Anyone asking why Congress has no control over the Federal Reserve . . . ????

This is about economic policy --- it's about printing money which reduces the value of every other dollar --- substantially --- and these are decisions which should be being made by CONGRESS . . . people who can be held accountable for what they do ---

NOT by the Federal Reserve . . . which also charges us INTEREST on every dollar they print!!!!

Wake up, folks --- !!!

It just enjoys an incestuous relationship.

;)

IN CHARGE OF THE US DOLLAR!!! THAT WILL BE AMAZING!!

There's a reason why stuff like this should be kept away from politicians. It's the same reason why judges and running elections are (in non-banana republics) independent from politics and partisan bickering.

and isn't stopping him now . . .

Are we going to hold Bush accountable ---- ???

Do you think that the FED isn't political --- ????

Do you think they don't like making INTEREST on the money they print --- ?????

Again --you need to have the people you elect handle economic decisions which govern
all of our lives --- which effect our lives every minute of our lives --- and that
certainly includes economic democracy --- which we don't have!!!

The FED is a private bank ---
You need your government representatives --- CONGRESS --- to be making decisions about
printing $200 BILLION to bail out banks --- !!!

Let's hear that debate . .. !!!

Occasionally the electorate will be too stupid to make sound decisions, so we get people like GWB and lockstep Republicans.

If THEY had control of the Fed, we would all be billionaires. Harriet Mires would be its chair right now.

The Fed does make interest on money they create, but what do they do with it? Too many people forget that the Fed routinely erases money from existence, and that too much money is a bad thing.

I'm also not aware of one - ONE - central bank in the whole world (barring China's) that is politically controlled and can deliver prosperity.

The European Central Bank is undemocratic. So is the Swedish Royal Bank, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, or anywhere that isn't a third-world basketcase.

It's for the same reason why no one can fire judges.

The real problem lies in the lack of regulation in the banking sector, which Congress has full powers to implement and has failed miserably.

The public can understand what the PRINTING of $200 BILLION does to the dollars we hold....
why wouldn't Congress members understand that?

Are you kidding?

And, in this case, you're making clear that you have a ONE PARTY control of the FED at this point . . . GOP appointee and GOP president ---
How could that possibly be working in the
interests of all Americans --- ???

And this isn't clear . . .

If THEY had control of the Fed, we would all be billionaires. Harriet Mires would be its chair right now.

Who are you talking about here?

How would Harriet Miers get past Congress as a Fed Chair?

Any private bank has its own political bias --- It's a private corporation. How would you avoid seeing that?

I'd also suggest that the Gang of 5 on the Supreme Court who put Bush in the Oval Office should have immediately been impeached ---

Political decisions have destroyed control over capitalism . . .
which certainly must be clear to anyone involved in what we call our "economy" ---
Certainly to Congress and certainly to the Fed chair --

ADDITIONALLY . .. we also need public debate on the very concept of bailing-out corporations . .
If we do so, it should be considered a BUY-OUT and become government property.
It is the homeowners who need to be bailed out ---
These mortages should be frozen ---

And--of course, we need to return to New Deal regulations --

And put his image on every piece of currency.

The president does have the power to fire the fed chairman if he so desires.

with taxpayer money . . .

And, not the chair of a private bank ---


Which charges us INTEREST on every dollar they print ---

All printing should be done by the Treasury, for one point ---

issues currency according to the Constitution. Watch "America: Freedom to Fascism" by Aaron Russo. It's a great documentary IMHO. :hi:

I've seen the Russo documentary --- excellent --- and we should re-watch it every now and then

as a reminder . . . !!!

Congress is supposed to do ANYTHING?

To use the vernacular, they could fuck up a wet dream. Do you really want them in control of the day to day money supply?

At least we can vote congressmen out of office.

It is the Executive which lords over the heard of Agencies which do the day to day operation of Government. If you were to do away with the Fed and wished to replace it with an accountable orginization it would fit under the Executive Branch, not the Congress. Its is the job of the Congress to authorize, appropriate, and then conduct oversight of the programs as they are administered within the Agencies. In fact the entire Committee system is set up to fit that model. That was my point.

organization ..."

Well, that'd be a start, don't you think? Look, I'm a realist, and I recognize that banks serve an important function. But when you give to certain banks the power to actually create money out of debt, and then lend against the debt as an asset, and then lend against that debt as even more assets, you are violating a TAANSTAFL, at the very least. It's a house of cards based on nothing but promises, not even gold behind it. It's a pure-D recipe for failure, whether a congressional committee runs it, a federal agency runs it, or a "quasi-governmental-not-for-profit-banking-combine" runs it. If you MUST have a system where the currency is based on this "pocket full of mumbles" like we have (and I don't think that's a necessity, frankly, but that's another discussion), then at the very least you should have accountability and open meetings and open discussions of policy, otherwise you have the disastrous mismanagement we're experiencing.

So now we have both a deflation in liquidity AND an inflation of currency problem, and no bottom in sight. If you aren't "down on the Fed" then you haven't been paying attention.

We've been Greenscammed!

video link :hi:

There'd be no national debt! :banghead:

without the added burden of having the FED charge us interest on the money it prints . . . !!!

HOWEVER, "printing money" is a concept which effects us all --
and it's a decision to be made by us all --- presumably by the representatives we elect.

... and certainly not the poor shlob who earns dollars for wages.

Because the banks get the money at date of issue (they issue it, after all) while the affects of the issuance of large amounts of money don't get felt until YOU get the money (in its devalued form), the banks have a strong profit incentive to print more and more money, taking advantage of the time lag to exchange it for goods and services while it is still worth something.

This is a systemic problem with having a private, for profit, federal reserve. They have a license to steal, and they steal legally every day from all of us.

The Federal Reserve returns its profits to the Treasury after paying its operating expenses, which are substantial due to the number of people employed: http://federalreserve.gov/generalinfo/faq/faqfrs.htm

Maybe you should read the fine print in the link you sent me.

Seems like that's the crucial question, and he's a damned prime candidate for removal.

He's the fall guy for Greenspan. If you want to find fault, find fault for the idiot who got us into this mess, not the poor schlob who just took over the job and inherited the mess. That's like blaming Obama for the Bush economic downturn or the uptick in Iraq casualties that's going to happen in January '09.

It is supposed to be immune from the political process so bad policy is not made in election years to manipulate the economy for political gain. The Federal Reserve has made mistakes to be sure, but if it was under Congressional control, I cannot imagine.

The US Constitution gives exclusive power over money to congress and the government. We also give the power to wage war to the government, the power to levy taxes, the power to throw people in prison, the power to draft you and throw you into a war and KILL YOU.

But you think a bunch of appointed bankers, unaccountable to the electorate, should control the money supply rather than our representative government?

I'm not sure what political theory you ascribe to, sir, but it doesn't resemble democracy, republicanism or any form of representative government I've ever heard of.

With a silver dollar in 1912 I could buy a nice dinner. With a silver dollar in 2008 I still can. The people who wrote the constitution and included a provision that money should only issue in gold and silver understood this truth. You can peddle you Federal Continentals to someone else, if you can still find a buyer.

I'll give him that.

Although I do agree with you, the problem is that right now we have very little if any representation in Congress either, so I am not sure how much good it would do.

We need to fix the entire system because it is rotten to the complete core.

Decided then to REC it.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6076118677860424204


The Money Masters the documentary discuss the topics of money (as it relates to central banking and fractional reserve banking), debt, taxes and their development throughout the modern world.

If every move they wanted to make--in many cases emergency bail-outs--had to be legislated and argued for three months by hundreds of Congresspeople.

Think about it.

Imagine the LTCM situation if the Federal Reserve was accountable to Congress.

And if it was a Democratic president and a Repuke Congress, would you want them hanging up crucial actions by the Fed Reserve?

I wish people around here would do more thinking and less typing.

if I'm understanding what you're saying. Bail out who? Banks? :eyes: