WASHINGTON - Taking aim at Wall Street and the nation's central bank, a key House committee voted Thursday to require a sweeping congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve.
The votes we...
WASHINGTON - Taking aim at Wall Street and the nation's central bank, a key House committee voted Thursday to require a sweeping congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve.
The votes were the final brush strokes to the House Financial Services Committee's response to last year's banking meltdown.
On auditing the Fed, the committee adopted a plan by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, that had the support of a bipartisan roster of more than 300 members of Congress. It would give the Government Accountability Office the authority to audit the entirety of the Fed's balance sheet, credit facilities and all securities purchase programs. Critics, led by Frank and Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C., argued that Paul's proposal was too intrusive and could indirectly lead to higher interest rates. They proposed a more limited audit.
"If we open all of the discussions, the deliberations, the transactional gives and takes, what we will do is scare off capital because other governments will not deal with our Fed," Watt said.
Paul, who ran a long-shot campaign for president last year, argued Watt's more limited proposal would exclude much of the Fed's work from scrutiny.
"There is no reason in the world why this country and our people can't know eventually about what's going on in the Federal Reserve," Paul said.
Copyright MSNBC 2009
HR 1207 H.R. 1207 Fed Federal Reserve Tim Geightner timothy
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The value comes when the American people find out what the FED has been doing. Then maybe we will all agree that the Fed is just stealing from the American people. Do you really believe the country would have fell if we did not bailout the banks and GM. It definitely would of sucked but maybe then we would realize that we cant afford all the wars. I think it is time for the american people to wise up and put the American people first instead of counting on some government that does NOT.
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It should be subordinate.