Grayson on Auditing the Fed: We're About to See the Man Behind the Curtain in Emerald City
MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan talks to Rep. Alan Grayson about the amendment passed by the House Financial Services Committee to allow an independent audit of the Federal Reserve. If Alan Greenspan is not happy about it, I take that as a good sign they did the right thing. It only took putting this country on the edge of financial ruin that we're not out of yet for the S.O.B. to ever admit he might be wrong about anything.
Ratigan: Alright first big newsmaker of the Meeting, Democratic Alan Grayson, better known for some of his fiery comments on Republicans and health care, now taking aim at the Federal Reserve along with so many others. He says the Federal Reserve is more secretive than the CIA, and his new amendment co-sponsored by Republican Ron Paul would allow the first ever independent audit of the Federal Reserve. The amendment edged out a competing proposal from North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt who wants to limit those very audits.
Congressman Grayson now joins the Morning Meeting. Your amendment approved by the House Financial Services Committee—a huge step forward. Where do you go from here and what’s your level of confidence Representative that you can continue to addendum behind this piece of legislation?
Grayson: Where we go is to stop the secret bailouts. There have been hints and hints now for more than two years that the Fed’s been conducting huge bailouts on the scale of hundreds of billions of dollars to favor large failed banks. Now we’re going to find out all about it, and we’re going to decide whether it’s good or bad.
Ratigan: Comments from both the former Fed chief Alan Greenspan and for that matter former Fed chief going back even further Paul Volcker to the House Financial Services Committee. They say we can assure you that this protection of internal deliberations in reaching decisions that will affect market conditions and could expose sensitive information about particular institutions is indispensable to the Federal Reserve’s conduct of monetary policy. Basically if you look behind the curtain, you won’t like what you’ll see and it will screw things up worse. How do you respond to that?
Grayson: Well we are in Emerald City right now. We’ve arrived in Emerald City. Toto has just run underneath the curtain…
Ratigan: Excellent…excellent…
Grayson: …and we’re about to see who is that man behind the curtain and what’s he up to.
Ratigan: And they don’t want…and what would…what do you think is behind the curtain?
Grayson: Well what I think is favoritism towards selected big banks that have failed and led us to the brink of national bankruptcy.
Ratigan: What of the fact that lending law…being a bank no longer pays that much money to lend money. Lending because of modern technology is a low profit business so the government legalized much higher ways to do it in secret and basically the Federal Reserve is their back end. Do you…are we on our way to restoring laws for lending in this country?
Grayson: Listen, capitalism requires rewarding success and punishing failure. That’s what Joseph Schumpeter said almost a century ago. So far we’ve seen plenty of reward for success of Wall Street but no punishment for failure—not when the Fed is handing out blank checks.
I'm very interested in finding out the outcome of this.
I'll bet there will be something that comes up to block this.
Cause ya know there are a lot of people quaking in their boots right now.
This needs to be done every year.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
If they manage to actually get it passed I'll be surprised. I hope I'm wrong and there is enough political outrage on both sides to get it done.
How can the information provided by the fed be verified? Maybe Arther Anderson can sign off on their veracity.
And you thought insider trading on Wall Street was bad.
We'll never know the truth.
any audit would be futile, but the very idea is some consolation. a small victory that should be followed by others.
I don't have any problem with an audit
Since the rest of us face the threat of that regularly from the IRS
Why should they be exempt?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
I just finished Agamemnon, in Aeschylus The Oresteia, whilst soaking in my weekly tub of Radox, Pears and Pinaud, and reat what might be relevant here:
Aegisthus:...Look--can't you see? The more you kick against the pricks, the more your suffer.
And:
Leader: Strut on your own dunghill, you cock beside your mate.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Paul (R) and Grayson (D) have the winds of bipartisan populist rage at their backs.
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
I'll believe it when we see it.
I'll believe when I see it too , sure hope so , it could be very interesting .
Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .
... include the alleged reserves at Fort Knox?
And who will be counting and weighing the thousands of tons of gold? Supposedly we have about 5000 tons in Fort Knox and another 5000 tons or so at the Fed's enclave in Manhattan.
Better send Geraldo, because those vaults may be as nearly as empty as Al Capone's safe.
Grayson is sure growing quite a set of cajones.
Will this also lead to JAIL TIME for both the FEDERAL Reserve and the FAILED BANKS.
jail Time break up , Jail Time Break up
put the Socialist in Jail.
The gold out of Fort knox back in 1967, sorry I know were we moved it, but I am not allowed to say. We did use multiple Tractor Trailers and Military C141s' at that time.
I know surprise that is what my economics teacher said when he tookm his family back in the mid 80's sorry, but be assured it is safe.
Volker has seemed prescient before...easily done when one is on the 'inside' for so long!
Wonder if they will be compelled to report the M3 again? Wonder if the feds will ever truly allow the rest of the world to see how worthless is the US dollar?
I wonder where the 60 tons of gold plated tungston ended up. Doe the Fed own it?
The blowback would eat up every available minute.
If the people were to find out the truth, the real money would be in troches and pitchforks.
The Fed and the administration will do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen. And before everyone get pissed this is not a shot at Obama; no matter who was in the White House they would try to stop this.
I've been saying this for the past six months, healthcare reform is necesary but the debate is a smokescreen to protect the profits of the "investment" institutions for as long as possible.
The people who really run this country are many steps ahead of the rest of us, and until we, as an electorate start to understand just what's going on we will always be playing catch-up.
Understand people that the pendulum swings both ways. After the train wreck we just witness where the smothering bodies of victims still smells, we're pumping the idea that politicians should influence monetary policy? Can you imagine where we would be today if the Republicans had that also?
Paul is a quack. He would rather return to the Boom and Bust period prior to the Great Depression where Panics were the norm. This guy wants to remake our economy under the libertarian model for which no large economy exists today. Why? Because it only works on paper!
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