Ron Paul, Author of ‘End the Fed,’ to Lead Fed Panel

[phk]

Representative Ron Paul, Texas Republican and author of “End the Fed,” will take control of the House subcommittee that oversees the Federal Reserve.

House Financial Services chairman-elect Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican, selected Paul, 75, to lead the panel’s domestic monetary policy subcommittee when their party takes the House majority next month, the committee chairman said today.

“This is the leadership team that crafted the first comprehensive financial reform bill to put an end to the bailouts, wind down the taxpayer funding of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and enforce a strong audit of the Federal Reserve,” Bachus said in a statement.

Paul, in an interview last week, said he plans a slate of hearings on U.S. monetary policy and will restart his push for a full audit of the Fed’s functions.

“We are ready to hit the ground running, and I look forward to continuing our work in the next Congress,” Bachus said.

Paul, who has introduced legislation to abolish the Fed, became nationally known during his 2008 presidential campaign. His campaign to audit the Fed picked up steam as the central bank deployed trillions of dollars in emergency loans in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Paul’s bill gained the support of 320 of 435 members of the House and a portion of the measure ended up in the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul enacted this year.

Attacks on Bernanke

Paul’s assignment comes as the Republican Party has stepped up attacks on Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and the central bank in the wake of the Nov. 3 announcement that it would buy bonds in an attempt to bring down unemployment and prevent inflation.

“Congress must act to rein in Chairman Bernanke and the Fed before they destroy our currency and permanently damage our economy and financial system,” Senator Jim Bunning, a Kentucky Republican, said in his farewell speech on the Senate floor today. “Public awareness of what the Fed is doing is increasing while public opinion of the Fed is falling.”

Bunning’s views are reflected throughout the country, according to a Bloomberg National Poll that reveals deep skepticism about the Fed.

Americans across the political spectrum say the central bank shouldn’t retain its current structure of independence, according to the poll. Asked if the central bank should be more accountable to Congress, left independent or abolished entirely, 39 percent said it should be held more accountable and 16 percent that it should be abolished. Thirty-seven percent favor the status quo.

Other Subcommittees

Paul, who has been passed up twice before for the subcommittee chairmanship, may cause a problem for Republicans who have traditionally defended the central bank, Representative Barney Frank, the outgoing chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview.

“I think you’re going to see a significant dispute within the Republican Party,” said Frank, who was re-appointed by his party as the senior Democrat on the committee. “I do not believe that Ron Paul’s views on the Fed represent the views of most Republicans.”

Bachus will keep the senior Republicans on the panel in leadership positions. Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas will take over as the panel’s vice chairman, replacing fellow Texas Republican Randy Neugebauer, who moves over to lead the oversight and investigations subcommittee.

Representative Scott Garrett of New Jersey will become chairman of the capital markets panel, which would oversee any work done on government-owned mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Representatives Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and Judy Biggert of Illinois will take over the financial institutions and housing subcommittees, respectively. Representative Gary Miller of California will take over as chairman of the international monetary policy panel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phil Mattingly in Washington at pmattingly@bloomberg.net.

[Free Palestine]

Mwahahaha!

[Marokai Backbeat]

The idea that there are polls on public opinion of the Federal Reserve and it's potential oversight is hilarious to me. I doubt 10% of the population could explain what the Fed even does.

[memphis]

That's what the GOP does. They put anti-department x people to lead department x. Why should anybody be surprised.

[they don't love you like i love you]

It actually is a little surprising in this case considering how unpopular Paul is amongst many in the GOP.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

I wonder what Libby would say.

[??????????]

Good, the federal reserve is unconstitutional and should be eliminated. If we're stuck with a central bank it should be audited heavily.

I doubt 10% of the population could explain what the Fed even does.

I doubt 10% of congress could explain what the Fed even does.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

The idea that there are polls on public opinion of the Federal Reserve and it's potential oversight is hilarious to me. I doubt 10% of the population could explain what the Fed even does.

Important thought: look at this list of countries with a central bank. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_central_banks

[they don't love you like i love you]

Since Libby is now finally gone I suppose I might get a real answer instead of "OMG STATIST FASCISM BLAH BLAH BLAH" if I ask how regular crashes are going to be avoided without a central bank like the Federal Reserve which is the whole reason it was created.

[??????????]

Since Libby is now finally gone I suppose I might get a real answer instead of "OMG STATIST FASCISM BLAH BLAH BLAH" if I ask how regular crashes are going to be avoided without a central bank like the Federal Reserve which is the whole reason it was created.

Did a helluva job preventing the '29 crash, so you have a good point.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I doubt 10% of the population could explain what the Fed even does.

I doubt 10% of congress could explain what the Fed even does.

Probably right, unfortunately.

Since Libby is now finally gone I suppose I might get a real answer instead of "OMG STATIST FASCISM BLAH BLAH BLAH" if I ask how regular crashes are going to be avoided without a central bank like the Federal Reserve which is the whole reason it was created.

Did a helluva job preventing the '29 crash, so you have a good point.

In fairness, it is because of the gold standard and the Fed's insistence on a strict monetary policy in order to defend US currency that prevented recovery for quite some time. It's not fair to blame the Federal Reserve or accuse the Fed or having no positive impact on the economy, because it wasn't actually working as intended. Instead of better circulating money throughout the economy as was the point, they tightened supply when it was needed the most, and simply mimicked the behavior of the previous decades' bank runs. When the Fed does pump money into the economy, it works much better.

[they don't love you like i love you]

I'd also like an explanation for how currency creation and circulation is going to be managed without the Fed (and please no "return to the gold standard" nonsense), in the modern era that is about as feasible as abolishing international time standards and returning to every area setting its own time based on the sun*)

*The sad thing is I bet most libertarians would favor this as well.

[??????????]

I'd also like an explanation for how currency creation and circulation is going to be managed without the Fed

The federal government managed to print currency before the fed.

[Frink]

I'd also like an explanation for how currency creation and circulation is going to be managed without the Fed (and please no "return to the gold standard" nonsense), in the modern era that is about as feasible as abolishing international time standards and returning to every area setting its own time based on the sun*)

*The sad thing is I bet most libertarians would favor this as well.

Most countries on the gold standard had a central bank of sorts anyway.

I believe a lot of libertarians favor some form of free banking system, but the details after that point are sketchy to me because I usually stop reading.

[Frink]

I'd also like an explanation for how currency creation and circulation is going to be managed without the Fed

The federal government managed to print currency before the fed.

The Fed doesn't literally print currency..

[they don't love you like i love you]

I think people are kind of oversimplifying things here (which is hardly surprising and the typical way libertarians do thing.)

Look at it this way, I see a lot of this as like arguing that since the country survived 150 years without an interstate system, if the interstate were to vanish tomorrow there would be no issues. Which when you think about it is a pretty valid analogy to the whole "OMG this country didn't have this in the 18th century!" or "The Founding Fathers wanted it that way!" type arguments.

[Frink]

I think people are kind of oversimplifying things here (which is hardly surprising and the typical way libertarians do thing.)

Look at it this way, I see a lot of this as like arguing that since the country survived 150 years without an interstate system, if the interstate were to vanish tomorrow there would be no issues. Which when you think about it is a pretty valid analogy to the whole "OMG this country didn't have this in the 18th century!" or "The Founding Fathers wanted it that way!" type arguments.

Which is funny, because the Founding Fathers ended up creating a sort of central bank.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Interesting.


Though I think having skeptical committee people is better then having in the tank committee people. I mean, would you prefer a financial services committee run by chairs and sub chairs who are basically owned by Morgan Stanely and JP Morgan?