Ron Paul launched a legislative push to audit the Federal Reserve in 2009, taking advantage of the rising popularity he began to experience following his 2008 presidential bid. The bill he introduced, formally called the Federal Reserve Transparency Act but colloquially referred to by the title “Audit the Fed,” passed the House twice, but was blocked by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who refused to let the Senate vote on the proposed legislation. Ron Paul’s bill would allow the Government Accountability Office to review the Federal Reserve’s books and retroactively analyze the decisions it makes pertaining to monetary policy. Due to a grassroots push inspired by Ron Paul, a partial-but-incomplete Fed audit was included in the 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which exposed the fact that Federal Reserve insiders were given conflict of interest waivers that allowed them to invest in companies that they knew were receiving emergency bailouts.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:52:27 +0000