After 89 Democrats in the House voted in a victory for bipartisanship for HR 459 to audit the Federal Reserve, some jaw-dropping numbers are emerging as a result of a partial audit conducted this year. It is no surprise that the news is dropping with a dull thud in the media. That’s why you should get your news from the Internet and sites like this.

Senator Bernie Sanders at his official website reports:

The first top-to-bottom audit of the Federal Reserve uncovered eye-popping new details about how the U.S. provided a whopping $16 trillion in secret loans to bail out American and foreign banks and businesses during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. An amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders to the Wall Street reform law passed one year ago this week directed the Government Accountability Office to conduct the study. “As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world,” said Sanders. “This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you’re-on-your-own individualism for everyone else.”

Despite the wording of the Sanders press release the audit was not “top-to-bottom,” with many areas excluded. HR 459 would remedy this.

The consortium of private banks collectively known as the Federal Reserve found itself in the crosshairs of Occupy Wall Street last fall. Created in 1913, the Fed holds a monopoly on the creation of the currency, which it lends to the US Treasury at interest, or to other banks.

Blogger Pierre Joris of the Department of English at SUNY Albany gleaned from the report:

“The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious — the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs.”

And HotAir.com’s Ed Morrisey marvels:

“Yes, that’s sixteen trillion dollars in “emergency” loans to financial institutions from the beginning of the recession in December 2007 to just one year ago. The long-awaited GAO audit shows that the Federal Reserve loaned more than the worth of the annual US economy, and not just to American banks, although US institutions got the lion’s share. Citibank was the largest beneficiary…”

The revelations come as HR 459 Audit the Fed, which was passed with the help of 89 Democrats who broke party ranks even though party leaders whipped against it, goes to the Senate. It is said that Senate President Harry Reid will block a vote.

Now why would he do that?

It turns out that Reid was once one of the most ardent proponents of auditing the Fed. Reid in the speech in this video describes how he has offered a bill into the Senate year after year to audit the Federal Reserve, which he says has enormous power over our lives but is more secretive than the CIA. Reid did not simply join in on any Audit the Fed bandwagon. He led the charge.

Audit the Fed goes to Senate next, contact senators.