Ron Paul teaches Ben Bernanke a lesson on Austrian free-market economics, but the Chairman is not listening. Instead, he tries to defend his actions by asserting that “central banking is an art” that requires guesswork.
Location: House Financial Service Committee
Date: 03/17/2010
Ron Paul attacks the Federal Reserve’s price fixing activities in his opening statement at the House Financial Services Committee hearing on bank supervision and monetary policy.
Location: House Financial Service Committee
Date: 03/17/2010
Ron Paul appeared on Fox Business to talk about the Federal Reserve, the flawed monetary system and the inflation it creates.
Channel: Fox Business
Date: 03/16/2010
Transcript coming soon!
Ron Paul appeared on The ED Show to discuss Senator Dodd’s financial regulatory reform bill.
Show: The ED Show
Channel: MSNBC
Date: 03/15/2010
Transcript coming soon
Supporting the War Instead of the Troops
by Ron Paul
Last week, Congress debated a resolution [H. Con Res 248] directing the President to withdraw our troops from Afghanistan no later than the end of this year. The Constitution gives the power to declare war to the Congress, so it is clearly appropriate for Congress to assert its voice on matters of armed conflict. In recent decades, however, Congress has defaulted on this most critical duty, essentially granting successive presidents the unilateral (and clearly unconstitutional) power to begin and end wars at will. This resolution was not expected to pass; however, the ensuing debate and floor vote served some very important purposes.
First, it was important to finally have an actual floor debate on the merits and demerits of continuing our involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan. Most congressional action regarding Afghanistan has concerned continued funding for the conflict. Thus, members of Congress have cloaked their support for an increasingly unpopular war in terms of financial support of the troops. But last week’s resolution had nothing to do with funding or defunding the war, but rather dealt directly with the wisdom of an open-ended commitment of U.S. troops (and hundreds of billions of tax dollars) in Afghanistan. Members opposing the resolution had to make their case for the ongoing loss of American lives as well as the huge expenditures required for an intractable conflict.
In my opinion, this was an impossible case to make.
Supporters of the war made the same intellectually weak arguments for continuing our occupation of a nation with a long and bloody history of resisting foreign occupation. Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
The War Powers Resolution was passed in 1973 in the aftermath of Vietnam. It was intended to prevent presidents from slipping this country so easily into unwinnable wars, wars with indistinct enemies and vague goals. Unfortunately, it has had the opposite effect by literally legalizing undeclared wars for 90 days. In the case of Afghanistan, 90 days has stretched into nearly a decade. The original purpose of the initial authorization of force – to pursue those responsible for the attacks on September 11 – is no longer applicable. Al Qaeda has left Afghanistan; we are now pursuing the Taliban, who never attacked us. The Taliban certainly are not our friends, but the more of them we kill, the more their ranks grow and the stronger they become. Meanwhile, we are spending hundreds of billions of dollars in Afghanistan and accelerating our plunge toward national bankruptcy. Whose interests do we serve by continuing this exercise in futility?
Osama Bin Laden has said many times that his strategy was to bankrupt America, by forcing us into protracted fighting in the mountains of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union learned this lesson the hard way; and ultimately was forced to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in defeat and humiliation. This same fate may await us unless we rethink our policy and resist any escalation of our military efforts in Afghanistan. Our troops should be used for defending our country, making us safer and stronger at home – not for occupying foreign nations with no real strategy or objective.
The secretive Federal Reserve is responsible for the economic crisis and giving it more power makes no sense whatsoever, Ron Paul said in today’s Bloomberg interview on financial regulatory reform.
Channel: Bloomberg
Date: 03/11/2010
Transcript coming soon
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…
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!”
Ron Paul spoke on the House floor today in support of Dennis Kucinich’s H. Con Res 248 which would end the war in Afghanistan and bring U.S. Armed Forces home within 30 days.
Location: Congress
Date: 03/10/2010
Original cosponsors of Dennis Kucinich’s bill include Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI); Ron Paul (R-TX); José Serrano (D-NY); Bob Filner (D-CA); Lynn Woolsey (D-CA); Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC); Danny Davis (D-IL); Barbara Lee (D-CA); Michael Capuano (D-MA); Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Timothy Johnson (R-IL); Yvette Clarke (D-NY); Eric Massa (D-NY); Alan Grayson (D-FL); and Chellie Pingree (D-ME).
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 248
Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 4, 2010
Mr. KUCINICH (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. FILNER, Mr. JONES, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. JOHNSON of Illinois, Mr. PAUL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MASSA, Mr. GRAYSON, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. SERRANO, and Mr. MICHAUD) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution, to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
SECTION 1. REMOVAL OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN.
Pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution (50 U.S.C. 1544(c)), Congress directs the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan–
(1) by no later than the end of the period of 30 days beginning on the day on which this concurrent resolution is adopted; or
(2) if the President determines that it is not safe to remove the United States Armed Forces before the end of that period, by no later than December 31, 2010, or such earlier date as the President determines that the Armed Forces can safely be removed.
Congressman Ron Paul explains on Fox News why he is opposed to a national ID card.
Channel: Fox News
Date: 03/10/2010
Transcript coming soon
The Honorable Ben S. Bernanke
Chairman
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Washington, DC 20551
Dear Mr. Chairman:
During your Humphrey-Hawkins testimony before this Committee last week, Representative Ron Paul raised questions about inappropriate political interference with the Federal Reserve System resulting in hidden transfers of resources to facilitate crimes during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s, and to Iraq for weapons purchases during the 1980s. These are serious allegations and must be fully investigated. I expect that you will do so promptly, and share the results of your investigation with Congress.
Given the continued concern about political interference with the Federal Reserve System and allegations about a lack of transparency, these charges cannot be left unaddressed.
Representative Paul cited reports and stonewalled investigations regarding these charges, and, with this letter, I am asking him to share with you whatever information he has that may facilitate your investigation.
The Federal Reserve’s ability to manage monetary policy in an effective manner depends, in large part, on its reputation for independence and integrity. A complete investigation of these charges is necessary to maintain both.
BARNEY FRANK
Chairman
cc: Representative Ron Paul
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