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The Federal Reserve is the chief culprit behind the economic crisis. Its unlimited power to create money out of thin air brought us the boom and bust cycle and causes one financial bubble after another. By recklessly inflating the money supply the Fed intentionally distorts interest rates and erodes the value of the dollar.

For the past 30 years, Ron Paul has worked tirelessly to bring much-needed transparency and accountability to the secretive bank. And in 2009 his unfaltering dedication showed astonishing results: HR 1207, the bill to audit the Federal Reserve, swept the country and made the central bankers shudder at their desks. The bill passed as an amendment both in the House Financial Services Committee and in the House itself.

But the usurpers of America’s future won’t take it lying down. They don’t want their secrets exposed and at this very moment, they are working frantically behind the scenes to quietly derail all efforts to open up the Federal Reserve to independent scrutiny.

A handful of Fed-loving U.S. senators are currently rewriting the Financial Reform Bill to strip out Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed amendment and actually expand the Fed’s power over banks, lending and money.

Action Alert: Call your senators today and demand that they…

1. Stand with the nearly 80% of Americans who support a FULL audit of the Federal Reserve.
2. Withdraw their support for ANY effort to strip the bill of the Audit,
3. Oppose all efforts to grant the Fed more power under the guise of so-called “reform.”

Enter your zip code to look up your senators and their previous position on S 604, the Audit the Fed bill:

Continue reading for more on Audit the Fed…

02/2009: Ron Paul Introduces Bill to Audit the Federal Reserve

On February 26, 2009, Ron Paul introduces HR 1207, the bill to audit the Federal Reserve:

“I rise to introduce the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar. Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. How long will we as a Congress stand idly by while hard-working Americans see their savings eaten away by inflation? Only big-spending politicians and politically favored bankers benefit from inflation.”

After a groundswell of grassroots support, HR 1207 and its counterpart in the Senate, S 604, attract 317 and 32 co-sponsors respectively.

10/2009: Mel Watt Introduces Competing Placebo Amendment

With HR 1207 gaining momentum, Congressman Mel Watt introduces a competing banker-approved “placebo” amendment that would replace HR 1207 and actually increase the Federal Reserve’s secrecy and power.

11/2009: Mel Watt Amendment Defeated

On November 19, 2009, after several hours of heated debate, Ron Paul’s and Alan Grayson’s “Audit the Fed” amendment passes 43-26 in the House Financial Services Committee. The amendment calls for a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve and replaces the opposing “placebo” amendment proposed by Mel Watt.

12/2009: Audit the Fed Passes in the House

The Audit the Fed amendment is attached to Barney Frank’s HR 3996, also known as the “Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009″. That bill is later combined, along with several other bills, into “The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 – Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009″ (HR 4173). The House passes the new bill on December 11, 2009 on a vote of 223-202.

Remaining Milestones Still Ahead

According to Ron Paul’s video update, now that the bill has passed the House, the following milestones are still ahead of us:

• “It has to go through the Senate; it’s going to have a harder time in the Senate.
• Then it has to go to a conference committee and that’s another problem.
• And then it has to go to the President.
• And even if it goes through all that, we still have the courts to deal with, and courts have never been friendly to those of us who want honest money.”

03/2010: Treasury Officials Still Support Mel Watt Amendment!

On March 8, 2010 Huffington Post reporter Sam Stein participated in a bizarre meeting with high level treasury officials:

The Treasury Department is vigorously opposed to a House-passed measure that would open the Federal Reserve to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a senior Treasury official said Monday. Instead, the official said, the Treasury prefers a substitute offered by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), and would like to see it enacted as part of the Senate bill.

The Watt measure, however, while claiming to increase transparency, actually puts new restrictions on the GAO’s ability to perform an audit.

Campaign for Liberty Action Alert

Campaign for Liberty President John Tate sent out the following email action alert:

Dear Supporter,

Our battle to Audit the FED has reached a crisis.

Right now, a handful of Fed-loving U.S. Senators, led by Bob Corker (R-TN), Richard Shelby (R-AL), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Judd Gregg (R-NH), are reportedly working to rewrite from the Financial Reform Bill to strip out Audit the Fed and actually EXPAND the Fed’s power over banks, lending and money.

I need you to contact your senators today with an urgent message: Audit the Fed and DON’T increase the Fed’s power.

As you know, Audit the Fed is currently in H.R. 4173, a financial “reform” package that has passed the House.

The Senate will unveil its version soon, which means you and I have to work fast. Continue reading “Action Alert: Audit the Fed!”