Rep. Frank seeks compromise on Fed audit bill

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, hopes to craft a compromise bill with lawmakers who want to open Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions to audits, a spokesman for Frank said on Saturday.

A bill sponsored by Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul that would allow the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, to audit Fed interest-rate decisions has won the co-sponsorship of more than half of the House.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned the bill would compromise the U.S. central bank's policy-making independence and could undermine financial markets and the economy.

The Financial Times reported on Saturday that Frank hoped to bring forward compromise legislation that would safeguard the Fed's independence, while enhancing transparency and creating checks and balances for the central bank's use of emergency lending powers.


Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2009/08/30/rep_frank_seeks_compromise_on_fed_audit_bill/

Expertise is supposed to be tempered with success ,not Blind Faith.

Truth and Reconciliation--accounting style!

Whenever any legislation is proposed that leaves the impression that maybe our worthless politicians are beginning to grow a spine, it's only a matter of time until they weasel out of doing the right thing. This is just one more example of these turds pretending to step up, only to retreat and sell out when crunch time comes. It's nothing but theater. There are maybe 10-15 politicians that aren't deserving of our complete contempt.

He's progressive in other areas, but he's a corporatist beholden to the banking and insurance industries, also.