In some ways that is a classic understatement regarding my view of the FED or most of the federal bureaucracies as they now exist and function.  But the power of the FED and its incredible impact on American lives and fortunes makes it a creature worthy of careful scrutiny.

I agree with those who contend that the Federal Reserve is one of the least understood agencies in America.  I am on board with those who are calling for a ‘full audit’ of the FED, something that has not happened in its more than 100-year existence.  Why or How could that be?  If it is allowed to go ‘unchecked’ and allowed to operate as its own lord and master, it will become an even more dangerous organism. 

Why would the FED seek to avoid an outside and fair audit?  Why is Congress negligent in fulfilling its ethical duties to America and demanding a full and fair audit of the FED?  You may disagree but I believe that our national sovereignty, economic viability, and freedom is connected to knowing the truth about the FED.  We have a right to know the truth, and while the Democrats are hell-bent on destroying Donald Trump, they are complicit in protecting the FED, but so are most of the Republicans.  That places Congress in a position of complicity in the cover-up or sheltering from an examination of this entity.

The Constitution authorizes Congress to ‘coin money’ but does that also mean ‘create it?’  There is nothing, that I can find, in the Constitution that authorizes the government to establish a bank or cede its constitutional and extremely limited authority regarding money to any other entity, viz The Federal Reserve.  What is the hold the FED has over Congress and politicians?  What is the real power of the unelected entity that wields such incredible power in the fiscal fate of America?

Not to bore you with a history lesson but when the FED was created in 1913, the American dollar had a buying power of 100 cents and gold was valued at $20 per ounce.  In contrast, today the buying power of the American dollar is about 2 cents and the value of gold is appraised at about $1500 per ounce.  How or why did that happen?  Why such a dramatic shift?  What changed?

Let me ask, “Who owns the Federal Reserve?”  Another valid question is, “How does it operate?”  I suggest that virtually no one can fully or adequately answer those questions not even members of Congress and that makes it a frighteningly powerful organism that seems to have a life of its own.

Let me offer my opinion as to why Congress has not sought to ‘fully audit’ the FED and you can ponder it, trash it, agree with it, or reject it.  I only hope to cause you to think and question and hopefully, you will then pressure your elected officials to conduct a ‘full audit’ of the Federal Reserve and lay all the cards on the table.  Why has Congress ducked their responsibility to audit?  I believe it is a bottom-line issue.  No, not America’s bottom line, but the coffers of those in Congress.  Money talks and buys loyalty and silence possibly more than fear. 

After a little research into the archives of information, I found the interesting morsel of information that in 1993, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan revealed that there were 189 economic ‘experts’ working for the FED.  That was not the end of the enormity of the entity.  He revealed that there were an additional 171 who held jobs at its regional offices.  But alas, that was the tip of the iceberg and an additional 370 were employed as statisticians and support staff.  Then, we discovered that the 209 professors who taught various FED endorsed economic fantasies in our universities received 305 contracts as an inducement to defend the Federal Reserve.  Again, money talks and buys loyalty.  Who wants to bite the hand that feeds them or looks the gift horse in the mouth?

That would be concerning enough but today the number of grants and salaries issued by the FED has grown exponentially.  How much is debatable and the support of the FED by the ‘experts’ is so extensive one economics professor lamented, “It is nearly impossible to get an article on the FED accepted for publication?”

It should be of considerable concern that only two unelected bureaucrats at the Federal Reserve can decide who can receives trillions of dollars in loans without even consulting Congress.  The Board of Governors of the FED has the power to bypass the congressional appropriations appropriation process and make loans to individuals, partnerships, and corporations that are ‘unable to secure adequate credit accommodations from other banking institutions’ providing there are ‘unusual and exigent circumstances.’

Before 2002, at least five of the seven FED governors had to authorize such action but in 2001 the law was amended after 9/11 so that if there are less than five governors in office those loans could be authorized by a ‘unanimous vote of all available members in office – if at least two members are available.’  That is a terrible decision. 

I asked several people mostly liberals and a few conservatives, “what is the Federal Reserve?”  What I heard, almost uniformly, was, “It is a government agency that creates all of the money to run the United States.”  That is a gross misconception and, in my view, a dangerous one.  The Federal Reserve is a private corporation controlled by bankers, and that means it operates for the financial benefit of those bankers not the people of these United States.

The founders wanted the power and authority to coin money to be placed solely into the hands of the U.S. Congress, not some private entity.  They held the view that they must avoid what one European Banker suggested, “Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws.”

The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 passed on Christmas Eve was not a good Christmas gift for America but they gave us our lump of coal. In this Act, Congress gave away the power to create money and handed it over to a private corporation. 

I understand Jefferson’s concern about bankers because with the state of financial affairs and the power of the FED we are rapidly reaching a place where the government nor the people will actually own anything, and the bankers will own everything.  That will effectively enslave every American economically. 

We should heed Jefferson’s warnings.  He said, “If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their private banks to control the issue of their money… the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (the banks) will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered!”

We must be rescued from the yoke of High Finance and return the constitutional powers to the rightful places where ‘we the people’ have oversight.  We must return that power to the people we can vote in or out of office.  We do not have that power with the increasingly powerful FED.  Wake up America!  This is one of the many issues facing us and we are lost in the political wrangling about which party is the most partisan and should be in power.

God bless you and God bless America!