As you know, the “financial regulation” bills offered up by the House and Senate will do considerable harm.
But the House version has one thing going for it: the bill they passed includes Ron Paul’s proposal to Audit the Federal Reserve.
The Senate hasn’t passed their bill yet. But Banking Chairman Chris Dodd stripped the House’s Audit the Fed provision from the Senate version.
A trans-partisan coalition of Senators, including the Independent Bernie Sanders, Democrat Russ Feingold, and Republican Jim DeMint, are proposing an amendment to Audit the Fed in the senate bill.
This amendment could be voted on Tuesday, May 4. Tomorrow.
DownsizeDC.org has joined a coalition of organizations in signing a letter that opposes the overall bill, but which supports this amendment. Here is the letter . . .
Dear Senator,
Although we oppose S. 3217, the financial regulatory reform legislation currently being considered on the Senate floor, we urge you to vote for Sens. Sanders, Feingold, DeMint, and Vitter’s Federal Reserve Transparency Amendment.
This amendment is similar to S.604, the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act, which was offered as an amendment to last year’s Budget Resolution. S. 604 has 33 bipartisan cosponsors. The Federal Reserve Transparency Act (H.R. 1207), the House companion bill, has 320 bipartisan cosponsors. A slightly modified version of H.R. 1207 passed the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 43-28 and was incorporated into the financial reform bill passed by the House.
This amendment does not take away the “independence” of the Fed. It simply requires the GAO to conduct an independent audit of the Fed and requires the Fed to release the names of the recipients of more than $2 trillion in taxpayer-backed assistance during this latest economic crisis.
S. 3217 unacceptably increases the Fed’s powers at a time when the American people are demanding answers as to what the Federal Reserve has been doing with the powers it currently possesses. It also strips out the strong audit language contained in the House’s reform bill in favor of a watered-down approach that allows the Fed to continue operating in secret. Any true financial reform effort will start with requiring accountability from our nation’s central bank.
Therefore, we urge you to work for a standalone vote on S. 604 and, if S. 3217 is brought up for a vote, strongly encourage you to support increased transparency at the Federal Reserve by voting in favor of the Fed Transparency Amendment.
Sincerely,
Americans for Tax Reform
Center for Fiscal Accountability
Campaign for Liberty
The Rutherford Institute
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation
Eagle Forum
FreedomWorks
Time is of the essence. Forward this to your contacts. And by the time you receive this Dispatch . . .
* It will have been posted on our Facebook fan page for you to share: http://www.facebook.com/downsizedc
* And also on our Twitter page for you to retweet: http://twitter.com/DDCDispatch
Thanks for taking action!
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org