Plan to Audit Fed Gathers Support Across Spectrum

By Christopher J. Petherick Lately, at a time of growing divisions, there is one issue, above all others, that is bringing liberals and conservatives together: The plan to audit the privately owned and controlled central bank of the United States, the Federal Reserve. A new report in Baltimore’s daily Examiner highlights the bipartisan nature of Rep. Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill (H.R. 1207).



“The groundswell to audit the Fed has made strange bedfellows, with Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Libertarians throwing their support behind H.R. 1207,” writes reporter Steve Cauley. “Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the former governor and attorney general of New York, recently called the Fed ‘a ponzi scheme’ on MSNBC.”





Juxtapose that with House minority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), writes Cauley. In a recent entry on his web site, Boehner blasted the Fed for its “lack of transparency and accountability” in regard to the federal dollars it has committed by the Fed and Treasury Department. The money the central bank and the U.S. agency have handed out raise “serious concerns” and make the audit that much more critical.



Other prominent liberals and conservatives who support auditing the Fed include populist activist Ralph Nader, conservative actor Chuck Norris and Liber tarian talk show host Glenn Beck, to name but a few.



Paul’s legislation is currently held up in the 71- member House Committee on Financial Services. But, every day, it gains new support; it is up to 282 cosponsors now. Paul characterizes this as the “most important step” in the evolution of his landmark measure.



“Now more than ever, we need to know what the Fed has been doing in secret,” Paul told Cauley. “I am pleased that all of my Republican colleagues in the House, as well as many Democrats, understand the need for this kind of transparency.”



Now it is up to Paul, Boehner and others to keep pushing to make an audit of the Fed a reality.



Christopher Petherick is a journalist and publisher based in Maryland. For more information, see his website at www.brandywinehouse.us or write directly to BRANDYWINE HOUSE BOOKS AND MEDIA, P.O. Box 638, Cheltenham, MD 20623. Petherick encourages all readers to sign up for AFP’s free weekly email newsletter. See AmericanFreePress.net.



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