This weekend we celebrated America's Independence Day. But are we really a free nation? The truth is that it is really hard to argue that we are "free" when our currency system and our economy are run by an unelected privately-owned central bank.

You see, the truth is that the U.S. government does not "print money" whenever it wants. Under the current system, in order to get more U.S. currency, the U.S. government has to borrow it. The Federal Reserve creates the new currency out of thin air and then either keeps the "U.S. Treasury bonds" they get in return from the U.S. government or they sell them off to others. But what kind of sense does that make? Why does a "free government" have to go into debt to print its own currency? It is the U.S. government that should be printing U.S. currency - not a privately-owned bank called the Federal Reserve.

(From Jefferson To Greenspan: The Complete History Of People Freaking Out About The National Debt -->)

The truth is that the Federal Reserve is about as "federal" as Federal Express is. And no unelected private central bank should be "running" our economy. Actually the free market should be running our economy, but if anyone is going to run it, it should at least be the government that we have elected. But instead we have a group of unelected bureaucrats making our interest rate decisions, determining our money supply levels and deciding which of their friends get big bailouts. That isn't the American Dream! What kind of "democracy" and "freedom" is that? The sad truth is that as long as we allow an unelected privately-owned central bank to run our economy we will not be truly free.

The reality is that the Federal Reserve desperately needs to be audited. The Federal Reserve has never undergone a true comprehensive audit since it was created back in 1913. The truth is that we have very little idea of what is really going on inside that institution.

And yet they control our currency and our economy.

U.S. Representative Ron Paul had introduced a bill that would have mandated a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve, but it has now officially been defeated.

Ron Paul’s proposal to audit the Federal Reserve, which had previously been co-sponsored by 320 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, failed by a vote of 229-198.

Every single Republican in the House voted in favor of the measure, and even 23 Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans, but it was not enough.

You see, the Federal Reserve convinced 122 Democrats who were originally co-sponsors of Ron Paul's proposal to jump ship and vote against the measure.

It was truly a sad day for America.

Ron Paul has released a video expressing his disappointment over the defeat of the "audit the Fed" provision....

Congress just can't seem to do anything right these days.

What in the world is so threatening about actually getting to see what is going on inside the Fed?

After all, they print all of our currency and they basically run our economy.

Don't the American people have the right to examine what is going on?

Well, apparently the Democrats do not think so.

How "free" can we be when a private central bank has so much power over us and yet we cannot even examine what they are doing or how they are doing it?

In fact, Ron Paul told MSNBC that he believes that the Federal Reserve is more powerful than Congress.....

"The regulations should be on the Federal Reserve. We should have transparency of the Federal Reserve. They can create trillions of dollars to bail out their friends, and we don’t even have any transparency of this. They’re more powerful than the Congress."

When we allow such powerful institutions to rule over us without any kind of accountability whatsoever, we dishonor the sacrifices that our founding fathers made to give us liberty and freedom.

As we celebrate July 4th, let us reflect on the extreme sacrifices that those who came before us were willing to make.

The following is a piece entitled "The Price They Paid" by an anonymous author....

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two Lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty wouldbe death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress Without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his grist mill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.

Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution.These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."