bet its future on the goodwill of China and the Fed’s proxies: the Primary Dealers. If it does get to the point where Audit The Fed bill actually does get implemented in its non-abridged form, look for some fireworks in the IR world, courtesy of none other than Ben Bernanke. Would Uncle Ben be willing to wipe out the financial system as we know it as a final self-defense measure? Why, of course he would.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Debt Slave Bait and Audit the Fed Bill Gutted: What You Can Do
by ilene - November 2nd, 2009 4:18 pm
Debt Slave Bait and Audit the Fed Bill Gutted: What You Can Do
Courtesy of Mish
Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary policy has been “gutted” while moving toward a possible vote in the Democratic-controlled House.
The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.
“There’s nothing left, it’s been gutted,” he said in a telephone interview. “This is not a partisan issue. People all over the country want to know what the Fed is up to, and this legislation was supposed to help them do that.”
Paul, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said Mel Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, has eliminated “just about everything” while preparing the legislation for formal consideration. Watt is chairman of the panel’s domestic monetary policy and technology subcommittee.
Keith Kelly, a spokesman for Watt, declined to comment and said Watt wasn’t immediately available for an interview. Watt’s district includes Charlotte, headquarters of Bank of America Corp., the biggest U.S. lender.
Call The Capital Switchboard
Conservative For Change has this advice in Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed Bill Gutted.
It is time to get on the phone with everyone in Washington…Congressman and Senators and demand action against the illegal Federal Reserve. Call the Capitol Switchboard 202-224-3121 and speak with everyone you can!
Call Democratic Central Committee
On October 8, in Audit The Fed Revisited Jacob Dreizin offered this advice.
Without a flood of citizen lobbying, they will most likely water down H.R. 1207 into something meaningless, or else ignore it altogether.
The committee Democrats’ central phone number is (202) 225–4247, and the fax is (202) 225-6952. Alternately, and perhaps more effectively, you can politely email some or all of the committee’s most senior Democrat staff directly, as follows:
Committee staff director and chief counsel: Jeanne.Roslanowick@mail.house.gov
Committee deputy chief counsel: Lawranne.Stewart@mail.house.gov
Committee communications director: Steven.Adamske@mail.house.gov (or possibly Steve.Adamske@mail.house.gov)
Phone Your Own Representative
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Ron Paul: Here Comes the BIG ONE
by ilene - October 11th, 2009 3:11 am
Ron Paul: Here Comes the BIG ONE
Courtesy of John Rubino at Dollar Collapse
Ron Paul has a bestseller. That sounds so nice I’ll say it twice. Ron Paul has a bestseller. His new book, End the Fed, is number 30 on Amazon as this is written — with 167 mostly glowing reviews — and his reception last week on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show was hugely positive. Stewart, more-or-less a left/libertarian, clearly sees Paul as one of the good guys, and his audience seems to agree.
With all these doors suddenly slamming open, it’s easy to forget that just a couple of years ago Ron Paul was an obscure, eccentric Texas congressman whose presidential run was met with a yawn in the mainstream media. But when he stood up in the debates and made the case for limited government, sound money, and adherence to the Constitution, he struck a chord. It was clear (to libertarians at least) that he was telling the truth and that the political hacks who were treating him like a deranged uncle were the ones with the vision/character problem.
Paul didn’t win many votes (though out here in Idaho he did get 24% in the Republican primary) but he made an impression. And when pretty much everything he warned us about came true -- while virtually everything the hacks of both parties said turned out to be disastrously wrong — he even gained a bit of mainstream cred. So when he introduced HR 1207 to audit the Fed, the response was at first respectful, and then enthusiastic. Instead of instantly dismissing him, people began asking their representatives why the Fed isn’t already audited. This law might just pass, with unpredictable but almost certainly amusing results.
But of course auditing the Fed is just the beginning. Paul’s ultimate goal is to eliminate the whole institution, along with other golems like fiat currency and fractional reserve banking, and to reinstitute sound, honest money and limited government.
For those new to this subject, End the Fed is a clearly written primer on how dangerous delusions like unsound money and expanding government have gradually become the unquestioned conventional wisdom. For more seasoned gold bugs the book provides some interesting history, along with plenty of useful debate ammunition.
Some of the high points:
• Paul makes it clear that the Fed isn’t the whole problem. It’s just one part of a system that first…
Ron Paul on The Daily Show
by ilene - October 1st, 2009 3:56 pm
Ron Paul on The Daily Show
Interview with Jon Stewart, at Comedy Central
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