Proposal to Make the Fed Truly Accountable~Bob Barr

A Proposal to Make the Fed Truly Accountable By Bob Barr as published on The Conservatives.com 11/24/2009 Last week's approval by the House Financial Services Committee of the Ron Paul-drafted legislation, the "Federal Reserve Transparency Act" (HR 1207) as part of Chairman Barney Frank's financial services "reform" bill, has caused much consternation on the part of the Federal Reserve. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke reportedly has been plying the Halls of Congress in an effort to convince lawmakers that opening the Fed to even the limited scrutiny HR 1207 mandates would cause the sky to fall. The reality is that bringing meaningful accountability to this powerful, 96-year old private bank than manages our public money supply, will require much heavier lifting by the Congress than a single piece of legislation opening the Fed's actions to limited audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Since its creation in 1913, the Federal Reserve Bank and its seven Board members have enjoyed a degree of power and autonomy not shared by even the most secret of our foreign intelligence agencies. The president appoints all members of the Fed board, who are then subject to confirmation by the Senate. The chairman and vice-chairman are selected by the president from among the seven board members, and then subject to separate Senate confirmation. While not appointed to life tenure as are federal judges, the Fed board members serve lengthy, 14-year terms. Read More...