What would an audit of the Federal Reserve look like then?
Ron Paul helps us here, as recently he cited the response of the General Accounting Office when there was some interest in auditing the Fed in the 1970s: “We do not see how we can satisfactorily audit the Federal Reserve System without authority to examine the largest single category of financial transactions and assets that it has.”
This strikes at another assertion by Ben Bernanke and his supporters, and that is there is already transparency with the Federal Reserve, and the institution is audited on a consistent basis.
You see, the Federal Reserve can simply allow the auditing of what everyone has access to already, and claim they are audited consistently, and so checks and balances are in place. They’ve even released a 52-page report this year on how many times they’ve been audited in the year, and their supporters cite this as proof that everything is ok, and the lack of auditing is a myth created by Federal Reserve detractors.
The truth is that the Federal Reserve loves these faux audits for the very reason they can cite them in making their case they’re being audited, without looking like they’re not being honest and secret about it. I say faux audits, again, because they audit what everyone already knows, while not having access to the data that really matters to the American people.
What I’m saying is the alleged transparency is being picked and chosen by the Fed itself, and it legally has no need to reveal the really important data; and it doesn’t. So in the name of being audited and transparent, they continue their secret practices without anyone knowing what they’re doing, which is the reason the American people need to get behind the bill which will release the GAO, and possibly other truly independent auditors, to look into every aspect of the Fed and report on the entirety of their activities.
When thinking on what an audit of the Federal Reserve would need to look like then, it deals with the existing laws which disallow them from getting full disclosure from the Fed, and overturning them so true transparency can be initiated by an audit or audits.
The specific details of those existing laws not allowing audits of the Federal Reserve are in regard to the agreements the Fed makes with central banks of foreign governments or international financing organizations (swap lines), any type of transaction that has been directed by the Federal Open Market Committee, and any of the discussions which result in how a decision was reached in relationship to monetary policy.
Essentially what this is saying is, whatever really counts and matters in connection with the Federal Reserve will remain behind closed doors and secret. Otherwise, they’re transparent and go through meaningless audits which regurgitate the same worthless data over and over again.
So an audit of the Federal Reserve would have to deal with these forbidden areas and completely investigate and report on the findings in a totally transparent manner.
To think that this type of power has been delegated to a non-governmental entity without any meaningful oversight is the ultimate in irresponsibility.
Now that the battle lines have been drawn and the Fed is in the public eye and consciousness, we’ll look at what is really at stake for the American people, and why it hits home with everyone involved. You may be surprised at the conclusions concerning why it’s imperative that the Federal Reserve no longer be able to hide what it’s doing, and why we must insist at minimum that it starts to undergo real and complete audits on a consistent basis.
