SenatorLamar Alexander (R-TN, right) thinks that Ron Paul’s effort to bring sunshine,openness, and transparency to the Federal Reserve by way of an audit (HR1207 /S604) is a bad idea (article). Here is a response.
Dear Senator Alexander,
I was highly disappointed when I read your statement againstauditing the federal reserve. You said, and I quote, “It’s a sorry daywhen the Congress superimposes itself on the Fed, nosing around inmonetary policy”.
Well senator, it’s a sad day when congress abdicates itsconstitutional oversight responsibility and ignores what is plainly inthe constitution. The constitution says and again I quote, “Congressshall have the power to…To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof,and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;” Nowit’s true that congress can delegate power, but that delegation ofpower in NO WISE means that congress no longer has an oversightRESPONSIBILITY! Congress has oversight hearings for all sorts of thingsnot even mentioned in the constitution, from labor disputes to steroiduse in baseball. Yet when it comes to oversight in an area put strictlyunder your purview, you choose to shirk your responsibility andcriticize those who are willing to shoulder theirs. It is a sad dayindeed.
I do have hope that you will reconsider your position. You did,after all, reconsider your position on the RealID Act and bravelyintroduced a bill to repeal it. And maybe, just maybe, you have joinedthe ranks of your fellow republicans like Jim Demint who have expressedbuyer’s remorse over the bailout. (I wish you could have voted withRichard Shelby against it in the first place.)
But now you have a rare opportunity to get out in front of a veryimportant issue. You can let your voice be heard in favor oftransparency and fiscal responsibility. Why, for instance, did theFederal Reserve pressure Bank of America into a risky deal of acquiringMerryl Lynch and went so far as to threaten to remove top execs if theydidn’t go along?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31238331/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/
That is NOT free market! It’s a sad day when my senator cannot standup to such open corruption and say “Enough is enough! You will at leasthave to open the books and let independent auditors see what is goingon.”
After all senator. It’s not YOUR money that the Fed is flittingaround the globe. It’s not even my money. It’s my children’s money.It’s their grandchildren’s money. And as someone who cares about myfuture generations I demand that what the Fed does be brought into thelight of day.
Regards,
John M. Drake