Many people have expressed dismay and disgust over the Federal Reserve.

Beyond Ron and Rand Paul, Rick Perry, a growing number of other conservative public figures and commentators are beginning to not only raise question about the practices of the Federal Reserve, but also its very legitimacy.

The recent FOIA requests by Bloomberg finally uncovered the staggering amount of American taxpayer money that was spent by the Federal Reserve- in secret mind you- during 2008-2009. In fact, the Federal Reserve blatantly lied to the American public, saying initially the amount was approximately $500 billion, when in fact the gross amount of money totaled over one trillion dollars.

That's right folks. 1.2 trillion taxpayer dollars spent in secret and with no accountability or oversight by elected representatives. That alone is an outrage and should put people in jail.

Moreover, to make matters even worse, we now know that much of this taxpayer money went overseas. While American citizens were getting hit with foreclosures, hundreds of billions of dollars were sent to bail out foreign banks, including many in Europe that are currently foundering. If and when those banks fail, that will impact our nation as well. As Bloomberg journalists Keon and Kuntz note in the August 21st 2011 expose:

It wasn't just American finance. Almost half of the Fed's top 30 borrowers, measured by peak balances, were European firms. They included Edinburgh-based Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, which took $84.5 billion, the most of any non-U.S. lender, and Zurich-based UBS AG (UBSN), which got $77.2 billion. Germany's Hypo Real Estate Holding AG borrowed $28.7 billion, an average of $21 million for each of its 1,366 employees. The largest borrowers also included Dexia SA (DEXB), Belgium's biggest bank by assets, and Societe Generale SA, based in Paris, whose bond-insurance prices have surged in the past month as investors speculated that the spreading sovereign debt crisis in Europe might increase their chances of default.

Bloomberg has an interactive chart that I strongly recommend the reader review. Just look at it. Perhaps Texas Governor Perry could be excused for calling the Federal Reserve Board leadership borderline treasonous.

More recently, Zerohedge is reporting that another $88 billion has been moved out of the Federal Reserve into a list of recipients labeled as "other" on its journals.

Other meaning what? Apparently the IMF, the ECB, and well, other European financial entities.

Apparently our money is not ours, but instead it belongs to the Federal Reserve.

So where does this leave us, and what is the way forward?

After all, if the Federal Reserve can secretly spend literally trillions of our money without congressional authorization or even oversight, including spending it on foreign corporations, then a reasonable person must ask themselves a question: Just who, exactly, is in charge here? We have lost control of our currency, and in a large measure, our nation.

If we are to continue to exist as a nation, we must put an end to this madness.

The rule of law must be established and enforced.