Bernanke fires back at Dodd, Paul bills to curtail the Fed

[bobbyw24]

Legislation in Congress to audit and remove some power from the Federal Reserve would threaten the central bank's independence, Chairman Ben Bernanke said this weekend.

Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, said that proposals from Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) contained in separate bills would harm U.S. efforts to stabilize the economy.

"I am concerned...that a number of the legislative proposals being circulated would significantly reduce the capacity of the Federal Reserve to perform its core functions," Bernanke wrote in an op-ed for the Washington Post to be published Sunday.

Op ed here: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=220697&highlight=bernanke

Bernanke referenced Paul's effort to audit the Fed (which Bernanke said would threaten the Fed's traditional political independence), as well as Dodd's financial overhaul bill, which would take a great deal of banking oversight authority out of the central bank's powers.

"These measures are very much out of step with the global consensus on the appropriate role of central banks, and they would seriously impair the prospects for economic and financial stability in the United States," Bernanke said. "The Fed played a major part in arresting the crisis, and we should be seeking to preserve, not degrade, the institution's ability to foster financial stability and to promote economic recovery without inflation."

The chairman chalked up the legislative moves against the Fed to populist anger at the bailouts undertaken by the U.S. in the past year. Indeed, Paul's legislation in the House attracted 313 cosponsors in the midst of other congressional shots at the Fed in recent months.

"Independent does not mean unaccountable. In its making of monetary policy, the Fed is highly transparent, providing detailed minutes of policy meetings and regular testimony before Congress, among other information," Bernanke wrote. "Now more than ever, America needs a strong, nonpolitical and independent central bank with the tools to promote financial stability and to help steer our economy to recovery without inflation."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/69611-bernanke-fires-back-at-dodd-paul-bills-to-curtail-the-fed

[LibertyMage]

Mwuhahaha! You are going down, Bernanke.

[james1906]

Bernanke reminds me of Latarian Milton

YouTube - 7-Year-Old Takes Car On Joyride (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcqOgnQyXp4)

[bobbyw24]

Written by Thomas R. Eddlem
Sunday, 29 November 2009 00:00

BernankeFederal Reserve Open Market Committee Chairman Ben Bernanke is pulling out all the stops to kill Congressman Ron Paul's legislation to audit the Federal Reserve Bank, this time with a November 29 op-ed column in the Sunday Washington Post.

“I am concerned, however, that a number of the legislative proposals being circulated would significantly reduce the capacity of the Federal Reserve to perform its core functions,” Bernanke wrote, adding that "a House committee recently voted to repeal a 1978 provision that was intended to protect monetary policy from short-term political influence.”

Ron Paul's legislation, H.R. 1207, recently passed the House Financial Services Committee, and a majority of the whole House (307 of 435) have cosponsored the overwhelmingly popular bill. The legislation would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to audit the Federal Reserve annually and disclose the results to the public. Bernanke opposes the audit while at the same time claiming that the Fed is adequately audited:

In its making of monetary policy, the Fed is highly transparent, providing detailed minutes of policy meetings and regular testimony before Congress, among other information. Our financial statements are public and audited by an outside accounting firm; we publish our balance sheet weekly; and we provide monthly reports with extensive information on all the temporary lending facilities developed during the crisis. Congress, through the Government Accountability Office, can and does audit all parts of our operations except for the monetary policy deliberations and actions covered by the 1978 exemption. The general repeal of that exemption would serve only to increase the perceived influence of Congress on monetary policy decisions, which would undermine the confidence the public and the markets have in the Fed to act in the long-term economic interest of the nation.

But earlier this year in Congressional testimony, Bernanke and other Federal Reserve auditors claimed they didn't know precisely how the Fed had added half a trillion dollars in assets (debts) to its balance sheet. The $500 billion in loans, Bernanke then told Florida Democrat Alan Grayson, were loans made to foreign central banks at the same time American businesses and homeowners were struggling to get loans. Bernanke has decried the possibility of congressmen and citizens being able to look into the books of the U.S. central bank and see transactions like the one above. “These measures are very much out of step with the global consensus on the appropriate role of central banks,” Bernanke said of the Paul bill, “and they would seriously impair the prospects for economic and financial stability in the United States.”


continue

http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/economy/commentary-mainmenu-43/2422-bernanke-attacks-ron-pauls-audit-the-fed-bill

[cheapseats]

"I am concerned...that a number of the legislative proposals being circulated would significantly reduce the capacity of the Federal Reserve to perform its core functions," Bernanke wrote...

I am concerned that a number of the Assholes being circulated as by a revolving door through Goldman Sachs and Treasury have significantly reduced the capacity of the American People to believe that the Federal Reserve can perform it's core, if mysterious, functions.

[catdd]

The Fed is goin down, ya little bald-headed crook.