Looks like the Republicans want the fox watching the henhouse. Ron Paul, one of Congress’ sharpest critics of the Federal Reserve, has been chosen to lead the House subcommittee that monitors the Fed’s activities, and he promises to push again for a full audit of the nation’s central bank.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Americans remain overwhelmingly in favor of auditing the Fed: 74% of Adults think it’s a good idea, and just 10% are opposed. Sixteen percent (16%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

This is consistent with previous surveys and matches support for an audit found in July of last year when Paul’s audit proposal first began gaining attention in the House. Support has risen as high as 80% since then.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke opposes a public audit of the Fed’s monetary policies, but just 29% of Americans hold a favorable opinion of Bernanke. Only 36% of Adults now are at least somewhat confident in those who advise President Obama on economic policy.

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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on December 6-7, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.