Audit the Fed More Necessary Than Ever

In his most recent Texas Straight Talk, Dr. Ron Paul argued that Americans ought to blame the Fed, not China, for the recent stock market crash.

Many blamed the crash on China’s recent currency devaluation. It is true that the crash was caused by a flawed monetary policy. However, the fault lies not with China’s central bank but with the US Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies distort the economy, creating bubbles, which in turn create a booming stock market and the illusion of widespread prosperity. Inevitably, the bubble bursts, the market crashes, and the economy sinks into a recession.

Over the past seven years, Campaign for Liberty has been leading the charge for Congress to pass Audit the Fed. Despite passing the House three times, once as an amendment to Dodd/Frank (111th Congress), and twice as a standalone bill (112th and 113th Congress), our efforts were stymied in the Senate by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. This fall, Campaign for Liberty will lead a renewed push in the Senate to pass Audit the Fed, and it won’t be a moment too soon.

In a recent op-ed in the New York Post, columnist John Crudele writes:

The Fed needs to be audited to see if its ruling body has broken the law by manipulating financial markets that are outside its jurisdiction. A thorough investigation of the Fed will show once and for all if its former chief Ben Bernanke and current Chairwoman Yellen should go to jail.
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The Fed’s dealing with foreign central banks — especially at times of market stress — should be given special attention. Trades in the wee hours of the morning should be in the spotlight.
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The Fed now finds itself in the awkward position of having to protect the stock market bubble it created. So Yellen and her board of governors must have been pretty nervous when the Dow and other market indexes fell by an unprecedented amount on Aug. 24.

Then, overnight, there was massive buying of Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures contracts. This was the remedy proposed by a guy named Robert Heller back in 1989 just after he left the Fed board. The Fed, Heller proposed, should rig the stock market in times of collapse.

Were those contracts being bought overnight by some Wall Street cowboy for whom potential losses in the disastrous market were of no concern? Or was it the Fed propping up the market?

These are serious questions Americans deserve answers to. And the only way to get those answers is by Congress passing H.R. 24/S. 264.

You can take action today in support of Audit the Fed by signing your petitions to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and your U.S. Senators, urging them to pass Audit the Fed now.

After you’ve signed, please take a moment to call your senators and representative at 202-224-3121 and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 24/S. 264 when they return from August recess next week.