Michigan's senators disappoint on Fed audit vote
I am extremely disappointed with Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow for voting against the Vitter (amendment) to audit the Federal reserve to S. 3217, the so-called "Restoring American Financial Stability" Act of 2010.
Your NAY votes are a slap in the face to all intelligent Americans who demand an audit of the Federal Reserve. The Fed has mismanaged our dollar for the benefit of corrupt bankers for decades. The Fed cannot account for trillions of dollars. Now, the Fed is proposing to send almost 1 trillion to European central banks in exchange for worthless Euros.
Your votes have told me that both of my senators lack the guts and the integrity to clean up the financial mess our country is in. A simple public audit of the Fed is a childishly obvious way to go about restoring transparency in our banking system.
Now I know your true colors.
I urge both of you to vote down S. 3217, which will not "reform" our banking and financial system, but which will establish a rogue "Office of Financial Research" with unlimited powers, inside the Treasury Department. This will mean more fraudulent finance, and the creation of more worthless derivatives.
Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow, are you aware that the Fed plans to go to a ZERO reserves policy? This will allow banks to create unlimited fiat money and destroy the dollar completely, and our economy. And you do not think that an audit of the Fed is warranted? This is outrageous and preposterous.
Ken MacLean Ann Arbor
Comments
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball
Fri, May 28, 2010 : 7:15 a.m.
Aaaah the FED - secretive yet independent. - - Responsible for printing money and maintaining interest rates. On the high side = the US Dollar is the WORLD Currency if there ever was one. Benjamin Franklin's are used in just about every country in the World. Oil is bought by the Trillon$$$, global stocks bought by the Trillons $$$ Etc Etc Etc - A sign of Trust and Power. Also, the USA has had the largest growth spurt over the last 100 years that any country has ever seen in the history of man kind -more then Ancient Rome, the Greeks, China, - anyone. Poverty in the USA means basic cable, older appliances, and food stamps. Try poverty in Mexico or China or India or 95% of the rest of the world - dirt floors, living in card board boxes, no running water, etc. So the Fed has some responsibility for that - My thought is that would not have happened under a different system. Credit it self allows for BIG economic promises to come true. In a way, that is Liberty. Expand money and you expand everyone's wealth and Freedom to DO what they desire to do - but expand it too quickly and you contract everyones Real wealth. Has the Fed screwed everyone - sure - a dollar has lost.96 cents in value since the day the Fed was established. Yet everyone in the USA gets a pretty good education - our military is gognormous - we throw away more food in one day then many starving countries produce in a month - about 70% of us Own our homes. Confidence in Tomorrow is part of the secret sauce that the Fed has used to make the USD a World Champ. It is the IDEA of a Bond. The idea of CREDIT - that has given us the spoils of LIBERTY. Will we manage it correctly? Will Liberty continue to expand? Watch the bond market, for that is where the rubber hits the road in the transition between Freedom and the USD.
outdoor6709
Thu, May 27, 2010 : 6:56 a.m.
Senators Levin and Stabenow are not hiding anything. In recent years they have voted against the best interest of citizens of Michigan, every chance they got and are proud of it. Better question is why do we keep electing representitives that do not care about the issues that effect Michigan?
Diagenes
Wed, May 26, 2010 : 7:09 a.m.
Whats wrong with a little accountability and transparency? Are Levin and Stabenow covering up something?
Top Cat
Tue, May 25, 2010 : 12:14 p.m.
The Fed is virtually unaccountable. Its easy money policies were large contributors to the creation and bursting of the recent housing bubble and the dot-com bubble of 2000. Our two Senators are both big proponents of large and unaccountable central government so their opposition to some daylight on the working of the Fed was predictable but unfortunate.
Wolverine
Mon, May 24, 2010 : 5:14 p.m.
Mr. Borenstein's attempt to make this a Republican Vs. Democrat issue a pretty standard distraction. This is type of name calling is engaged in by both Republicans and Democrats when the real issue is to be avoided and not very helpful to discussion. The claim that Democrats or Republicans are on the side of the consumer (more aptly, the term individual should be used instead of consumer)is betrayed by a lot of evidence. If Mr. Borenstein is suggesting that secret government, taking money and wealth away from average people and giving it to the richest of the rich, and devaluing the dollar is in the interest of the consumer (individual), I would strongly suggest nobody take him seriously. The fact is that this legislation and most legislation is in the interest of big banks, big pharma, and big agribusiness. The game is real easy and these big corporations know it. If they come out publicly for legislation then everyone will be opposed, because we know if the big corporations want it, it has to be bad. If they come out opposed to a piece of legislation, then all the citizens will be in favor if it, because we know if the big corporations don't want it, it must be good. Easy answer, oppose the legislation they want in public. Now, after a lot of this legislation is history and we can see the results, am I really that far off. One example: now that we have created the infrastructure and agencies to are big enough and powerful enough to destroy the quality of our food supply, organic farmers, and small food producers we can rest assured that Monsanto is not disappointed that we did (although they oppose the legislation). They now have control of those agencies and are now waging war on organic farming and small farms in the United States. So now that this legislation does not have an audit of the federal reserve and it creates a whole new oppression through protection agency in the consumer protection agency. How long will it be before it is used against us like the FDA, Department of Agriculture, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Education?
Patrick Zieske
Mon, May 24, 2010 : 2:14 p.m.
I'm not sure what amendment Mr. Borenstein and the Huffington Post are referring to, but the Vitter Amendment which is the subject of Mr. MacLean's letter deals exclusively with auditing the Federal Reserve. If anyone is interested, please read it for yourself: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=S3013&dbname=2010_record Senator Vitter's remarks on the amendment are here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r111:1:./temp/~r111q1JCfp:e3134: The effort to open the books of the Federal Reserve is a bipartisan effort started by Republican Ron Paul in the House with at least 115 Democrat cosponsors. Vitter's amendment sought to restore Paul's language in the Senate bill. Maybe you like the Euro, or maybe you don't, but are you willing to put your own money on the line to protect the Euro or bail out Greece? Trick question: You don't have to because the Fed has already done that with your money. (When the Fed prints "new" money, it is still your money because it subtracts from the value of every dollar in your pocket.) It's about time we got to see what else the Fed is doing with our money. Remember that the government works for US, not the other way around.
Nathaniel Borenstein
Mon, May 24, 2010 : 7:06 a.m.
Mr. MacLean's level of factual accuracy is tipped off by the phrase "worthless Euros." Yes, the value of a Euro has declined recently, but it's still well over a dollar, and you can still buy anything you want with them if you're in Europe -- an odd definition of worthless. Please feel free to give me any worthless Euros you're about to throw away. Heck, I'll even exchange dollars for them, one for one! The Republicans have done a good job of trying to make themselves sound like they're on the consumer's side on this issue, but as usual they're not. For those unfamiliar with the issue, here's the other side: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/safer/the-vitter-amendment-brea_b_578804.html