Ben Bernanke’s Worst Nightmare: Chairman Ron Paul
In the 111th Congress Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) introduced legislation to perform a wide-ranging audit of the Federal Reserve. That bill was, in Paul’s words, “gutted” before it came to the floor for a vote. Ultimately only a few very weak provisions of Paul’s original bill became law.
With Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives in January, however, Paul is likely to get another crack at the Fed, and he doesn’t intend to waste the opportunity. Paul is currently the ranking member of the House Subcommittee for Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology and is, therefore, in line to become chairman of the subcommittee when the 112th Congress commences. If he does indeed assume the chairmanship, “Paul said his first priority will be to open up the books of the Federal Reserve to the American people,” according to CNBC.com senior editor John Carney. “We need to create transparency there. To see what it is they are buying and lending, and who it is they are dealing with,” Paul said.
Auditing the Fed is only the beginning, as one might expect from the author of End the Fed. Carney writes that Paul told NetNet, “I will approach that committee like no one has ever approached it because we’re living in times like no one has ever seen.” Among his other objectives: using subcommittee hearings to educate the public about Austrian economists’ view of the business cycle, namely that it is a result of central banks’ shenanigans rather than something inherent in the free market, and auditing the U.S. gold reserves in preparation for monetary reform, either by legalizing competing currencies or by returning to the gold standard (or both). Also on his agenda, says Reuters, is scrutiny of the International Monetary Fund and other global financial institutions, probably as part of monetary reform. These institutions, as The New American has reported on multiple occasions, are pushing for a global currency, which may explain Paul’s comments, as reported by Carney: “We will have to have monetary reform. I think those on the other side of this issue are already planning. They are going to try to replace a bad system with an equally bad system.”Link:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/congress/5104-ben-bernankes-worst-nightmare-chairman-ron-paul
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