Topic: Federal Reserve
HR 1207 Must Become Law!
Contacting your congressperson to ask them to cosponsor legislation you believe in does work. Oh, we are always told that members of Congress care about the views of the folks back home.
by Kenn Jacobine
(libertarian)
Sunday, June 14, 2009

But, being a libertarian, I am usually on the other side of every political decision that is made. I mean, I haven't voted for a presidential winner or even the runner up in that contest since 1988.  It is lonely in the political wilderness.

That is why this week was special.  HR. 1207 Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009 would "amend title 31, United States Code, to reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States."  In other words, the legislation would force the Fed for the first time in its 95 year history to come clean and submit to an audit similar to the ones carried out against other private banks.

You see, in the last month I have sent two letters to my congressman Heath Shuler D-NC 11th District, asking him to cosponsor this legislation.  This past Tuesday, I received a response from my representative that was somewhat ambivalent to say the least.  The congressman indicated he was a little uneasy with the legislation because "…it is critical that the Board of Governors (of the Fed) not be politicized. This institution is meant to be a part of the government, but it must remain independent of short-term political pressures."  Feeling a bit down because I had been once again rejected politically, I decided that this week's blog would blast the 2 term congressman for his short-sightedness and for turning his back on taxpayers.  However, much to my astonishment, on Friday I found out the congressman had committed to HR 1207 and became its 222 cosponsor!  At last, a brief reprieve from the political wilderness.

In fact, things are looking a little up for us libertarians.  And it is about time – being that we are the political descendents of the Enlightenment thinkers and American Founding Fathers that helped usher in the modern world with its respect for economic and personal freedoms.  HR 1207 currently has 224 cosponsors and the numbers are surging (34 new ones since Tuesday)!  That is more than a majority of House members.  It is by far the most serious threat that the economic oligarchs at the unconstitutional Federal Reserve have ever encountered.

Economic oligarchs?  That is what the Fed is.  It is no less a cabal of economic central planners than the old Soviet Politburo (just as effective as well).  In 1913, Congress gave away its control of our money to the Fed through the Federal Reserve Act.  The Central Bank has dictated monetary policy without congressional oversight ever since.  The elected 535 members of Congress have no say whatsoever under current law on the 12 unelected members of the Federal Open Market Committee and their decisions on interest rates, buying and selling of government debt, and the printing of new money.  Congress cannot force Fed chairman Bernanke to give an accounting of where the $11 trillion of new money and credit have gone since the beginning of this recession.  Every act of the Fed is carried out with almost perfect secrecy and impunity. 

But again, things are finally and rightly moving against the Fed.  Perhaps the last straw for Congressman Shuler and the other 33 cosponsors of HR 1207 since Tuesday was the testimony of Bank of America's CEO Ken Lewis that Bernanke threatened and bullied him into finalizing BOA's takeover of Merrill Lynch.  The threats to his and the Board's jobs given by Bernanke and Paulson were inappropriate and probably illegal.  If this is what it takes to finally get a long overdue report of the Fed's secret activities, activities which affect every American deeply, then so be it. 

As the Fed controls the very lifeblood of our economy every American should get involved in this issue.  Technology has made this very easy.  Contact your congressperson at Roll Call – Congress.org and either thank them for cosponsoring HR 1207 or request they do so.  The fight for passage of this indispensible legislation has just begun.  This commentator is under no illusions about the battle that will be waged to oppose it.  But, one thing is certain.  Contacting members of Congress is an effective way for citizens to support good legislation – even for lonely libertarians.

Kenn Jacobine teaches internationally and maintains a summer residence in Haywood County, North Carolina.  Visit his blog site online at:  The View from Abroad.

©2009 Kenn Jacobine, all rights reserved. You must have written permission from the author in order to republish this work.
Published: Sunday, June 14, 2009
Last modified: Sunday, June 14, 2009

The views expressed in this article are those of Kenn Jacobine only and do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Kenn Jacobine is solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.

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Reader Comments:

Posted By: Walt Thiessen
Date: 2009-06-14 11:10:19

I haven't said much about H.R. 1207. I figured I'd use your article to speak my mind on the subject.

First, let me make clear that I support the measure. I find it exciting that a bill exists I can actually support and that it's gaining favor in Congress. I hope it passes and becomes law.

Having said that, I must also throw cold water on this same bill. Requiring an audit of the Fed will likely be much less satisfactory than proponents hope. First, the bill does not control who will be given the auditing responsibility. Nor does it control the extent of the audit. Supporters undoubtedly hope for a complete and thorough audit. Don't bet on it! The resulting audit will likely be a whitewash.

Also, there is very little doubt that by the time the bill gets passed, it will be largely unrecognizable. Already Republican leaders have tried to water the bill down using amendment language to place severe limits on how far such an audit will proceed. We can expect much more of the same from both parties before the bill actually reaches the floor for a vote.

The bottom line is that the resulting audit will probably tell us next to nothing.

So should we abandon the attempt? Not at all. If nothing else, it will be educational. It will throw light on a previously unaddressed problem, if only briefly. It will educate supporters who believe in pushing for legislative change in the short-term on the near-futility of such efforts. It will reinforce appreciation of the intractibility of the opposition by the bill's grassroots supporters. Perhaps most importantly, it will serve notice to the banking establishment that their secure little racket faces an external threat.

The challenge will come after the bill's passage and inevitable emasculation. The Campaign For Liberty and the anti-Fed movement as a whole must be prepared to take the next step immediately afterward, or risk losing the momentum gained. I hope someone is planning those next steps.

 

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Posted By: Kenn Jacobine
Date: 2009-06-15 01:23:00

Walt,

 I agree with you totally.  Of course, Pelosi, Frank, Reid, and the rest of the bunch will do everything in their power to squash the bill.  Then it will be emasculated by the Fed supporters in Congress before anything passes.  I trust Dr. Paul has some kind of plan for all of this.  Perhaps the biggest advantage will be that many in the Freedom Movement will lose the stars in their eyes and realize that this whole thing is a protracted war - kind of like the War on Terror.  We must pursue all means to dismantle this monstrosity that has been built since at least the Civil War.  I say daily that we live in historic times.

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Posted By: am_patriot
Date: 2009-06-15 11:15:51

 Don't re-elect ANY rep that attempts to take away from the concice intent of the bill. Get loud with these reps if we have to. We need the voices Now, Loud and Clear.This bill has the potential to expose and crack the ring of crime.

HR 1207 is Change that we can believe in. No amendments, please. I am going to watch the debates closely. America and the world is about to see who in congress stands for American Liberty and the others who are part of the movement toward the ending the American Dream in favor of economic enslavement and tyranny. Oh yes! Expose this operation. See why your hard earned Federal Reserve Note continuously shrinks. Ron Paul calls it the inflation tax. Ask this Question: Why would the US Government choose to borrow from an International Banking Cartel, and pay interest, when the US Government has the Constitutional authority to create the Legal Tender without any interest? The IRS is the powerful collection agency for the International Banking Cartel to collect the interest on the money borrowed by the US Government. Just remember that it has been stated by some lawmakers that, "the bankers own the place" (referring to Congress).And lately we are introduced to the term, "Gangster Government". All soon to become common knowledge. Then comes H.R.2755 (Also authored by Ron Paul) Federal Reserve Board Abolition Act To abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks, to repeal the Federal Reserve Act, and for other purposes. Finally we may see an end to the usury and Ponzi tactics of the International Banking Cartel and the FED's fiat monopoly money. "The inability of the Colonists to get power to issue their own money permanently out of the hands of George III and the international bankers was the PRIME reason for the Revolutionary War." - Benjamen Franklin

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Posted By: Leonard Haslag
Date: 2009-06-15 14:10:45

I live in Missouri and I have been watching the progress of HR 1207 for quite some time.   Ron Paul should have been  president but the big news media didn't do him any favors and I have not seen anything of HR 1207 discussed on CNN, FOX, NBC, CBS, or ABC.   I have  no proof but is our censored television trying to keep the American public in the dark?   So how much of  the publice really knows anything about this bill unless they find out about the bill by emails or finding out about it on the internet.   I would think that this bill would be a be worthy of national news.  I have contacted my Congressman and I am proud to say he is supporting it.  I just hope my Congressman continues to support HR1207.  I am 51 and I am just praying that someday this great nation that we live in will be restored the way our Founding Father's created it.  

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