Posted by STEPHEN GANDEL via Time.com

What is the most likely cause today of civil unrest? Immigration. Gay Marriage. Abortion. The Results of Election Day. The Mosque at Ground Zero. Nope.

Try the Federal Reserve. November 3rd is when the Federal Reserve’s next policy committee meeting ends, and if you thought this was just another boring money meeting you would be wrong. It could be the most important meeting in Fed history, maybe. The US central bank is expected to announce its next move to boost the faltering economic recovery. To say there has been considerable debate and anxiety among Fed watchers about what the central bank should do would be an understatement. Chairman Ben Bernanke has indicated in recent speeches that the central bank plans to try to drive down already low-interest rates by buying up long-term bonds. A number of people both inside the Fed and out believe this is the wrong move. But one website seems to believe that Ben’s plan might actually lead to armed conflict. Last week, the blog, Zerohedge wrote, paraphrasing a top economic forecaster David Rosenberg, that it believed the Fed’s plan is not only moronic, but “positions US society one step closer to civil war if not worse.” Read the rest of this entry »

By John Tamny

The financial crisis of not long ago has not surprisingly generated a great deal of anguish within the electorate. Americans were and continue to be a skeptical lot when it comes to the competence of the various federal bureaucracies which dot the Washington, DC landscape. Despite their skepticism about the competence of regulators, they were still disappointed when those empowered to oversee our financial system were seemingly caught unware by a banking collapse.

Rightly or wrongly, the US Federal Reserve has become one of the biggest targets within the financial bureaucracy when it comes to public distrust, and as a result, its ongoing purpose is increasingly being questioned. Some in the political class seek greater congressional oversight of our central bank, while others, including Rep. Ron Paul, would like the Fed to be abolished altogether.

The Fed’s greatly reduced reputation naturally raises questions about why we have a central bank to begin with. Although the Fed presently engages in a wide array of activities, its adherents generally support its continued existence on three grounds: They expect it to manage inflation through manipulation of short-term interest rates; to issue a currency which facilitates exchange; and, most important, they see an essential role as “lender of last resort” to banks during periods of tight credit.

These Fed functions seem compelling at first glance, but given a careful rethink, it becomes apparent that much of what it does is either ineffective or superfluous, and could be handled much more skillfully outside this government-chartered monopoly. Contrary to the broadly held view that we need the Federal Reserve, logic says we’d be much better off absent a central bank that economist George Selgin terms “fundamentally destabilizing.” Read the rest of this entry »

Original Commentary from former HALC Chairman Bill Tofte

When mortgages default and businesses fail, who gets the assets?….BANKS and FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.

When those banks and financial institutions go under, who gets the assets?….Would it be the Federal Reserve?….Who benefits from financial collapse?….the FED.

Who came out smelling like a rose after the Great Depression?….the Financial… See More Robber Barons of the FED.

Who made over $46 Billion net profit (not taxable) last year, one of their largest in history, while the nation’s businesses were suffering from huge losses?….the FED.

While financial institutions were reeling from the the sudden downturn in the market, did the FED suffer?….were not they ” in the market”, to some extent too?…..NO….I am sure they were “out”…..(remember the $46B)…is this coincidental or planned?…..who profited, even though the FED was charging the lowest interest rates in history?…..the FED.

How did they do it???? By printing money, “loaning” it, then being repaid, with “real” money PLUS INTEREST!!!!!! This is how I see the dots are connected and the pieces of the puzzle are fitting…

AUDIT THE FED, THEN END THE FED.

CONTACT INFO: http://www.votervoice.net/Core.aspx?AID=972&APP=GAC&screen=Address& 
 
July 1, 2010

Dear Friend in Liberty,

Yesterday, the House rejected Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed by a vote of 198-229.  The Audit was included in a Republican motion to send the Dodd-Frank Fed Empowerment Act (H.R. 4173) back to committee.

If the measure had been approved, H.R. 4173 would have been changed to include the thorough Audit.

Even worse, the majority of those who voted against it were cosponsors of H.R. 1207.

( http://www.campaignforliberty.com/materials/HR1207-Shame-List.pdf )

Check out our “Hall of Shame” to see if your representative is on the list of those who abandoned their so-called “support” for Audit the Fed (while voting to further empower the secretive Fed) when real action was required.

*[Editor's Note: These are the TX representatives voting 'no' on the Audit the Fed:  Ruben Hinojosa – TX-15, Silvestre Reyes – TX-16, Ciro Rodriguez – TX-23, Lloyd Doggett – TX-25, Solomon Ortiz – TX-27, Henry Cuellar – TX-28 and Eddie Bernice Johnson – TX-30]

Be sure to let them know you will make your fellow constituents aware of their failure to support full accountability from those responsible for this latest economic crisis.

If your representative stood with Ron Paul by supporting Audit the Fed, thank him for his support and urge him to fight any future efforts to expand the Fed’s powers.
See the complete roll call on the motion here.    http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll412.xml

There’s still time to stop this Fed powergrab in the Senate.

Find your senators here.  After you contact your congressman, please call your senators and demand they stand up for the American people by defeating H.R. 4173 and taking a standalone vote on S. 604, Audit the Fed.

We’ve come too far to let the Fed off the hook for its actions.  Call Congress today!

In Liberty,
John Tate
President
 ————————————————————————————————————————–
Do your part and forward this to everyone you know. WE THE PEOPLE are the new media!

“We have a greater moral responsibility to act than those who live ignorance. Once you become knowledgeable you have an obligation to do something about it.”

www.campaignforliberty.com

Measure would audit the Fed’s monetary policies such as interest rates

[Article from MarketWatch.com]

bumpersticker from: http://www.cafepress.com/+are_you_better_off_now,392044147

A key congressional panel on Thursday approved legislation introduced by the Texas congressman that – for the first time in the central bank’s 95-year-history — would require government audits of Federal Reserve monetary policy, as well as how much the central bank has lent and will lend to specific banks.

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke and other key members of the Obama administration, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, had vigorously opposed the move.

The measure was approved by the House Financial Services Committee as it considered broad bank regulatory reform legislation, and included a package of other measures weakening the Fed’s power and capping how much it can lend or guarantee.

The committee is now poised to pass the entire bill and has scheduled its final vote on the legislation for December 1.

AM Report: Ron Paul vs. the Fed The News Hub panel discusses Ron Paul's Opinion piece in today's Journal, which argues for a more transparent Federal Reserve.

[Continue reading and view video here...]

[Article from The Red Pub Magazine online]
By Benito Segovia

On Sunday, November 22, 2009,  local activist group End the Fed Houston will be joined by Congressman Ron Paul at Buffalo Bayou Park between 1:00pm and 4:00pm to peacefully protest America’s central bank as the source of 2008’s economic woes. The Rally is titled “Save the Dollar, End the FED!” According to the group, the central economic planning and controlled devaluation of the U.S. Dollar have perpetuated and exacerbated past and present economic conditions.

“Politicians and banking officials have purposely used hard-to-understand banking terms to disguise the true nature of our central banking system.” Organizer Charlene Keller said, “This successfully confuses the public and hides the fraud that is actually going on. We plan to break it down in plain English.”

According to the group, the boom and bust business cycles the U.S. has seen for the past 100 years are directly architected by monetary policy originated within the walls of the Federal Reserve Bank. These crises are then complicated by changes in value of the U.S. Dollar. “It’s like trying to build a house, but the measuring stick you use keeps changing.”  Said organizer, Jonathan Kocurek, “In our case, the measuring stick is the value of the U.S. Dollar.” The group further purports that the Fed controls the value of the dollar by expanding or retracting the currency supply and this constant meddling leads to systematic instability.

The rally is endorsed by a wide variety of local and national groups including Young American’s For Liberty – University of Houston chapter, The Harris County Libertarian Party, The Houston Area Liberty Campaign (on Meetup.com) and Restore the Republic.

Continue reading here…http://www.redpubmagazine.com/article.php?id=438&section=12.