 | Posted by dbrink on 07/08/09 6:10 PM |
An Open Letter to Congressman John Yarmuth
Dear Congressman Yarmuth:
A bill was submitted in the U.S House of Representatives, on February 26th, 2009, H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. The proposed bill directs the Comptroller General of the U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) to complete, before the end of 2010, an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Reserve Banks, followed by a detailed report to Congress.
As of the writing of this letter, 249 members (57%) of the U.S. House of Representatives have cosponsored this bill, including four (4) U.S. Representatives from Kentucky, not including you. Seeing that you were a begrudging supporter of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which enacted the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) commonly referred to as a "bailout" of the U.S. financial system, certainly you can see the need for full audit capability of the Federal Reserve System.
A poll commissioned in May by National Media Inc, revealed that only 31% of U.S. Taxpayers agree that the TARP investments were a good idea. What concerns me even more, and a lot of people I talk with, are some of the comments made in recent testimony from the Federal Reserve Chairman and Inspector General to Congress.
First, the Inspector General for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Elizabeth A. Coleman, was asked if she could account for 9 trillion dollars in off-balance sheet transactions, plus an additional 1.2 trillion dollars expansion of the Fed's balance sheet since last September. She indicated that a review had not been conducted at that point in time and further stated, "We do not have jurisdiction to directly go out and audit reserve bank activities specifically."
Second, Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, said on May 5th, 2009 before the Joint Economic Committee, "I certainly would resist any attempt to dictate to the Federal Reserve how to make monetary policy." The Fed has unchecked control of the monetary policy and those actions affect prices, employment, and economic growth by influencing the availability and cost of money and credit in the economy. This is exactly why the system of checks and balances was established and why it needs to be enforced.
On May 20th 2009, President Obama signed into law a "Fed clause" giving the GAO the "power to examine the Federal Reserve's emergency aid to specific companies, such as AIG, Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc." But, that is not enough. A full GAO audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Banks needs to be conducted.
As a U.S. Taxpayer, a resident of Commonwealth of Kentucky and specifically as a constituent of United States House of Representatives, Kentucky District 3, I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009.
Sincerely,
Darren Brinksneader
Member at Large, Libertarian Party
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