Posts Tagged ‘Federal Reserve’
Thursday Links
Ahh, Thursday – the beginning of the weekend in Oxford. Here’s what we’re reading this Thursday morning:
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Marshall Ramsey's Always-Cutting Take on Haley's Pardongate
Coverage of Haley Barbour’s Pardongate expanded yesterday as the former governor came under criticism for issuing around 200 pardons his last day in office. Attorney General Hood’s efforts to block the release of prisoners seems to be moving forward. Haley’s defensive statement here.
- Mississippi Democrats are calling for a shortened legislative session. While this move is probably politically motivated given the recent Republican takeover of the House, giving the government less time to mess things up seems like a good idea. This is where Texas gets it right.
- The latest poll released from South Carolina shows Romney (23) essentially tied with Gingrich (21), followed by Santorum (14), Paul (13), Huntsman (7), and Perry (5).
- Another Iranian nuclear scientist is dead, further evidence that either American or Israeli forces are actively waging a covert war on Iran’s nuclear program.
- Another one of the reasons our military presence abroad inevitably inspires others to fight against us.
- MSN Money has a great piece warning about the dangers of another round of quantitative easing by the Fed. The author, Anthony Mirhaydari, lays it out: ”In simple terms: The Fed is laying the groundwork for another round of unmitigated money printing.”
- The Department of Justice asked a judge to rule in favor of allowing citizens to record police officers on duty. As Radley Balko notes, “The federal government rarely urges a federal court to give the government less power.”
- While covering the GOP primary in New Hampshire, Adam Kokesh had a surprisingly cordial encounter with a police officer discussing the use of recording equipment.
- Ole Miss YAL hosted Kokesh to speak in the grove during the 2008 presidential debate at Ole Miss. That video here.
Stay up-to-date, follow Ole Miss YAL on Facebook and Twitter.
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James Robertson currently attends the University of Mississippi, where he plans to receive degrees in Political Science and English. He is the President of the Ole Miss Chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. He can be contacted at jrrobert@olemiss.edu, Facebook and Twitter.
“Stop the Presses!” Continued Fed Action Could Damage Economy More Than Downgrade
Alan Greenspan on NBC's "Meet the Press"
Yesterday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan made a remark that reveals some dangerous suggestions about the power of the Federal Reserve. When host David Gregory asked Greenspan if U.S. Treasury bonds were a safe investment, Greenspan replied:
“Very much so. I think there’s–this is not an issue of credit rating. The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default.”
For those familiar with the workings of the U.S. monetary system, this comment might come as no surprise. The Federal Reserve retains authority to print the legal tender of the United States, and has ever since Congress abdicated that constitutional power with the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. In the last decade, the Fed has demonstrated its willingness to exercise this authority by adding enormous sums of cash to the monetary supply through bailouts of the airlines, banks, and automakers. The Fed is currently in its second round of what it calls “Quantitative Easing,” a euphemism for money creation neatly dubbed QE2. Current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has hinted that the Fed could continue this dangerous inflationary practice with a third round of money creation.
While the Fed’s unstoppable printing press endangers the U.S. dollar already, Greenspan’s comment suggests that our mounting debt could kick this machine into high speed. America’s national debt recently reached 100% of GDP. In less than a decade, the Federal government has doubled the amount of money that it owes. Our government’s outlays far outstrip its receipts, and without a serious reduction in spending, this trend has no end in sight. Greenspan’s suggestion that the Fed simply create more money out of thin air to pay off our debts would only worsen the situation. That level of money creation could propel our currency into hyperinflation, the effects of which would be disastrous, making the effects of the S&P downgrade pale in comparison.
The answer to addressing our astronomical obligations, of course, is not to print money out of nowhere and risk serious hyperinflation, but to reverse the rising tide of federal spending. Defense costs have exploded over the last decade, due in large part to the six wars in which the U.S. is currently involved. Drawdown of our globe-straddling foreign presence would make a huge dent in the bloated defense budget, making this a good place to start.
James Robertson currently attends the University of Mississippi, where he plans to receive degrees in Political Science and English. He is the President of the Ole Miss Chapter of Young Americans for Liberty.
Audit the Fed, Then End It!
There are not too many topics that Americans seem to shy away from politically. Unfortunately, however, one of those topics we don’t like to talk about just happens to be the most important. The monetary system in this country receives absolutely no airtime on the major media networks. There is no debate about monetary creation during the presidential races. And, amazingly, most Americans don’t even know where their money comes from and how it receives its value. This is a trend that truly needs to change before America will be able to break the horrid boom and bust cycle of our economy.
House ‘Guts’ H.R. 1207, Bill to Audit the Fed
Rep. Mel Watt, of North Carolina stripped H.R. 1207 of its most important provisions.
In a not-too-surprising move, House leaders have stripped House Bill 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, of all its most meaningful legislation. Rep. Mel Watt, of North Carolina was tasked with “preparing the legislation for formal consideration.” In his new, stripped version of the bill, there is no longer an audit of the Federal Reserve’s dealings with foreign central banks, no audit of their deliberations about monetary policy decisions, and no audit of Federal Open Market Committee and its communications with members, banks, and staff.
Congressman Ron Paul said that when the bill comes to the floor, he will introduce an amendment that would attempt to restore the bill to its former, unaltered state. As my congressman, Travis Childers, sits on the Financial Services Committee, I will be giving his office a call to let him know how disastrous this is to any attempt at transparency and truth with regard to the Federal Reserve, and urge him to support the original language and intent of H.R. 1207.
UPDATE: Congressman Paul Responds to these breaking events:
Bernanke: Being Wrong… As He Always Is
This begs the question: Why are people still listening to this moron?
Give the Funny Money its Due
Inspired by a poster on LewRockwell.com, I’m now putting Federal Reserve Notes to good use. If that’s not a viral strategy, I don’t know what is! Legal tender laws are hazardous to a free society, because they force people to accept fiat money in lieu of something that actually holds value. I recently picked up the book, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?, by Richard J. Maybury. This book is written from the perspective of an uncle, an Austrian economist, to a nephew that had questions about inflation. An excellent read, it breaks down all of the Keynesian fallacies and takes us back to basics–what money really is, and why fiat money is counterfeit. I highly recommend Penny Candy to anyone that wants to get a basic education from the ground up on how money and economics really work.
Get Your Copy of End the Fed by Ron Paul
Amazon is now selling Ron Paul’s brand new book, End the Fed. We encourage everybody to pick up a copy for themselves. How amazing would it be, during hard economic times and in the middle of an intense debate to give the Federal Reserve its very first full-scale audit, a book entitled End the Fed would surge to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
On top of sending a message to the world that the American people will no longer tolerate being robbed of their savings by rich bankers, you will get to read what promises to be a very informative and well written book. Let’s send a message!
213 Sponsors of H.R. 1207 in House of Representatives!
218 is a majority!
HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, is Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
“…Federal Reserve, you have a lot of power, you have too much power, you’re spending a lot of money, we have no idea what you’re doing. We and the Congress have a responsibility to know exactly what you’re doing. This bill, HR 1207, will allow us once and for all, to have some supervision of the Federal Reserve.”
-Congressman Ron Paul
To learn more, watch this video:
And check out this website.
HR 1207 is now in the House Committee on Financial Services. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP in this legislation! If it doesn’t get out of committee it will not come to a vote! There are 71 members on this committee and they are all listed below. Read the rest of this entry »
Update on H.R. 1207
This is from a week ago. I believe they actually have over 100 cosponsors for the bill now. Please contact your Representatives from the Senate and the House and demand they support this bill.
Thomas Woods at Ole Miss
If you would like to see the entire speech, click on the link below to read the rest of the article.
