Sanders Agrees To 'Audit The Fed' Modification, Dodd & White House Now Support
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Still waiting for reaction from Ron Paul or Alan Grayson.
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Text of HR 1207 -- Grayson Paul amendment that passed the House
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Sanders on the Senate floor this afternoon:
SANDERS: In other words, Mr. President, we now have 59 senators who, as part of the budget resolution, voted on this issue, 320 members of congress, the house, two u.s. courts that have all told the Fed in no uncertain terms, give us transparency. That’s what we’ve got Mr. President. As I wind down and conclude my remarks, let me just simply say that I thank very much all of the support, all the grass-roots support from progressive and conservative groups and from my fellow senators. The American people have a right to know when trillions of their dollars are being spent and who got it. The American people have a right to know whether there are conflicts of interest. Mr. President, I would ask my colleagues — there’s so many cosponsors, I won’t even mention them all. But I just want to thank all of them. let me just conclude by saying that i am very proud to say that we have been working with Senator Dodd’s office and some other offices and I’m going to ask that my amendment with modified with the changes are at the desk, and i’m proud to say that these modifications have been worked out by Senator — with Senator Dodd and would allow the GAO to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all of the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending activities since December 1, 2007. In addition, the modifications require the fed to put on its web site all of the recipients of over $2 trillion in emergency assistance since December 1, 2007.
Chris Dodd: There was a concern about whether or not the independence of the Fed in any way would be compromised and he has guaranteed with his language here that that is no longer an issue whatsoever. And I want to thank him for it.
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Sander's modified amendment calls for the following:
"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Board of Governors shall publish on its website, not later than December 1, 2010, with respect to all loans and other financial assistance it has provided during the period beginning on December 1, 2007 and ending on the date of enactment of this Act under the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Term Securities Lending Facility, the Term Auction Facility, Maiden Lane, Maiden Lane II, Maiden Lane III, the agency Mortgage-Backed Securities program, foreign currency liquidity swap lines, and any other program created as a result of the third undesignated paragraph of section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act."
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Jane Hamsher at FDL thinks it's a sellout by Sanders >>
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Obama administration now supports Fed audit >>
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Fed Audit Amendment Deal Struck In Senate (Ryan Grim) >>
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Today's related stories:
Volcker Letter to Lawmakers Opposing Amendments to Audit the Fed
Proposal to Audit Fed Modified to Limit Impact on Monetary Policy (WSJ)
Reid Backs Breaking Up Banks, Auditing Fed (Ryan Grim)
Sanders' Fed Audit Amendment Now Likely To Prevail
Senate to vote on breaking up the banks and auditing the Fed (Ezra Klein)
Wall Street Reform Takes A Populist Turn
Dis! Sanders Learns Of White House Plans To Kill Fed Audit In New York Times
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May 6, 2010 at 9:08 PM
Reader Comments (30)
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/sanders-drops-proposal-to-audit-fed-s-monetary-policy-decisions.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iCG7IM6cEnk1LgM5NoqFUCPojD4QD9FHJQVG1
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/proposal-to-audit-fed-is-modified/
Watch the Senate debate Financial Reform LIVE
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704370704575228164133105390.html
http://washingtonindependent.com/84185/how-audit-the-fed-won-the-pr-war
Just one example, the person bitching over at FDL is claiming that we'll only see aggregate numbers or some such, but the bill explicitly requires that every single transaction be shown, every single institution named, what they got from the Fed, etc.
Now, I can't help but be suspicious. I just don't see how they're going to screw us. Any ideas, anyone?
and watching the senate debate...the cantwell amendment is up for a vote now...
On CNBC’s May 6 “Closing Bell,” correspondent Matt Nesto explained that investigators for both the stock exchanges and for Citigroup, the firm that some are pointing fingers at for a so-called trader error, have narrowed it down to a futures index called the E-mini S&P 500.
http://www.businessandmedia.org/articles/2010/20100506174136.aspx
Merkel blasts 'treacherous' banks in Greek crisis
http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/05/06/the-fate-of-the-liberal-amendments-to-finreg/
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/senate-liberals-push-for-strict-financial-rules/?src=busln&scp=2&sq=Sanders&st=cse
I TRULY admire the DB's 'David v Goliath' battle towards exposing the rampant fraud and corruption that's metastasized it's way thru-out almost the ENTIRE U.S. political world. But you know what? It's a futile fight at this point. I suspect you understand that yourself and yet you valiantly keep keeping-on. YOU my friend are a true American heroe as far as I'm concerned.
But until the average American dipshit decides to start ACTING on all the information you're providing them, NOTHING will ever happen. Look at these DIPSHITS. They think revolutions are won by hanging fucking TEABAGS from a tricorn hat.
RIDICULOUS buffoons.
And then there are the asswipes who want to impeach Mobamba for his 'failure' to produce a birth certificate. Gimme a fucking break. How about impeaching him for brazenly violating the U.S. constitution? How about impeaching him for his dubious ties to Wall St interests? How about impeaching him for FAILING to EXECUTE (as leader of the executive branch) and thereby impose his (now greatly expanded) authority over the judicial & legislative branches in order to get them to clean up their acts? He actually has the mandate and authority to do this, you know. Of course for THAT, our dear Lion King would first have to sprout a pair ..which he CAN'T and NEVER WILL.
Yes my friend, continue your valiant uphill struggle against the political africanization of America. I'm sure there'll SURELY be a reward for people like you when we all kick the ol' bucket and go to meet our Creator.
In the meantime tho; expect ZIP.
:-)
Hey, I still got a bridge in Jersey that I am trying to sell. If you are interested, please call Timmy Geithner or Tony Soprano.
a) I'm not really sure there IS a God, at least NOT in the way we usually interpret the concept and,
b) Even if there IS a God, I'm not exactly an authorized representative that I should go around spending God's blessings like I just qualified for a 0% Down, No Interest Adjustable Rate Mortgage with $10.000 back at signing. Restrictions may apply.
http://dailybail.com/home/krugman-is-wrong-again-employment-is-not-a-lagging-indicator.html
I don't know how you do it day in and day out, but I'm glad you do.
Ignore important issues like HR-1207 - S-604 and keep them in committee till it becomes apparent the voters are real pissed off. Pass 1207 in the House, that might keep some Reps. in office and they know there is no way the Senate is going to pass 604. Have Chris Dodd bring forth the great Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Behind the scene turn it into the Great Consumer Financial Destruction Agency. Then get Bernie Sanders to act like he's really working for the voters and pushing for a similar measure to S-604. Behind the scene gut the damn thing so it's not worth the paper it's written on. Other actors suddenly realize they may have lost some of their voter base, so they sign on when they know it's gutted and it's too late to influence the outcome anyway, like Harry reid and some other wise politicians. Reid claims he wasn't lobbied to oppose the audit, yeah I bet, hell if it's modified to be powerless why make him oppose it? The whole damn thing is scripted so the American people can be sold another meaningless stack of paper and the politicians can pretend that they are real legislators working for the people. The end result is more regulations for the FED, the SEC and other bureaucrats to ignore so the big bank gambling casinos can keep rolling along with the rich getting richer and the American middle class hanging on to the side of a bottomless pit of debt.
Well said. And quite maddening all, isn't it?
For all the reasons you outline and MORE, I firmly believe that the ONLY solution to resolving the core underlying ethical issues that are plaguing the American political & financial bodies is to institute a private Citizens Investigative Committee with the authority & mandate to look into our political leaders' ties to the finance industry.
Said committee should be made up of experts who possess a thorough understanding of high finances, accounting fraud investigation AND Constitutional law. They MUST also possess subpoena powers that allow them to access EVERY and ALL necessary documents, question all witnesses (up to and including the president), and issue arrest warrants if so justified.
Sadly instead of that committee, the best the American people could muster so far is a bunch of gerontological Revolutionary War re-enactors.
MINUS all the shooting, of course.
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Here's Ron Paul.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7II2diHymv4
He's pissed. He wants the FOMC stuff audited because of the foreign currency swaps. Of course that's important in the big picture, but aren't most of the bodies going to be buried in the special programs? I'm not sure Boobus is going to get worked up over currency swaps, anyway -- though we could try.
(Should've known you had it. Just saw it and remembered your mentioning it yesterday...)