Don't Cede More Economic Authority to Unaccountable Fed

No cedan mas poder economico a la secretiva Fed

The reviews are in on Barack Obama's plan to address the crisis of Wall Street speculation and casino capitalism that has dramatically increased the gap between working Americans and the rich, created pressure for the deindustrialization of the United States and depression of wages and income for workers and farmers and created a nasty banking crisis.
Though even Obama acknowledges that this is the big one –- the issue that as much as anything led Americans to elect him last fall –- his "financial overhaul plan" did not merit above-the-fold coverage on the front page of The New York Times, the country's "newspaper of record." Two stories from Tehran and one on a poll about health care reform held the top spots. The overhaul merited only a feature suggesting –- correctly -- that there was "only a hint of Roosevelt" in Obama's plan.
In other words, for the great mass of Americans there will be no new "New Deal." To be sure, there's some good stuff here: creation of a new agency to help protect consumers of "financial products" and some stronger transparency requirements, a few more rules regarding banks and mortgage-backed securities. "But," as Times writer Joe Nocera notes, "it's what the plan doesn't do that is most notable." Nocera focuses, appropriately enough, on the failure of the administration to do much about the problem –- for taxpayers and for democracy –- of banks that are "too big to fail."
But the real concern ought not be focused on what this seemingly tepid plan fails to do.
The real concern is what it does.
The plan dramatically increases the authority and reach of the Federal Reserve, an already too powerful and unaccountable institution that will -- to the delight of the administration's "Fed men": Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and administration economic adviser Lawrence Summers -- become what the Wall Street Journal says will be "the nation's most powerful financial overseer."
"The proposal, if passed into law, would represent one of the biggest changes ever in the Fed's role," explains Journal writer Sudeep Reddy. "The central bank would win power to monitor risks across the financial system, and sweeping authority to examine any firm that could threaten financial stability, even if the Fed wouldn't normally supervise the institution. The nation's biggest and most interconnected firms would be subject to heightened oversight by the central bank."
In announcing the plan, President Obama claimed "that lines of responsibility and accountability are clear" with regard to the new authority being placed in the Fed's hands.
That is a ridiculous statement.
The Fed is famously unaccountable and resistant to transparency. Even Geithner acknowledged in his Thursday morning session with the Senate Banking Committee that there is a need to look at reforming the Fed's lax governance structure.
But don't expect Geithner of others in the administration to take a lead when it comes to fixing the Fed, an agency that zealously guards –- for logical reasons, as its track record is one of frequent missteps and failures on an epic scale. As Senate Banking Committee chair Chris Dodd said after reviewing the central bank's significant flaws, "There's not a lot of confidence in the Fed at this point, and I'm stating the obvious."
What should be obvious to everyone is that Congress needs to get a grip on the Fed –- which is structured in a manner so that it faces little or no congressional oversight -- before it allows Obama's proposal to advance.
So says Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, the dissident Democrat who responded to Obama's plan by declaring that: "Before Congress gives the Fed any new authority, we must thoroughly examine the Fed's response to our current economic crisis."
Noted Kucinich:
Since August 2007 the Fed has intervened in the economy in an extraordinary way, as a result ballooning their balance sheet from $847 billion to more than $2 trillion. Yet, we still don't know what the Fed has done or who got the money. That is why I introduced the bipartisan HR 2424, which would grant the GAO the authority to audit the Fed's response to our nation's economic crisis, a response that has dwarfed the $700 billion TARP program by more than 2 to 1.
Before we grant the Fed any new authority, we must demand greater transparency from the Fed; an earnest and open audit of the Federal Reserve's response to the economic crisis would be a significant step in the right direction. We can't continue to let the Fed operate within a black box.
Kucinich has proposed HR 2424, a piece of legislation that would amend United States Code "to authorize reviews by the Comptroller General of the United States of any credit facility established by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal reserve bank during the current financial crisis, and for other purposes."
Several progressive Democrats and old-right Republicans, including Texas Congressman Ron Paul, have cosponsored Kucinich's measure. Additionally, Paul has proposed H.R. 1207, which would amend the bill "to reform the manner in which the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is audited by the Comptroller General of the United States and the manner in which such audits are reported, and for other purposes."
A majority of House members –- 234, so far, ranging from the most progressive Democrats to the most conservative Republicans -- have signed on as cosponsors of this necessary legislation.
This is one of those issues that makes sense to any honest representative, no matter what the party or what the ideology. Our elected and reasonably accountable federal officials cannot cede more control over the U.S. economy to the unelected and unaccountable Fed without auditing, reviewing and reforming how the Federal Reserve System operates.

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Unete a la red libre guifi.net
Errores Puntuales - !Mamá, está vez es diferente!

La ley de Ron Paul ya tiene 242 co-sponsors que son mas de un 55% del congreso. La lista esta en el link.

Ron Paul’s Bill To Audit The Federal Reserve Now Has 242 Co-Sponsors | Ron Paul .com

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Unete a la red libre guifi.net
Errores Puntuales - !Mamá, está vez es diferente!

tiene alguna consecuencia para con este proyecto la nueva legislacion de Obama para la FED?

Para este proyecto directamente no. Esta ley lo que haria seria hacer publicos los datos de las actividades del banco central. Es que aunque suene muy fuerte, estos tipos estan dando trillones de dolares (con t) a bancos y fondos de inversion segun a ellos les parece bien y solo a quien ellos eligen y la peña no puede, ya no decidir, sino es que no puede ni saberlo. Ron Paul siempre dice que como congresista le es mas facil pedir informacion sobre las actividades secretas de la CIA que sobre las actividades de la FED.

Lo que pasa que en el fondo no deja de ser un mensaje de Obama de que la FED esta al cargo. Es como un refuerzo.

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Unete a la red libre guifi.net
Errores Puntuales - !Mamá, está vez es diferente!

Bernanke, "My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and the details of the programs but making judgments about our policy decisions would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and a repudiation of the Federal Reserve would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the Dollar and our national economic situation."

Acabo de verlo en YT y lo iba a postear ahora. Para flipar: Si nos auditais y nos obligais a decir a quien le hemos dado vuestro dinero, la economía sufrirá mucho. Vosotros mismo... Panda de hijos de puta.

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Unete a la red libre guifi.net
Errores Puntuales - !Mamá, está vez es diferente!

Acabo de econtrar el mismo video en Alex Jones y aparte sale otro artículo

Bernanke Threatens Economic Collapse If Fed Audited

Greenspan, Bernanke and other Fed-related cronies have already bad-mouthed the Dollar and signaled it’s decline as the world’s currency. So what else is new?

Traitor Greenspan Urges Gulf States To Abandon Dollar

Former Fed chief's insistence that Arab nations dump greenback peg could lead to economic chaos in America


Alan Greenspan has again exposed himself as a traitor working against the interests of the American people by urging Gulf states to abandon the dollar peg, a move that could result in financial chaos and an economic depression in America.

The dollar peg mandates Gulf nations to price their assets in U.S. dollars and follow U.S. monetary policy at a time when the Fed is cutting interest rates, a system that has produced a boom in oil revenues but led to high inflation as the dollar weakens.

"It [de-pegging] is probably the most useful thing that can be done to stop the increasing influence of foreign assets on the monetary system and therefore the monetary base which is basically the major force in inflationary pressures," Greenspan told the Abu Dhabi Corporate Leadership Forum yesterday.


"In the short term free floating ... will not fully dissipate inflationary pressure, although it would significantly do so," added Greenspan, giving a green light for Gulf states to drop the dollar peg.

According to Economist editor Pam Woodall, Greenspan's comments heralded the beginning of the end for the US dollar as the currency of choice for foreign exchange reserves.

"If Asian central banks hold today more than 80 per cent of the global foreign exchange reserves, which indicates the shift of the global economy domination towards Asia, it seems quite awkward that the UAE still maintains the peg of its currency to the US dollar," she told Gulf News.

Greenspan's zeal to destroy the dollar is evident in numerous public statements he has made predicting the replacement of the dollar with the Euro as the world reserve currency.

The former Fed chairman has repeatedly badmouthed the dollar and hyped the inevitability of economic chaos at a time when market confidence is in the toilet. Greenspan's rhetoric matches that of the IMF, who in October of last year bizarrely slammed the dollar as "overvalued" at the same time the greenback hit its all time low against the Euro.

A decision on behalf of the Gulf states to abandon the dollar peg would have disastrous consequences for the greenback and the American economy.

Such a move could lead the likes of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to diversify their foreign exchange holdings out of dollars. This would amount to a vote of "no confidence" in the dollar and may cause other countries with large dollar reserves, such as China and Japan, to follow suit and begin dumping the greenback en masse.

China has threatened repeatedly to use the "nuclear option" and liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries in response to continued pressure on the Communist state to force a yuan revaluation. According to a widely-read London Telegraph report, such an event "could trigger a dollar crash" and also "cause a spike in US bond yields, hammering the US housing market and perhaps tipping the economy into recession."

Runaway inflation would also ensue, making the cost of living unaffordable to even middle class Americans as food prices skyrocket and international aid organizations like the World Food Programme predict rationing and food riots.

The dollar has held firm against the Euro and recovered some losses against Sterling over the past two months, but it has still lost 12 per cent of its value against the trade-weighted index over the last two years and has plunged by a whopping 60 per cent against the Euro since Bush entered the White House.

Prefiero poner aquí la noticia para que no se pierda





El presidente de la Reserva Federal de EEUU (FED), Ben Bernanke, negó el jueves haber presionado a Bank of America para comprar Merrill Lynch, tal y como denunció el director del banco, Kenneth Lewis. Sin embargo, correos internos de la FED desvelan presiones para forzar la compra.


Manuel Llamas

En su comparecencia ante el Comité de Supervisión y Reforma del Gobierno de la Cámara de Representantes, Bernanke negó la denuncia del director general de Bank of America (BofA), Kenneth Lewis, que acusa a la FED de haber presionado al banco para adquirir Merrill Lynch.

"No le dije a la gerencia de Bank of America que la Reserva Federal tomaría medidas contra el consejo de administración o la directiva" si decidían suspender la compra, señaló Bernanke.

Bank of America sopesó interrumpir la operación al percatarse del volumen de pérdidas en el banco de inversión Merrill Lynch, que alcanzaron 15.000 millones de dólares en el último trimestre del 2008. Pese a tales dudas, la compra se llevó a cabo en enero con la aportación de 20.000 millones de dólares en ayudas públicas, de los 45.000 millones de dólares que recibió Bank of America en total del gobierno para fortalecer su capital.

Según testificó Lewis ante el Congreso, Henry Paulson, el entonces secretario del Tesoro, y otros funcionarios federales dejaron claro que si el BofA se retiraba de la transacción, él y los miembros de la junta directiva del banco serían destituidos. Bernanke negó tales afirmaciones ante la Cámara de Representantes.

Sin embargo, durante la sesión el Comité de Supervisión publicó algunos documentos internos de la FED que resultan reveladores. En concreto, los legisladores sacaron a la luz diversos emails (correos electrónicos) de miembros de la FED en los días previos a la formalización de la operación.

Así, los legisladores mostraron un correo del 20 de diciembre de 2008 entre Bernanke y el presidente de la Reserva Federal de Richmond, Jeffrey Lacker, en donde el presidente de la FED planeó decir a la dirección del BofA que su gestión estaría "acabada" si anulaban el acuerdo de compra de Merrill y, posteriormente, necesitaran nuevas ayudas del Gobierno para evitar la quiebra.

Bernake alegó durante la sesión que no recordaba la conversión que mantuvo con Lacker. "¿Está usted seguro de que no lo pude recordar?", insistió el republicano Dan Burton, miembro de la Comisión, informa The Wall Street Journal.

Asimismo, en unas notas tomadas por un funcionario de la FED durante una reunion celebrada el pasado junio para discutir el plan de rescate financiero, el ex secretario del Tesoro de EEUU, Paul Paulson, se refiere a Bank of America con la expresión despectiva "the turd in the punchbow", término coloquial que denota que alguien o algo no es bienvenido y está generando problemas.

La Comisión publicó ayer algunos documentos interesantes que desvelan correos internos entre altos miembros de la FED. En uno de ellos, puede leerse lo siguiente acerca de la posible expulsión de Lewis como director general del banco: "Deberíamos hacerlo como parte del acuerdo para rescatarles o, al menos, hacerles saber que tomaremos una decisión sobre el Consejo de


Tales informaciones apuntan en la misma dirección a otros documentos de similares características, en donde se demostraba que Paulson obligó a los nueve grandes bancos del país a aceptar capital público bajo el programa de rescate financiero (TARP), en una reunión urgente y extraordinaria que tuvo lugar el 13 de octubre de 2008, y a la que también asistió Bernanke, tal y como desveló Libertad Digital.

La débil declaración de Bernanke sobre las supuestas presiones a Bank of America acrecentaron las dudas entre los miembros del Comité. Hasta tal punto esto es así que algunos legisladores se oponen ahora a conceder a la FED nuevos poderes regulatorios, tal y como pretende la reforma financiera elaborada por el presidente de EEUU, Barack Obama, informa Bloomberg.

El pasado abril, el fiscal general del Estado de Nueva York, Andrew Cuomo, informó a la SEC (regulador financiero en EEUU) que existían evidencias sobre las presiones ejercidas por la FED y el Tesoro para que Bank of America no anulara el acuerdo por el que se comprometía a comprar Merrill Lynch.
Según Cuomo, las autoridades del Gobierno presionaron al BofA para que no rescindiera el contrato acogiéndose a una cláusula por la que, si la entidad detectaba que la compra no era viable, debido al deterioro de Merrill Lynch, el acuerdo podría ser anulado. Según Cuomo, en base a la declaración del director del BofA, Paulson -y también Bernanke- advirtió a Lewis que, en ese caso, él y su Junta serían sustituidos. Bernanke niega tales acusaciones y alega que no recuerda las conversaciones que entonces tuvieron lugar.


Los email de la FED desvelan presiones a Bank of America para comprar Merrill Lynch - Libertad Digital

Increíble. El dólar controlado por una banda de mafiosos que piden que rija la “ley del silencio”.
Pero ¿cómo pueden ir los norteamericanos por el mundo presumiendo de que viven en un país democrático y libre?