Free Republic

It's an issue that libertarian Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a self-proclaimed socialist agree on: Congress should have the authority to call for the Federal Reserve to be audited. But it is also something that some in the financial media are reluctant to support, especially judging from the tone of CNBC "The Call" co-host Trish Regan and comments CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Liesman. On the Nov. 20 broadcast of "The Call," CME Group reporter Rick Santelli made the case that Federal Reserve should be audited. He cited opposition to the Fed audit proposal from Sen....

A top Senate Republican lashed out against lawmakers of both parties for supporting legislation that would audit the Federal Reserve, accusing the bipartisan group of “political pandering” to populist anger. Sen. Judd Gregg, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, says he’s worried that politicians on Capitol Hill are sacrificing the Fed’s historic independence because the Fed has become unpopular during the economic crisis. “This move to bring the Fed’s conduct of monetary policy under the control of Congress is a grave threat to our economy. Congress has demonstrated time and again its inability to manage the nation’s fiscal...

It's about damn time. Yes, it's a first step - but an important first step, and it happened yesterday. Here's what Representative Grayson said at the time of debate: Bloomberg wasted no time giving the "loyal opposition" to transparency all the digital ink they desired: “It’s going to be seen as weakening the independence of monetary policy with consequent negative implications,” Frank told reporters after the vote. “People are going to be worried about the impact on the dollar, on the interest rate.” Go listen to Mr. Grayson's statement again. Now tell me how The Fed's move to dilute our...

A bipartisan effort gaining momentum in the House to require periodic audits of the Federal Reserve is little more than "great PR," one Republican senator stressed Friday. Although Reps. Ron Paul (R-Tx.) and Alan Grayson's (D-Fla.) effort to subject much of the Fed's records, communications and decisions to public scrutiny now has well over 300 supporters in the House, not among them in the Senate is Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who told CNBC this morning that the amendment was little more than "pandering [to] populism." "For the Congress to get into monetary policy, it's just absolutely inexcusable," he said. "We can't...

Thanks to your quick action in contacting Congress, the House Financial Services Committee earlier today rejected Representative Mel Watt's attempt to hijack Audit the Fed by voting 43-26 to pass Ron Paul's amendment to the financial regulatory reform bill. Dr. Paul called me right after the vote to personally express his thanks to C4L members for all of your efforts! It is an incredible testament to the growing power of the liberty movement that we were able to get such an audit passed by a major House committee, but this is by no means the end of our fight. Financial...

Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker wrote the House Financial Services Committee earliy this month that they opposed a provision, backed by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) that would expand the congressional Government Accountability Office’s audits of the Fed. The committee, ignoring the pleas from the two, endorsed the provision Thursday. Greenspan and Volcker, in a letter sent to the committee’s chairman and ranking Republicans, warned that the provision threatened the ability of the Fed to foster price stability independent of political interference.

Israel bashing, Houston hair care executive Farouk Shami, is throwing his hat into the ring and has stated that he is 100% sure that he will be the next Governor of Texas. Here is one of his past comments. "Polls show that our unquestioning support of Israel fuels anti-American sentiment in the Arab and Muslim worlds." If he wins, I am sure that he will get along just fine with Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison. Democrat Joins Gubernatorial race, Says He’ll Spend $10 Million in Primary November 19, 2009 by TMO Houston hair executive Farouk Shami says his focus is stimulating...

The House Financial Services Committee has approved Rep. Ron Paul’s measure to drastically expand the government’s power to audit the Federal Reserve. The measure, based on a Paul proposal that has attracted more than 300 co-sponsors, passed, 43-26, as an amendment to a financial reform bill. Florida Democrat and fellow Fed critic Alan Grayson co-sponsored the amendment with Paul and played a leading role drumming up support for it among committee members. The adoption of this amendment is an extraordinary victory for Paul, whose libertarian, anti-Fed leanings have often been dismissed by the political establishment.

For nearly a century the Federal Reserve has operated in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of Congress, journalists and the American people. Created in 1913, the Fed was given enormous responsibility to protect the value of our currency. Yet in the last 96 years the U.S. dollar has lost more than 95% of its purchasing power. The Fed's unprecedented actions over the past year in attempting to stabilize the financial system have now forced it into the spotlight, and caused millions of people around the country to question the opacity of the Fed's financial transactions. While the Fed...

She sounds off on Ron Paul, health care, and, of course, liberty. BY MATT SNYDERS Michele Bachmann is a regular fixture on the cable news circuit. When it comes to print, however, she takes a more measured approach; she declined a phone interview with the New York Times last month, insisting on a Q&A via email. She gave City Pages the same deal. Here's what she had to say: City Pages: Your appearance with Rep. Ron Paul surprised some folks. At first blush, it would seem the two of you might come down on very different sides on a lot...

Last Saturday many concerned Americans watched in horror as the House passed the healthcare reform bill. If this bill makes it through the Senate, it would massively overhaul the way healthcare is delivered in this country. Today, obviously, we don’t have a perfect system, but this legislation takes all the mistakes we are making with healthcare and makes them worse. Most of what is wrong with healthcare stems from decades of government intervention and the resulting unintended consequences. But the government’s prescription for the ills caused by intervention is always more intervention. We see this not only in healthcare policy,...

In a segment titled "Chuck and Gena Norris on American Politics" Sean Hannity asks Norris if he would ever consider runnning for the U.S. Senate. Norris scoffs at the idea, saying "with all the senators there you can't get anything done. What would I do, I'd have to choke out all the democrats?" Norris continues, "it's kind of my sayings, one of the facts, America's not a democracy, it's a Chucktatorship. Hannity: I'd like a Chucktatorship. Norris: Yeah and if it was, I said I would go to congress , I'd line up every member of congress, and I'd have...

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has a bill with 300 sponsors that won’t pass, which is very unfortunate, but revealing. Let me suggest a variation that might pass, and would be extremely valuable: Let’s begin with a complete audit of all bailout programs initiated by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and other relevant agencies. This audit would be all-inclusive, from top to bottom. It would include zero- to low-interest loans and financing facilities. It would include federal purchases of any form of financial instrument that was initiated in response to the financial crisis. It would include all...

Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul built a nationwide army of fiercely loyal, enthusiastic, young supporters during his 2008 Presidential run. It appears Paul is hoping to expand upon that base and possibly gear up for another run in 2012. Paul visits Ames tonight for speech at Iowa State University....

Transportation Security Administration screeners at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport probably wish that the fellow they chose to grill last March about a box of cash wasn't a Ron Paul devotee who runs a committee devoted to individual rights and constitutional government. But grill Steven Bierfeldt they did, and eight months later the incident has yielded revised rules requiring TSA agents to stick to matters related to flight security rather than policing airports for other crimes. Bierfeldt and the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented him in a lawsuit, announced in a news release this week that the TSA had changed...

A University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs professor called for an unprecedented audit of the Federal Reserve Bank balance sheet expansion of $2trillion during the 2007-09 financial industry crisis. During a San Antonio appearance Friday, Robert Auerbach, author of the 2008 book “Deception and Abuse at the Fed,” argued for an audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office as he spoke at an event sponsored by the Henry B. Gonzalez Foundation for Inspiring Public Service in San Antonio. Auerbach, who served on the U.S. Housing Banking Committee staff when Gonzalez was chairman in the 1990s, said...

The central bank doesn't need more political interference as it decides when to move against inflation. BY ANIL K. KASHYAP and FREDERIC S. MISHKIN Under the banner of increasing Federal Reserve transparency, Congressman Ron Paul has sponsored a bill that would subject the Fed's monetary policies to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The bill is a veiled attempt to undermine the Fed's independence. If it passes, it will cripple policy making—particularly when it comes to inflation. It is completely appropriate to hold the Fed accountable for its decisions. But the Paul bill, H.R. 1207, will only produce...

As Washington continues debating healthcare reform the rest of the country is primarily concerned about jobs and the economy. It is still uncertain what policies will be implemented, but I am certain about one thing: It will only further devastate our economy and our dollar. The leadership has come up with a proposal they are confident will be what they consider fiscally responsible, only to have it scored as nearly twice as expensive by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Estimates of past healthcare spending programs have been off by as much as 100 percent so there is no telling what...

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Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) yesterday made some troubling comments about his bill, HR 1207, to audit the Fed. According to Paul, the bill, despite having more than 300 sponsors in the House, was eviscerated in committee, and maintains Fed secrecy on all important avenues if investigation. It stands to figure that what's good for the Fed is bad for you and me; slavery is no longer characterized by chains More.. and confinement and skin color- nowadays slavery is accomplished more with taxation, money manipulation, and debt.

Eighteen months later, Nevada Republicans have completed a count of all delegate ballots from last year's state convention. A group of disaffected Republicans says it feels vindicated after a Friday night count of missing ballots from the April 2008 gathering showed three delegates for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul should have been sent to the national convention. Paul supporters said they felt party leaders cheated them out of a place at the national convention when they abruptly recessed the convention before delegate ballots from the state's 2nd Congressional District could be counted. The district was allowed to choose three of the...

Ron Paul vindicated once again, globalists loose their lunch. Rock on Dr Paul! Bring it

There has been a lot of talk in Washington recently about senior citizens, mostly about how various healthcare reform models would help or hurt them. But there is another critical issue that has quietly devastated seniors financially over the last few decades. It concerns how the cost of living is calculated. How does the administration justify not giving a cost of living increase to Social Security recipients this year? According to the official Consumer Price Index calculation, life has gotten cheaper for the first time in decades. If the government can show statistically that the cost of living has gone...

With most Americans outraged over the behavior of the Federal Reserve and the part it has played in the bailouts of huge institutions in the financial and automotive industries, Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1207, which would have required a full audit of the Federal Reserve and its activities, which crosses international lines. According to Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the House Financial Service Committee’s panel on domestic monetary policy, Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., essentially stripped the bill of just about everything that would have required transparency, and pretty much is now worthless as to its original purpose of letting the American...

Any number of pundits claim that we have now passed the worst of the recession. Green shoots of recovery are supposedly popping up all around the country, and the economy is expected to resume growing soon at an annual rate of 3% to 4%. Many of these are the same people who insisted that the economy would continue growing last year, even while it was clear that we were already in the beginning stages of a recession. A false recovery is under way. I am reminded of the outlook in 1930, when the experts were certain that the worst of...

Gary Johnson Gearing up for 2012? The pro-drug legalization, pro-immigration, small government budget hawk and former governor of New Mexico looks to be preparing for a run. Gary Johnson is preparing to launch his Our America PAC shortly, as soon as he gets all of his legal ducks in a row. He will be hitting the trail hard soon, traveling the country to speak in support of issues and candidates, re-immersing himself in the public policy debate. This December, Governor Johnson will also be releasing a book entitled “Seven Principles Of Good Government,” published by The Heartland Institute (a conservative-libertarian...

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has complained that the bill he sponsored calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve has been "gutted" by congressional committee, pointing specifically to a legislator whose campaign coffers have been boosted by the banking industry. As WND reported, Paul sponsored H.R. 1207, a bill requiring the Federal Reserve – an organization that's independent from the U.S. government but nonetheless oversees U.S. monetary policy – be opened to oversight by Congress. The plan compiled over 300 co-sponsors in the House before being sent to committee. But in a telephone interview with a Bloomberg reporter, Paul said...

“The entire federal government,” laments Congressman Ron Paul in his newest book, End the Fed, “is one giant toxic asset at the moment. It certainly has no business telling the private sector how to run its affairs. It is in worse financial shape than all the companies in the private sector put together.”Hard words, but Congressman Paul knows whereof he speaks. It was Ron Paul, unique among congressmen for his understanding of how a free-market economy is supposed to work, who warned repeatedly of the coming economic calamity. It was Ron Paul, too, who warned both the Bush and Obama...

Why can't other Republicans argue like this without being ashamed.. Here is someone who understand capitalism and will defend it as a system thats good for society and the well being of other human beings

As critics continue to mull over whether President Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite says the U.S. Constitution does not allow him to accept the award without the consent of Congress. In a letter to Obama delivered on Monday, Brown-Waite, R-Fla., along with Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, claim the president is obligated under the Constitution to obtain Congress' approval before he formally accepts the prize. Article I, Section 9, of the Constitution, the emolument clause, states: "And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent...

Will Ron Paul give it another go in 2012? The Texas congressman and hero of limited government advocates will visit the key early primary state of South Carolina on Nov. 9 to deliver a speech "on the future of individual liberty and the importance of the U.S. Constitution" at the University of South Carolina, student groups said Tuesday. The announcement comes a week after Paul scheduled a visit to Iowa on Nov. 13 to speak to students at Iowa State University.

It’s hard to imagine a Republican more useless than South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Whether spearheading legislation that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, stumping for the $787 billion taxpayer theft known as “TARP,” being the lone GOP committee vote to confirm liberal Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor, or his recent joining with John Kerry to promote cap-and-trade—without shame and without fail—conservatives have never had a friend in Graham. And yet in 2008, Graham was reelected in the deep Red State of South Carolina over a Democratic candidate, Bob Conley, who staunchly opposed amnesty, TARP and was well...

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) —Nevada Republicans who supported Ron Paul in last year's GOP presidential contest announced a political action committee Monday to oppose the U.S. Senate bid of former state party chairwoman Sue Lowden. Robert Holloday, spokesman for the Fair Nevada Elections PAC, said Lowden's handling of last year's state convention when delegate selections were stopped amounted to betrayal. "Sue Lowden's leading role in improperly halting the delegate election disqualifies her for any position of trust in government," Holloday said. "Our group hopes to raise awareness of the dismal record of Sue Lowden and to oppose her election to...

Last week a new bill was introduced in the Senate to audit the Federal Reserve. Some backers of my bill HR1207 and the existing Senate companion bill S.604 were a little miffed at this, but depending on how you think about it, this new legislation poses no great threat to our efforts. With the economy in shambles, people are looking for answers - not just because of lost savings on Wall Street, but because of lost houses on Main Street. Because of the many problems we face, the Federal Reserve and its powers over the economy have come under scrutiny....

During an appearance on the Neil Cavuto show, Mike Huckabee said he would not make an endorsement in the NY-23 special election -- and then proceeded to profusely praise Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, and say he could never support a pro-choice candidate (which so happens to be the case for the GOP's nominee, Dede Scozzafava). "Certainly his views represent more closely to mine," said Huckabee. "I'm not taking a role in that with my PAC, simply because I feel like it would be inappropriate with me at this point -- mainly because I'm already speaking to the Conservative Party...

The Economist has a thoughtful interview with Reihan. His thoughts on Paul: My suspicion is that non-interventionism is going to enjoy a rebirth among conservatives. As memories of 9/11 fade and casualties continue to mount, a desire for an independent foreign policy with an inward focus—I won't call it isolationism—will reassert itself. Though I'm a firm believer in a more forward-leaning foreign policy (my instincts are more McCain than Paul), this is a good and healthy debate to have. So in that sense, Mr Paul is good for the party. I worry, however, that the Paul movement represents a turn...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says health care is a right; President Obama says health care is a right; the 2008 Democratic National Platform says health care is a right. Republicans say that health care is not a right. Right? Former Republican Senate majority leaders Bill "bought and paid for by the AMA" Frist and Bob "bought and paid for by Big Pharma" Dole support health care reform, but the Republicans in Congress, who have to answer to the voters, are balking. As much as I deplore with every fiber of my being every facet of the federal government’s intrusion into...

The continuing financial crisis has made clear to many people the deep problems that exist within our financial system. One of the key decisions to be made in any of the reform proposals floating around deals with the Federal Reserve System and its powers. For nearly 100 years the Federal Reserve has operated largely in the shadows. The Fed’s monetary policy operations, including open-market operations and agreements with foreign governments and central banks, are exempt from audit by the Government Accountability Office. Congress itself never delves into these areas in the limited time it has during the Fed chairman’s semiannual...

The U.S. has moved past none of the core issues that brought the economy to its knees last fall, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) suggested Tuesday. Paul asserted that while some big financial institutions may be starting to reap large profits again, the bailouts put in place to help those firms last year have only worsened the long-term economic standing in the country. "None of this is behind us," the libertarian Republican said during an appearance on CNN. "All we have done is prolong the agony and very soon people are going to realize, in spite of all these huge profits,...

With a faltering economy, multiple wars, and the approaching demise of the dollar’s reserve status, there are more than enough problems to keep politicians in Washington working day and night. In between handing out cash for clunkers and nationalizing healthcare, the administration is busy sending more troops overseas, escalating existing wars, and seeking out excuses to start new wars. Congress is working on “urgent” legislation to address crises like healthcare reform and climate change. The reforms are so very urgent that legislation must pass swiftly with no time to read the bills even though the new laws wouldn’t take effect...

Yesterday, 223 House Democrats (and Ron Paul) voted down a motion to recommit H.R. 2892. In effect, they voted: 1) to bring Guantanamo al Qaeda detainees into the U.S., 2) to delete the requirement that all detainees who once were or currently are being held at Gitmo be placed on the Department of Homeland Security's 'no-fly' list, and 3) to delete this additional requirement: "the Secretary of Homeland Security shall conduct a threat assessment for each such individual who is proposed to be transferred to the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, or the United States Territories."...

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Republican Rand Paul has raised more than $1 million for his U.S. Senate campaign, largely from Internet fundraisers that have proven especially lucrative for him. The son of former presidential candidate Ron Paul eclipsed all other major candidates in the third quarter.

An outburst at an angry South Carolina town hall meeting has exemplified the growing fissure in the Republican Party across the nation. “We're not going to be the party of angry white guys," liberal Republican Senator Lindsay Graham told a Greenville, South Carolina, audience at Furman University where some supporters of Congressman Ron Paul were heckling him. Ron Paul responded on CNN's Situation Room October 14 that Graham's attack was unfair. “For him to ... say that everybody who is upset with the government and upset with his type of voting record are angry white people or angry men, that...

Sgt. Aaron Taylor had been in the country for about a month A bomb technician from Camp Pendleton has become the latest locally based Marine to die from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Aaron Taylor died Friday when he exited a vehicle and stepped on the homemade explosive, his brother Kyle Taylor said in a telephone interview from the family's home in Minnesota. The Defense Department announced his death Tuesday. "He was an all-around good guy," 21-year-old Kyle Taylor said of his older brother. "He was really ambitious and everything he did he went after 150 percent."

Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul took to the cable networks today to jab back at South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who over the weekend said he would not sit back and watch the Texan “hijack” the GOP with his brand of Republicanism. “My first reaction would be, ‘What does he have against the Constitution?’ And the supporters I have support me because I’m a traditional conservative and I support the Constitution,” Paul told CNN in an interview tonight. He cited Graham’s support of TARP funds and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and “all the big government things” as...

I am going to be on TV twice tonight to respond to Lindsey Graham's attack Monday that I am trying to "hijack" the Republican Party, and that our movement is a bunch of "angry white men." Please tune in to CNN at 6:00 pm ET and MSNBC at 6:30 pm ET and help me defend our Constitutional principles from the Neo-Conservatives!

What if tomorrow morning you woke up to headlines that yet another Chinese drone bombing on US soil killed several dozen ranchers in a rural community while they were sleeping? That a drone aircraft had come across the Canadian border in the middle of the night and carried out the latest of many attacks? What if it was claimed that many of the victims harbored anti-Chinese sentiments, but most of the dead were innocent women and children? And what if the Chinese administration, in an effort to improve its public image in the US, had approved an aid package to...

This past week there has been a lot of discussion and debate on the continuing war in Afghanistan. Lasting twice as long as World War II and with no end in sight, the war in Afghanistan has been one of the longest conflicts in which our country has ever been involved. The situation has only gotten worse with recent escalations. The current debate is focused entirely on the question of troop levels. How many more troops should be sent over in order to pursue the war? The administration has already approved an additional 21,000 American service men and women to...

If there's anything Lindsey Graham does for the Republican party, it's that he reminds his constituents that political principles are more important than winning. In these videos, Graham simply has no shame as he continues to defy principle for compromise in the name of "winning." Since when did morality become all about winning? Regardless, the last time I checked Mr. Moderate John McCain didn't exactly excite voters in last year's presidential race other than to vote against Democrats. Honestly, I'd rather have one Republican in office who actually stood behind the Constitution than a super majority made up of two...

This isn’t the best audio but more evidence of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s complete dismissal of Ron Paul’s adherence to rigid constitutional government. Notice in the first video that instead of addressing the woman’s criticism head on, Graham simply asks her who she voted for in the presidential election. When she replied “Chuck Baldwin” Graham then attempts to marginalize her based on her support for the Constitution Party, slamming Paul in the process. The following took place 10/12/09 at a town hall meeting in Greenville, SC: