We've discussed a new approach to thinking about how modern warfare is conducted. Instead of using traditional armaments such as fighters, nukes and submarines, war is now conducted through use of such diverse means as financial, economic, trade, cyberspace and terrorism http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/1/0fPfJNERJSQ.
But that's hardly all. It is now possible to use really high-tech approaches as triggering forces of nature such as earthquakes and weather to create damage to crops or structures or even generate tsunamis. It is possible to use pyschological tactics, known as psy-ops, to instill debilitating emotions to your enemy. If that doesn't do the trick, then how about inflicting massive environmental damage to your opponent? (http://markostake.blogspot.com/2010/10/world-war-iii-continues.html).
But, the use of information is yet another technique for financing, as opposed to conducting, war. Of course, excellent intelligence and reconnaissance is critical to execution of a battle plan. But information has another use: surreptiously financing a war, without disclosure to Congress or the American people.
Fortunately, for the first time, Marko's Take will reveal a bona-fide true story of how this medium was actually employed in some of the major foreign operations of the last half century.
We had the privilege of being provided with the opportunity of speaking with Dr. Julio Antonio del Marmol, PhD. Dr. del Marmol has been an incredibly active member of the international intelligence community for nearly half a decade and tells stories that would make Jason Bourne look like a couch potato. He has had no less than 56 separate attempts on his life, and obviously, survived each one. He will be revealing each of these attempts and how he escaped, in an upcoming documentary called "One More Attempt".
Beginning at age 13, del Marmol began trasmitting data about Castro's Cuba from within to the international intelligence community. In 1971, his cover was blown, and he fled his home country to then be recruited for a new assignment: to cooperate with agents against Cuba.
His operations are even more secret than Animal House's "Double Secret Probation". For del Marmol to have been able to conduct his operations, naturally, required very large sums of money. The environment in that time frame was extremely unconducive to any official monetary support. Vietnam was a growingly unpopular boondoggle and the flower generation was making known its message of love and peace. Supporting covert operations would be about as popular as Herman Munster at a House of Mirrors.
So, the entities working with del Marmol began to provide him with the ultimate in insider information: They gave him advance notice of expected increases in prices of certain assets and other tips on important events which had extreme value to an investor or businessman. We're not talking about the an advance copy of the crop reports as in "Trading Places", either.
In 1971, as del Marmol began to build his non-conventional army, he was provided with the strong suggestion that the price of oil was going up. About 6 months later, the Arab Oil Embargo happened, generating tens of millions of dollars. Subsequently, he was given other "forecasts" such as the breakup of the Bell monopoly which he used to begin a very successful and lucrative business in payphones.
Of course, today, he would have Marko's Take to accurately forecast the future, but the good doctor is now retired and living what looks to be a very productive life.
Del Marmol's role was to provide what he refers to as his "services". Those spanned the gamut, from real spy stuff such as facillitating a regime change. Thankfully, it was not his idea to eliminate Castro with the exploding cigar, but we anxiously await hearing about that one. His other activities included setting up a sting by purchasing large amounts of cocaine from Columbian drug lords in order to expose the connection with Cuba. He also used money, often obtained from other sources, for many benign purposes such as building roads, schools, hospitals, airfields and bridges to instill goodwill among native populations that were suffering from oppression. They also provided badly needed food and medicine.
Del Marmol's forces were involved in some very major operations including Panama, Grenada, Congo and Ethiopia. They were peripherally involved in supporting insurgents in Afghanistan during the Russian occupation. They had some, but limited, involvement in Europe. The end game, in each case was regime change or preservation of a friendly regime under seige. The various administrations in power feared the "domino effect", especially in South and Central America. It was particularly feared that Mexico would become a Cuban satellite and a very hostile enemy with whom we'd would share a very long border.
As del Marmol's scale of operations grew, information alone was not enough to generate sufficient funds. Each tip could only produce so much. Market limitations capped the amount of profit each tidbit could earn. It was important to not score a gain so huge that it attracted attention and perhaps some sort of inquiry by regulators, the IRS or the media.
So, in 1988, it was agreed to by folks at the very top that del Marmol should be able to actually print genuine U.S. Currency. Yes, del Marmol was given a printing press, in effect creating a personal Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury. He had dies, plates, magnetic ink and the special paper used to print currency. Del Marmol's plates included Twenties, Fifties and Hundreds.
In order to make the currency genuine and indistinguishable from the ones produced at the mint, del Marmol engaged in some trial runs, using standard copier paper. With the benefit of multiple attempts, they were able to achieve a pretty accurate reproduction.
The "beta" bills were voluminous and required a virtual 24-7 destruction process. Unfortunately, not all were elinimated. Del Marmol then made a grave mistake. He gave an employee permission to use some phony currency, but warned against using more than a single $100 bill at a time. If the counterfeits were then discovered, the bearer could always claim that it was found or received in change somewhere. Del Marmol's employee, apparently no threat to Albert Einstein, decided to go shopping at Nordstrom's with a fistfull of monopoly money.
A blue collar worker with $20,000 in walking CASH? Needless to say, it drew the attention of the Secret Service and del Marmol was arrested for counterfeiting. Without much detail, the seizure was reported in the Los Angeles Times http://articles.latimes.com/1988-09-27/news/mn-2759_1_santa-ana-man.
At the time it was broken, the story was so significant that it interrupted the 1988 Olympics. Del Marmol was released by executive order after 5 months. Reportedly, the case has been completely wiped clean from all records and remains under Federal Seal. Took a few buckets of white out and some instuction from Russian historians to get the job done.
Cover blown, del Marmol has since retired. Somehow, despite more cardiac moments than the bomb squad, del Marmol is still in incredible condition, looking much younger and fit that his 63 years. He landed in the United States at age 23 knowing little English. Now he speaks with nary an accent. Not once did he have to 'splain anything to me!
Del Marmol is coming forth to advise the American people and the world on the, as of yet, undisclosed truth. Still a patriot with Libertarian leanings, he is using information that he possesses as his OWN form of currency and financing to get the message out, therby assisting the creation of a more transaparent government.
We will begin a series of pieces chronicling del Marmol's amazing life and activities. For the first time, answers to many questions historians have had will be answered in this blog. Wanna know about "Bay of Pigs", the "Cuban Missile Crisis", the Kennedy Assassination, Watergate or even 9-11? Guess what? You're in luck! Marko's Take is on the job, doing it what we set out to do. Bring you the unvarnished truth, bypassing our "watchdogs" (cough, cough) in the lamestream media.
Marko's Take
Showing posts with label audit of Federal Reserve. Show all posts
Showing posts with label audit of Federal Reserve. Show all posts
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Plunging Money Supply Has Ominous Implications
The lifeblood of the world financial system is money. When there's more of it sloshing around, times are typically good unless there TOO much of it, causing inflation. Econometric studies have shown that of the 10 components of the Index Of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI), 2 are the most predictive of future economic activity: growth in the Money Supply and changes in the Stock Market.
It can be argued, quite convincingly, that the Stock Market is itself is highly dependent on growth in money. In fact, it's possible, that ALL 10 components of the LEI are driven by growth in money.
The money supply is SCREAMING! Is anyone out there listening?
The broadest measure of money, called M3, is contracting at an accelerating rate that now rivals the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal orgy in history.
The M3 figures - which include a broad range of bank accounts and are tracked by monetarists for warning signals about the direction of the US economy a year or so in advance - began shrinking last summer. The pace has since quickened.
The stock of money fell from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the three months to April, amounting to an annual rate of contraction of 9.6%. The assets of insitutional money market funds fell at a 37% rate, the sharpest drop ever. While a rising money supply does not always translate into boom times, a FALLING M3 has historically ALWAYS been followed by an economic contraction and a falling stock market.
Record stimulus spending has been an utter failure in triggering job growth and has barely produced any economic recovery. First quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was revised lower to 3% from 3.2% this morning. The economy has lost more than 8 million jobs since the downturn began.
The Obama Administratio has an entirely different explanation for the failure of stimulus measures to produce the hoped for results. They are opting instead for further doses of Keynesian spending, despite warnings from the IMF that the gross public debt of the US will reach 97% of GDP next year and 110% by 2015.
Larry Summers, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, has asked Congress to approve another $200 billion stimulus package to produce economic growth.
Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke no longer pays attention to the M3 data. The bank stopped publishing the data five years ago, considering it too erratic to be of much value.
Mr. Bernanke has conveniently forgotten that double-digit growth of M3 during the US housing bubble gave clear warnings that the boom was out of control. The sudden slowdown in M3 in early to mid-2008 - just as the Fed talked of raising rates - gave a very clear warning that the economy and stock markets were about to go into freefall.
The White House appears to have reversed course just weeks after Mr Obama vowed to rein in a budget deficit of $1.5 trillion (9.4% of GDP) this year and set up a commission to target cuts. Mr. Obama, clearly a reader of "Marko's Take", has now understood that the second dip of this Double-Dip Hyperinflationary Depression is imminent.
The dominant voices in US policy-making, Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joe Stiglitz, as well as Mr Summers and Fed chair Ben Bernanke are all Keynesians who reject monetary theory and have an extreme distaste to any mention of the quantity of money. Once they read "Marko's Take", perhaps they ought to open up their copies of "The Monetary History of the United States" by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz.
The die is cast. The crash in M3 has ominous implications. It means the second dip is imminent, the stock market will have trouble and on the plus side, interest rates will NOT rise for a long time.
Marko's Take
Interested in ideas on how to fix Social Security? "Social In-Security: The Solution" will be posted in the next 24-48 hours. To familiarize yourself with the ponzi scheme called Social Security, please check out our video entitled "Social In-Security: The Problem" by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/twFn9XyP2rI.
It can be argued, quite convincingly, that the Stock Market is itself is highly dependent on growth in money. In fact, it's possible, that ALL 10 components of the LEI are driven by growth in money.
The money supply is SCREAMING! Is anyone out there listening?
The broadest measure of money, called M3, is contracting at an accelerating rate that now rivals the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal orgy in history.
The M3 figures - which include a broad range of bank accounts and are tracked by monetarists for warning signals about the direction of the US economy a year or so in advance - began shrinking last summer. The pace has since quickened.
The stock of money fell from $14.2 trillion to $13.9 trillion in the three months to April, amounting to an annual rate of contraction of 9.6%. The assets of insitutional money market funds fell at a 37% rate, the sharpest drop ever. While a rising money supply does not always translate into boom times, a FALLING M3 has historically ALWAYS been followed by an economic contraction and a falling stock market.
Record stimulus spending has been an utter failure in triggering job growth and has barely produced any economic recovery. First quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was revised lower to 3% from 3.2% this morning. The economy has lost more than 8 million jobs since the downturn began.
The Obama Administratio has an entirely different explanation for the failure of stimulus measures to produce the hoped for results. They are opting instead for further doses of Keynesian spending, despite warnings from the IMF that the gross public debt of the US will reach 97% of GDP next year and 110% by 2015.
Larry Summers, President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, has asked Congress to approve another $200 billion stimulus package to produce economic growth.
Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke no longer pays attention to the M3 data. The bank stopped publishing the data five years ago, considering it too erratic to be of much value.
Mr. Bernanke has conveniently forgotten that double-digit growth of M3 during the US housing bubble gave clear warnings that the boom was out of control. The sudden slowdown in M3 in early to mid-2008 - just as the Fed talked of raising rates - gave a very clear warning that the economy and stock markets were about to go into freefall.
The White House appears to have reversed course just weeks after Mr Obama vowed to rein in a budget deficit of $1.5 trillion (9.4% of GDP) this year and set up a commission to target cuts. Mr. Obama, clearly a reader of "Marko's Take", has now understood that the second dip of this Double-Dip Hyperinflationary Depression is imminent.
The dominant voices in US policy-making, Nobel laureates Paul Krugman and Joe Stiglitz, as well as Mr Summers and Fed chair Ben Bernanke are all Keynesians who reject monetary theory and have an extreme distaste to any mention of the quantity of money. Once they read "Marko's Take", perhaps they ought to open up their copies of "The Monetary History of the United States" by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz.
The die is cast. The crash in M3 has ominous implications. It means the second dip is imminent, the stock market will have trouble and on the plus side, interest rates will NOT rise for a long time.
Marko's Take
Interested in ideas on how to fix Social Security? "Social In-Security: The Solution" will be posted in the next 24-48 hours. To familiarize yourself with the ponzi scheme called Social Security, please check out our video entitled "Social In-Security: The Problem" by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/twFn9XyP2rI.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Plan To Audit Federal Reserve Thwarted By Obama Administration
Chalk one up for our wonderful Congress and President! Possibly the most important piece of legislation on the docket and one supported overwhelmingly by the populace just "withered on the vine". Time to pop those champagne corks, ladies and gentlemen of Washington, your need to obfuscate has once again taken precedence over the rights of the American people to understand what is being done with THEIR money!
Of course, we have to allow for the fact that politicians view tax collections as belonging to THEM. They don't! The Federal Reserve (Fed), so expert at creating asset bubbles, then justifying their existence by rushing in to fix those bubbles, remains shielded from any oversight. What's a few trillion among friends?
Political pressure from the Obama administration, along with the Treasury and Fed, led Senate lawmakers to alter a provision pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) that was gaining momentum. It would have largely repealed a 32-year-old law that shields Fed monetary policy from congressional auditors.
Sen. Sanders, after the intense lobbying by the Obama administration and Fed officials, removed language in his amendment to the financial-regulation overhaul that would’ve opened the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations to audits by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO). The original Sanders amendment eliminated those restrictions, which were passed by the Senate in 1978. The bill prevented the GAO from reviewing the Fed’s monetary policy actions, discount window lending, open market operations and transactions with foreign central banks or governments.
The watered-down Sanders amendment requires a one-time audit of the Fed’s emergency credit facilities and an inspection of Fed governance, a review of the selection of regional bank directors and the operation of regional banks’ lending facilities. The measure still requires the Fed to publicly identify borrowers from its emergency lending facilities and other special programs by December 1. But, it doesn’t stipulate ongoing disclosure. So what good is it?
The compromise, endorsed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) and the Treasury, would require the Fed to disclose more details about its lending during the financial crisis. It would also require a one-time audit of those loans and a one-time review of Fed governance. A formal vote was pushed back until next week. Its endorsement by the Treasury is proof the bill has ZERO teeth.
"At a time when our entire financial system almost collapsed, we cannot let the Fed operate in secrecy any longer," Mr. Sanders said. "The American people have a right to know."
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while insisting on a commitment to "openness" at the Fed, said in a letter to Congress the original Sanders measure would "seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates and damage economic stability and job creation." Mr. Bernanke fails to mention in his letter that the Fed itself has caused economic and financial instability and has utterly mismanaged monetary policy and set the level of interest rates to cause the very financial crisis we're in. (Sarcasm intentional!)
A House bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) that passed in December, contains a proposal similar to the original Sanders measure. If the Senate bill were to pass, it would need to be reconciled in a conference committee. Given the "compromise" bill, the reconciliation process cannot possibly lead to any legislation that would be effective.
Before the last-minute compromise, the Fed's foes appeared to be winning and got a major boost when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he would side with Mr. Sanders.
At least half a dozen Obama administration officials joined the high-pressure campaign, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. Administration aides credited Mr. Dodd with pushing back against the original amendment and developing an acceptable alternative.
The corrupt wheels of Washington continue to turn. The fact is that an audit of the Fed is not opposed because it could interfere with the great job they do. Rather, it is a desperate attempt to hide their utter incompetence and mismanagement, along with their surreptitious market operations designed to interfere with a free market to serve their political masters.
Marko's Take
Our latest You Tube video titled "Social In-Security: The Problem" is now posted and can be accessed by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/twFn9XyP2rI. We will post "Social In-Security: The Solution" subsequently. Stay tuned for a 7 step plan on how to fix this mess.
Of course, we have to allow for the fact that politicians view tax collections as belonging to THEM. They don't! The Federal Reserve (Fed), so expert at creating asset bubbles, then justifying their existence by rushing in to fix those bubbles, remains shielded from any oversight. What's a few trillion among friends?
Political pressure from the Obama administration, along with the Treasury and Fed, led Senate lawmakers to alter a provision pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) that was gaining momentum. It would have largely repealed a 32-year-old law that shields Fed monetary policy from congressional auditors.
Sen. Sanders, after the intense lobbying by the Obama administration and Fed officials, removed language in his amendment to the financial-regulation overhaul that would’ve opened the Fed’s monetary policy deliberations to audits by the congressional Government Accountability Office (GAO). The original Sanders amendment eliminated those restrictions, which were passed by the Senate in 1978. The bill prevented the GAO from reviewing the Fed’s monetary policy actions, discount window lending, open market operations and transactions with foreign central banks or governments.
The watered-down Sanders amendment requires a one-time audit of the Fed’s emergency credit facilities and an inspection of Fed governance, a review of the selection of regional bank directors and the operation of regional banks’ lending facilities. The measure still requires the Fed to publicly identify borrowers from its emergency lending facilities and other special programs by December 1. But, it doesn’t stipulate ongoing disclosure. So what good is it?
The compromise, endorsed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) and the Treasury, would require the Fed to disclose more details about its lending during the financial crisis. It would also require a one-time audit of those loans and a one-time review of Fed governance. A formal vote was pushed back until next week. Its endorsement by the Treasury is proof the bill has ZERO teeth.
"At a time when our entire financial system almost collapsed, we cannot let the Fed operate in secrecy any longer," Mr. Sanders said. "The American people have a right to know."
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while insisting on a commitment to "openness" at the Fed, said in a letter to Congress the original Sanders measure would "seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates and damage economic stability and job creation." Mr. Bernanke fails to mention in his letter that the Fed itself has caused economic and financial instability and has utterly mismanaged monetary policy and set the level of interest rates to cause the very financial crisis we're in. (Sarcasm intentional!)
A House bill sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) that passed in December, contains a proposal similar to the original Sanders measure. If the Senate bill were to pass, it would need to be reconciled in a conference committee. Given the "compromise" bill, the reconciliation process cannot possibly lead to any legislation that would be effective.
Before the last-minute compromise, the Fed's foes appeared to be winning and got a major boost when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said he would side with Mr. Sanders.
At least half a dozen Obama administration officials joined the high-pressure campaign, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. Administration aides credited Mr. Dodd with pushing back against the original amendment and developing an acceptable alternative.
The corrupt wheels of Washington continue to turn. The fact is that an audit of the Fed is not opposed because it could interfere with the great job they do. Rather, it is a desperate attempt to hide their utter incompetence and mismanagement, along with their surreptitious market operations designed to interfere with a free market to serve their political masters.
Marko's Take
Our latest You Tube video titled "Social In-Security: The Problem" is now posted and can be accessed by clicking here http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/twFn9XyP2rI. We will post "Social In-Security: The Solution" subsequently. Stay tuned for a 7 step plan on how to fix this mess.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Producer Prices Producing Signs Of Inflation
The recently released Producer Price Index (PPI) is beginning to show signs of the inevitable wave of hyper-inflation (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/ppi_04222010.pdf).
The PPI for Finished Goods rose 0.7% from February to March, seasonally-adjusted, following a 0.6% decline in February and a 1.4% increase in January.
In March, more than 70% of the increase in the finished goods index can be attributed to a 2.4% jump in prices for consumer foods. The index for finished energy goods advanced 0.7% and prices for finished goods, other than foods and energy, edged up 0.1%.
Excluding seasonal adjustments, the March PPI rose by 1.1%. On a year-to-year basis, March’s annual PPI rose to 6.0%, up from the 4.4% annual inflation reported for February. The March 2010 annual inflation rate was the highest since the 8.8% annual rate in September 2008, when the systemic solvency/financial crisis reached its peak.
Rising prices of commodities is the driver. Of 15 major commodity price indexes, 13 were higher month-to-month (data are reported not seasonally adjusted). The PPI All Commodities Price Index was up year-to-year in March 2010 by 9.0%, versus a 6.9% annual gain in February and was at its highest growth rate since September 2008. Similarly, the March Purchasing Managers survey had shown its highest "Prices-Paid" index readings since August 2008 for manufacturing and since September 2008 for non-manufacturing industries.
Obviously, the inflation-creep is bullish for Gold and Silver. Recent auctions for Treasuries have become more problematic as the result of poor yields. The Federal Reserve has no choice but to keep rates low as long as possible, especially as the non-existent "economic recovery" sputters. This leaves no choice but for the Washington cabal to monetize our debt and fan the flames of inflation.
As we've mentioned in prior blogs, inflation has a lag effect and, once started, is incredibly difficult to thwart. The only solution is to endure a sustained period of economic hardship. Paul Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve, resorted to raising interest rates to nearly 20%. This was followed by a severe recession until the Reagan tax cuts provided enough economic stimulus to set the stage for a prolonged period of sustained growth.
Marko's Take
Please visit us on YouTube. Our latest video blog on the Legality of the Personal Income Tax can be accessed by clicking here (http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/1TInKnCIikg). In addition, if you have any interest in 3D applications for your cell phone, visit our new website at (http://www.e3dlabs.com/).
The PPI for Finished Goods rose 0.7% from February to March, seasonally-adjusted, following a 0.6% decline in February and a 1.4% increase in January.
In March, more than 70% of the increase in the finished goods index can be attributed to a 2.4% jump in prices for consumer foods. The index for finished energy goods advanced 0.7% and prices for finished goods, other than foods and energy, edged up 0.1%.
Excluding seasonal adjustments, the March PPI rose by 1.1%. On a year-to-year basis, March’s annual PPI rose to 6.0%, up from the 4.4% annual inflation reported for February. The March 2010 annual inflation rate was the highest since the 8.8% annual rate in September 2008, when the systemic solvency/financial crisis reached its peak.
Rising prices of commodities is the driver. Of 15 major commodity price indexes, 13 were higher month-to-month (data are reported not seasonally adjusted). The PPI All Commodities Price Index was up year-to-year in March 2010 by 9.0%, versus a 6.9% annual gain in February and was at its highest growth rate since September 2008. Similarly, the March Purchasing Managers survey had shown its highest "Prices-Paid" index readings since August 2008 for manufacturing and since September 2008 for non-manufacturing industries.
Obviously, the inflation-creep is bullish for Gold and Silver. Recent auctions for Treasuries have become more problematic as the result of poor yields. The Federal Reserve has no choice but to keep rates low as long as possible, especially as the non-existent "economic recovery" sputters. This leaves no choice but for the Washington cabal to monetize our debt and fan the flames of inflation.
As we've mentioned in prior blogs, inflation has a lag effect and, once started, is incredibly difficult to thwart. The only solution is to endure a sustained period of economic hardship. Paul Volcker, former head of the Federal Reserve, resorted to raising interest rates to nearly 20%. This was followed by a severe recession until the Reagan tax cuts provided enough economic stimulus to set the stage for a prolonged period of sustained growth.
Marko's Take
Please visit us on YouTube. Our latest video blog on the Legality of the Personal Income Tax can be accessed by clicking here (http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/1TInKnCIikg). In addition, if you have any interest in 3D applications for your cell phone, visit our new website at (http://www.e3dlabs.com/).
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Why Is The Federal Reserve So Frightened Of An Audit?
Despite overwhelming bi-partisan support, the Federal Reserve (FED) continues to fight an audit "tooth and nail".
For some background on the FED you can watch the latest episode of our YouTube series (http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/JiGA8XeZbUo).
It's not too hard to speculate as to why... maybe they have something to hide? Maybe they've got a HELLUVA LOT to hide!
According to an article in the Huffington Post, which has been covering the ongoing battle to force an audit, the Treasury Department is vehemently opposed to a House-passed measure that would open the Federal Reserve (FED) to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a senior Treasury official said yesterday. The House version has more than 300 co-sponsors.
Instead, the official said the Treasury prefers a preposterously watered-down substitute offered by Rep. Mel Watt and would like to see it enacted as part of the Senate bill.
Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, has introduced an amendment intended as an alternative to the measure to audit the Federal Reserve introduced by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson's (D-Fla.) . But instead of increasing transparency, as the amendment claims to do, Watt's measure would instead make the institution more opaque.
Under the "Watt Amendment, an auditor could not look at loans or liquidity arrangements the FED enters into, the terms of those arrangements, or the effect of those loans and other liquidity deals on "reserves, the balance sheet or financial condition of a Federal reserve bank or the Federal Reserve System."
I guess the FED, like Garth Brooks, has friends in LOW PLACES!
Asked whether he supports the House-passed measure to open the FED to an audit, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Grayson and Paul, a senior Treasury official stated he is intensely opposed to it.
The official said the measure would undermine the independence of monetary policy and could restrict the ability of the Fed to act in times of crisis. Ironically, the FED is much better at CREATING crises than solving them! He said that the GAO already has audit authority and that the chairman routinely testifies before Congress.
Love the FED? Hate the FED? TAKE ME ON!
Marko's Take
For some background on the FED you can watch the latest episode of our YouTube series (http://www.youtube.com/markostaketv#p/u/0/JiGA8XeZbUo).
It's not too hard to speculate as to why... maybe they have something to hide? Maybe they've got a HELLUVA LOT to hide!
According to an article in the Huffington Post, which has been covering the ongoing battle to force an audit, the Treasury Department is vehemently opposed to a House-passed measure that would open the Federal Reserve (FED) to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a senior Treasury official said yesterday. The House version has more than 300 co-sponsors.
Instead, the official said the Treasury prefers a preposterously watered-down substitute offered by Rep. Mel Watt and would like to see it enacted as part of the Senate bill.
Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, has introduced an amendment intended as an alternative to the measure to audit the Federal Reserve introduced by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson's (D-Fla.) . But instead of increasing transparency, as the amendment claims to do, Watt's measure would instead make the institution more opaque.
Under the "Watt Amendment, an auditor could not look at loans or liquidity arrangements the FED enters into, the terms of those arrangements, or the effect of those loans and other liquidity deals on "reserves, the balance sheet or financial condition of a Federal reserve bank or the Federal Reserve System."
I guess the FED, like Garth Brooks, has friends in LOW PLACES!
Asked whether he supports the House-passed measure to open the FED to an audit, which was co-sponsored by Reps. Grayson and Paul, a senior Treasury official stated he is intensely opposed to it.
The official said the measure would undermine the independence of monetary policy and could restrict the ability of the Fed to act in times of crisis. Ironically, the FED is much better at CREATING crises than solving them! He said that the GAO already has audit authority and that the chairman routinely testifies before Congress.
Love the FED? Hate the FED? TAKE ME ON!
Marko's Take
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