There have been recent diaries on this topic, but I wanted to add one more to the mix. I signed the Alan Grayson "Unmask the Fed" petition that was linked in recent diaries, but I also think it's important to light up the switchboards and the email InBox at the White House. We can't let Rahm Emanuel, who we can presume is operating at the behest of the President, quietly kill the Bernie Sanders Amendment in the Senate. If they want to kill it, let's make them do it in the open, even if that means using the veto pen. At least then the White House would be forced to explain to the American people why it wants to keep $2T in loans hidden, why it wants to keep the Fed shrouded in undemocratic secrecy.
More after the fold.
I will point to two articles indicating that the White House is actively working against the idea of auditing the Fed. The first is from Talking Points Memo, "Deal Killer? White House Takes Aim At Fed Audit Provision". An excerpt:
The pushback is reminiscent, in a way, of the executive branch's institutional opposition to oversight of the nation's intelligence agencies and operations. The Fed has always been shrouded in secrecy, and its leaders (in both the private and public sector) continue to insist on keeping their activities opaque, in order, they say, to protect complicated monetary policy from the political process.
It is believed that the Fed loaned major financial institutions upwards of $2 trillion during the financial crisis. Sanders' legislation would require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a comprehensive audit of the central bank, and force it to make public which companies received that money, and under what terms. Chairman Ben Bernanke opposes the latter on the grounds that exposing the institutions that required dramatic assistance would be counterproductive to the goal of restabilizing the financial system.
It's likely, in fact, that the Obama administration will be under intense pressure to veto the entire financial reform bill if "audit the fed" survives.
Personally, I don't buy "intense pressure" as an excuse. Either the President feels it is important to shine a light on the Fed, or he doesn't.
The other article is from The Huffington Post, "Rahm Working With Fed To Beat Back Audit". An excerpt:
In the spring of 2009, Sanders brought a similar amendment to the Senate floor and won 59 votes. Eight senators who voted against it then are now cosponsors of his current measure.
"I think momentum is with us. But I've gotta tell you, that on this amendment, you're taking on all of Wall Street, you're taking on the Fed, obviously, and unfortunately you seem to be taking on the White House, as well. And that's a tough group to beat," said Sanders.
He's been trading calls, he said, with Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff.
Please make sure the White House knows you don't like this, that you want to hear a full explanation from the President himself why he feels it is important to keep the Fed operating in secrecy, why he feels it is so important to hide how $2 Trillion of the American people's money was used.
White House contact page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Mail and phone:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Please include your e-mail address
Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD
Comments: 202-456-6213
Visitors Office: 202-456-2121
Alan Grayson "Unmask the Fed" petition: http://salsa.mydccc.org/...
Audit the Fed!