Tag Archives: Congressman Ron Paul

Rand Paul to Introduce ‘Audit the Fed’ as Amendment to Senate Banking Bill

Washington, D.C. – Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) announced on March 5 that he will introduce his “Audit the Fed” legislation, which would permit a full audit of the Federal Reserve System, as an amendment to the Senate Banking Bill. The Senate is expected to vote on the Banking Bill, S. 2155— officially known as the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act— this week.

“While we have made great strides in reviving our economy through curbing overzealous regulation and cutting taxes, lasting prosperity will escape us if we do not hold the enabler of big government and our astronomical national debt accountable. It’s time for the Senate to side with the American people by removing the shackles on congressional oversight and lifting the Fed’s veil of secrecy. It’s time for us to pass Audit the Fed,” Paul said in his press release.

Passage of the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (S. 16), commonly referred to as Audit the Fed legislation, would require the nonpartisan, independent Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a thorough audit of the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and reserve banks within one year of the bill’s passage and to report back to Congress within 90 days of completing the audit.

Paul remains steadfast in his commitment to this legislation that he and his father, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), worked for years to pass, with the intent to stop the Federal Reserve’s “unchecked” and “arguably unconstitutional” meddling in the free market economy.

[RELATED: Truth in Media: 100 Years of the Federal Reserve]

Senator Paul’s 2016 Federal Reserve Transparency Act received nearly unanimous Republican support, in addition to support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Ultimately, the bill fell short of the required 60 votes for cloture after Senate Democrats leadership shot it down.

In January 2017, Paul reintroduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act (S. 16), widely known as “Audit the Fed”. Appearing on Fox New with Tucker Carlson on February 7th, Paul explained why it is important for Congress to scrutinize the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.

“The main lobby against auditing the Fed is the Fed,” Paul said. When Carlson asked what the major arguments against auditing the Federal Reserve would be, Paul cautioned:

“Some see that the Fed pays for this enormous debt and they love big government, and they know we have to have big debt for big government, and they have to pay for it, so they don’t want to mess with the Fed because right now it is able to accommodate this enormous debt.”

“The reason I want oversight is people get hurt in the downturn,” Paul continued. “So in 2008, when the housing market went bust, I blamed that on the Federal Reserve. We’re right in the middle of another boom. Anybody seen the stock market lately? It is a boom, just like the real estate boom of 2008, and it will come to an end. I wish I knew exactly when, so I could give your viewers some investment advice, but it will end. There will be a correction. We have a huge bubble in the stock market created by easy money, free money, everybody has it. Free money! Federal Reserve will hand you bouquets of money. But there will be repercussions, and that will be the downturn. There will be a response or reaction to all of this extra money.”

On the prospect of Trump signing the legislation if it were to make it through Congress, Paul said, “We’ve talked about Audit the Fed before and the fact that he supported it during his campaign. I think he will sign Audit the Fed if we can get it to him. The hardest part that we have to overcome is the institution of the Fed itself. The biggest lobbyist on Capitol Hill against auditing the Fed is the Fed.”

“I think it always has a chance of passing, but the hardest part is actually getting a vote on things,” Paul told Reason in an interview. “You never know unless you try.”

https://www.facebook.com/SenatorRandPaul/videos/1847346481984813/

 

Trump Rips Cruz for Not Showing Up to Vote for Audit the Fed

2016 Republican presidential candidate and real estate mogul Donald Trump took to Twitter on Monday to criticize rival candidate and Sen. from Texas Ted Cruz for his decision to skip a key vote on legislation that would allow Congress to audit the Federal Reserve.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/701868541545295872

In January, the bill colloquially referred to as Audit the Fed appeared for a vote before the full Senate for the first time in history, and, though a majority of senators voted in favor, some Senate Democrats effectively blocked the legislation with a filibuster, raising the threshold of votes needed to pass the bill to 60.

Every Senate Republican voted in favor of the bill except Senator from Tennessee Bob Corker, who opposed the bill, and Sen. Ted Cruz, who did not show up to vote that day despite having long advocated in favor of a Federal Reserve audit.

Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders broke party ranks and voted in favor of Audit the Fed along with Republicans.

[RELATED: Trump: Fed Chair Yellen Not Raising Rates ‘Because Obama Told Her Not To’]

Audit the Fed is considered the signature piece of legislation of former Republican Congressman Ron Paul’s entire political career. The latest iteration of the bill was introduced in the Senate by his son, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.). As such, support for the bill is deeply and viscerally ingrained in the Republican Party’s libertarian and Tea Party wings.

The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs wrote, “By skipping the vote on auditing the Fed, Cruz [risked] jeopardizing some of the credibility he has built in this faction of the Republican party. Auditing the Federal Reserve has long been an animating cause of Paul and his supporters and it has taken on major symbolic significance.

After Cruz missed the vote, he sent an email to conservative commentator Glenn Beck, which read, “I strongly support auditing the Fed. Indeed, I was an original co-sponsor of Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed bill. Unfortunately, it was clear early on that yesterday’s vote wasn’t going to succeed (it fell 7 votes short). And, at the same time that the vote was scheduled, I had longstanding commitments to be in New Hampshire — for a Second Amendment rally, and a 1500- person State of the Union town hall. If my vote would have made a difference in it passing, I would have cancelled my campaign events to be there. Because the vote was not going to succeed, I honored my commitments to be with the men and women of New Hampshire.

[RELATED: Reality Check: Ted Cruz Doesn’t Vote To Audit Fed, Took Personal Loan for Campaign from Goldman-Sachs]

Audit the Fed supporters argue that the nation’s central bank needs an audit because it operates under too much secrecy and is failing at its mission of keeping the U.S. dollar stable. Opponents of the bill say that the Federal Reserve needs to maintain independence to prevent monetary policy from being politicized by Congress.

The Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies distort the economy, creating bubbles, which in turn create a booming stock market and the illusion of widespread prosperity. Inevitably, the bubble bursts, the market crashes, and the economy sinks into a recession,” said Ron Paul in 2015, articulating a chief complaint of Fed opponents. Paul believes the Fed should be abolished and that interest rates and dollar values should be set by the market.

In January, Ben Swann released a Reality Check segment, seen below, that highlighted the fact that Cruz declined to vote on “such an important bill about which he seems to speak so passionately.”

Reality Check: Ted Cruz Doesn't Vote To Audit Fed, Took Person…

Sen. Ted Cruz missed a very important vote this week on a bill he co-sponsored, to Audit the Fed. It happened just as we all learned that his ties to big banks may run deeper than previously thought.Learn more: http://truthinmedia.com/reality-check-ted-cruz-doesnt-vote-audit-fed-took-personal-loan-campaign-goldman-sachs/

Posted by Ben Swann on Thursday, January 14, 2016

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