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Audit the Fed? Only if GOP Retakes the Senate

By Rick Ackerman Posted on July 27, 2012, 12:01 am EDT Last Updated July 27, 2012, 2:50 am EDT

Rep. Ron Paul’s bill to subject the Fed to broad audits sailed through the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday; now it goes to the Senate, where it is certain to die. Those who believe that Democrats and Republics are fundamentally indistinguishable should ponder the bill’s fate when November rolls around.  While it’s true that Paul’s Federal Reserve Transparency Act drew bipartisan support in the House, garnering the votes of more than three dozen Democrats, Senate Democrats can be expected to take a harder line.  If and when they kill the measure, it will probably be the last time for a very long while that anyone in Congress seriously challenges the Fed’s right to withhold the truth and to answer to no one but its lords and master on Wall Street.

For his part, Helicopter Ben Bernanke seems so confident that the Senate will uphold the status quo that he did not even speak out against HR 1207. Appearing before a House panel last week, he was Mr. Cool, sounding like he’d been scripted by Goebbels himself:   “We are quite transparent and accountable on monetary policy,” the Fed chairman testified. “Besides our statement, besides our testimonies, we issue minutes after three weeks. We have quarterly projections, I give a press conference four times a year, there’s quite a bit of information provided to help Congress evaluate monetary policy as well as the public.”

Pure Bull

Yeah, sure: “Quite a bit of information.”  All of it pure bull. Friends of the Fed have argued that airing the full details of, for one, the banking bailout would damage the financial position of the firms involved and destabilize the economy.  True enough. But if you pile their lies and secrets high enough, the whole, rotten system is eventually going to collapse anyway.   “An audit would expose the Fed as a massive fraud perpetrated on this country, enriching a privileged few bankers at the top of our economic food chain, and leaving the rest of us with massively devalued dollars which we are forced to use by law,” wrote Paul recently, not mincing words, at LewRockwell.com. It is both a shame and a tragedy that Ron Paul’s presidential bid, with enormous grass-roots support, was never taken seriously by the new media or the power brokers. Does anyone outside of those precincts even dispute that the Fed was created, not to stabilize the money system, but to give banks all but unlimited power to create their own money from thin air?

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  • gary leibowitz July 29, 2012, 8:07 pm

    All the silly acceptance of green martians invading America is what we have here. The Colorado incident was ripe for speculation that he wasn’t the gunman. Conspiray. Th 4th year of a market that has gone up on average 25 percent per year is also based on conspiracies and manipulation. It is only when it hits the devilish 666 on the SP500 that everyone here is vindicated that the markets are acting rationally.

    Markets thoughout history have overshot on both sides. It is afterall a guessing game based on earning trends and special events. To suggest “this time is different”, begs the question why use any historic patterns at all? If you can’t understand the markets because of the “new manipulation rules” than it is best to sit on cash. Rick suggests massive manipulation but he has found a technical system that works for him. How is that possible? Manipulation and technicals are clearly opposites.

    I have a technical system that is based on fibonacci numbers and the idea of a contracting spiral. This system predicted years ago that the next market low would be near the end of 2014, than 2017, 2019 finishing in a singularity at 2020. It might turn out to be another failed system. It doesn’t base it on preconcieved notions, only observable extrapolation. Unemotional data and hypothesis I can accept. “this time is different” based on manipulation and conspiracies I can’t. While these things do occur, to suggest we have mastered it to manipulate the world begs the question why expect it to eventually fail? Either they have complete control or they don’t. To suggest their control has held for 4 years but will eventually fail also suggests it is a guessing game when they do fail. I can’t play the markets on that premise.

  • gary leibowitz July 29, 2012, 7:48 pm

    Here we go again, claiming to catch that illusive flash crash. It’s a waste of time. Your technical analysis is for the most part correct, but not your very biased preconcieved notions. If you just looked at the technicals you could conclude that the big run up over the last 3 years could just be a consolidation phase. All past big run ups have this in common. Since you have already concluded we were on borrowed time and that only manipulation of the markets allowed it to stay up, than your assessment seems logical under those assumptions.

    Me, I’ll let the market tell me what is going on. For instance, you conclude the recent rally against Draghi’s remarks wasn’t called for. Well it indicates to me that they are committed to modifying the austerity program with bond purchases and central lending. Hey, this looks just like what this government did over the last 4 year.

    As for the fundamentals, it is mixed, with no indication things are falling apart. If the EU stabilizes from here I see no reason to conclude we are finished. Please remember that the street had figured earnings would be the weakest at this time, calling this over 6 months ago. As for Greece, it is a non-issue. Not much reaction from the street if it is announced they left the EU. In fact a good number of articles were already published expecting just that.

    I wait for the technicals to tell me we have broken out or are still in a consolidation. The bear scenario would require a break that just isn’t seen yet. Unemotional unbiased technicians usually do much better without looking at a one sided play. V, if your past record indicates your calls were better than average I would certainly put more credence into this analysis.

    • gary leibowitz July 29, 2012, 8:14 pm

      I also forgot to mention that as the EU starts buying their bonds, it stabilizes their currency, and helps ours to come down. A win-win for everyone.
      At least until the whole thing unwinds. When that is remains a guessing game.

  • V July 28, 2012, 9:17 pm

    Been looking today at a study of the 500 S&P stocks’ “market breath” (up-day vol./down-day vol.) over last 12 months.

    Bottomline: Market breath for S&P500 was excellent (huge stock accumulation), over the last 4 months of 2012 (especially at each sharply down-day bottom, and there were several, over those 4 months).

    That alone should have forewarned there was a big multi-month rally ahead, since it was a primo set-up for the insiders to create, for months, a slew of 1-day short-covering “world is saved, we are in recovery” surprise news rallies.

    However, situation since Jan. 2012 is totally different, breathwise. Because breath has been getting worse every month, less and less accumulation going on, almost all distribution, and sold to the last few remaining short-covering permabears.

    So, “market breath” putridly stinks now. And that is not indicative of any new multi-month bullmarket, anywhere soon.

    It’s just the opposite. All there is right now are a LOT of stock sellers, selling into every (manipulated, by those in the know) short-covering rallies (and usually setup overnight, like last Thursday).

    Because, so you get an idea of current “market breath”, last Thursday huge morning gap rally (out of nowhere, a real “surprise” to markets), and due only to Draghi’s words “I will not allow the Euro to fail, believe me, it is my mandate” (paraphrasing), only achieved less than .5 market breath (only 1 up-stock, per every 2 down-stocks). And that is an incredibly terrible market breath, especially on a huge upmove “world is saved, for sure this time” huge news day.

    There is near zero stock-accumulation going on right now, and getting closer to zero each day.

    And this has been going now, for almost a year, so it’s a TREND and not a fluke, since it’s gotten worse nearly every month.

    And all that’s left now, are insider manipulators simply draining the very last of the dregs of the funds of shorters, through these 1-day wonder “central banker news” hoaxes, like last Thursday’s.

    Eventually, even the most permabear shorters will stop shorting altogether (from getting burned so many times), and then there will be no one left to feed this huge, insider-created “stock-distributing” monster, with all stockholders just waiting to sell.

    Then, the largest ponzi scheme of all time, will be over very quickly.

    So, I continue to think there is a major trend-turnaround day coming very soon, and probably in the shape of an overnight “flash crash”, due to the manipulating insiders going short themselves, since there is no more money to be milked from the repeatedly, easily suckered, permabear shorters, something they successfully achieved, for nearly 1 year.

    So now it’s finally time, the insiders go after the money of the suckered stock-buyers; and as usual, leave them holding the bag once again, like in July/August 2011.

    S&P 1100 area is dead ahead, I think, and faster than you can say no lube for rubes. And next week could be the start of that big trend-turnaround, in a strong case of “sell the (Fed b.s.) news”.

    However, myself, I still like Greece, officially dropping out of the Eu this summer (and defaulting 100% on their debt, a bald haircut), as “THE event”, that causes the overnight “flash crash”. And I think this Greek slasher horror movie is coming very soon to your nearby theater. But I suggest “packing heat” it you go see it, since it’s going to be a bloody horror show, and you never know how many enraged screwed stockholders, might also be in the audience.

    • V July 30, 2012, 4:13 am

      gary, it’s elusive, not illusive.

      but as some here also accuse you of, you do not address exactly what I actually wrote above, you only tangentially touch on it; and then, you go off into your usual permabull “trees are it, and not forest” dogmatic sad droning rant.

      but no matter. for you remind me of someone else on another website, site that has nothing to do with making money as this one is, yet—it’s the same syndrome, of the paid informant, the paid drone, the paid stooge, to misdirect and sucker as many rubes as possible, for those in power.

      so do continue droning on, paid by the hour gl, and no problema, do ‘earn’ your living.

      But remember, you have not addressed directly, one iota of what I wrote above. And as such, I shall republish it again herein tomorrow, monday, so that more honest minds than yours, can comment on it— and on the utter FACT, that this entire current market rally, is nothing more than another huge short-covering rally; thus solely surviving until, it wholly implodes overnight, any day soon, when all the liars cease to lie, and only because it benefits them, and all permabear money, has been drained dry.

      I honestly feel sorry for you, gary l., for you have too many masters.

  • Tony Sturtevant July 28, 2012, 9:08 pm

    Look into Comprehensive Annual Financial Review (CAFR) structure to find out why the ‘audit the FED’ is a non-issue (Hint: Through their version of the CAFR, the FED is audited every year)
    This video, The Corporation Nation 3, is quite illuminating on the subject.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjxU8bqXHn8

  • John Jay July 28, 2012, 3:42 pm

    Chris,
    I also like Antal Fekte’s macro-economic view that once you go off of a gold backed monetary system debt can only grow ever higher. He states only gold can liquidate debt.
    If you look at the US experience since 1972 there is plenty of evidence for viewpoint!

  • Chris T. July 28, 2012, 4:00 am

    John Jay,
    “I just read an article by Antal Fekete.”

    Well that was time well spent. I find that his arguments take time to take-in, and thought. But when one realizes how right he is, even if at first you want to say “what?”, it clicks.

    “He said a gold standard …speculation to agricutural/industrial commodities and not financial instrumentsI will read more of his work.”

    I think one of his most interesting observations is about hedging risks. He points out that only exogenous, non-human controllable events can be hedged, so as to mitigate risks.
    However, man-made events, and all of finance is that, only permit for risk-transferrence, ultimately to government and society.
    We certainly have seen that.
    Hence his distinction between real goods, products of nature, and human-ephemera such as bonds, etc.
    (hope I stated that right…).

    As far as reading more, go to it!
    On his website, under the popular economics tab, just the latest few are worth it.
    As are the ones on the scholarly econ. tab.

    Another of his points I think are worthwhile to read are about the caustic effect of a declining interest rate structure and the erosion of capital, bank capital or real capital.

    I just looked at a 30 year chart of the 10yr bond yield, it has been on a rel. narrow down-trend since about 1984-1985, and is at its lowest level ever during that period right now.

    And how well that correlates to Fekete’s point (and how well it illustrates the sich workings of the central bank too)

  • gary leibowitz July 27, 2012, 10:56 pm

    Big rally but not there yet. Hasn’t yet broken major trend. Will know soon enough. The earning season wasn’t a catalyst one way or other. Once again it was the policies of the EU that were closely watched.

    If the EU hold true to their promise the hemorrhaging should stop.

    Sorry folks but it sure does look like th big drop will have to wait.

  • gary leibowitz July 27, 2012, 4:34 pm

    I find it hard to listen to the black or white description of governments behavior, or peoples intent. It is never that simple.

    All good people can be tainted by circumstance. This was proven in multiple psychological experiments. The most stark being play acting out a prisoner and prison guard. The result was shocking to me.

    The atrocities of WWII was not becuase a whole race was demented. It is easy to categorize or label but simply not true. Given certain circumstances we can behave in totally opposite manner. We are a combination of intellect and primal emotion.

    The notion that it’s them against us reinforces a false belief that our government is run by abnormal individuals. That an individual with a certain psychotic or narcissistic profile is lured into this profession.

    In order to vilify a group of people it requires you to be color blind. We must either be all good or all bad.

    • Redwilldanaher July 27, 2012, 4:59 pm

      Right, so there’s really no difference between the Cramer types that work on modern Wall st. And the folks that spend their lives doing mission work? All of history is screaming and laughing at you simultaneously.

    • gary leibowitz July 27, 2012, 5:12 pm

      Like all sectors of business and career choices there are good and bad people. Is this not true?

      Do you really think you can lump all wall street investors and brokers together? how absurd.

      I suggest you keep vilifying those goverment officials.
      I also suggest you don’t vote since the result is always the same.

      As for Cramer he is a real character. Should have been in show business instead. I remember him declaring on national TV on the day the SP500 hit 666 that all was lost. selll, selll, sell. A great counter-indicator at tops and bottoms.

      As for the market: Not sure that we saw the lows this summer. I do think we will not break SPX of 1300. I will be re-entering by mid-month (Aug) since my targets were not hit. I would rather be late to the party than be caught celebrating alone. Notice how the EU is now going the route of the United States. They are following Uncle Bens advice. They will be supporting their dollar by buying bonds. Looks like low interest rates stay for a long time to come. This will also help keep our dollar from breaking out which means a good support for our stock market.

    • BDTR July 27, 2012, 7:23 pm

      Gary,

      Cramer IS in show business.

      Your caution to stereotyping is well founded. However, as you note yourself, situational conditioning tends to prey on human weakness that often translates into common response behavior. A ‘when in Rome’ syndrome establishes and gives license to a otherwise immoral or reprehensible mindset and action that infects a sub-group or a majority overriding reason and decency.

      In the case of Wall St., competition is predatory by default. Deception, misdirection and ruse are all commonly employed by very well educated, sophisticated and often charming and persuasive people. But, the near abandonment of oversight and regulation of the past decade has now bred a culture of criminal exploitation and manipulation that’s pervasive to the extreme. It’s now a large part of the infrastructure.

      So it’s not necessarily wrong to characterize the securities industry in particular as being wholly rotten when the bad apples have succeeded in undermining credibility and confidence in so many successive baskets.

      There is valid guilt by association, as the lamentable lapse of governance at Penn State has illustrated. The same passive assent for reasons of money, power and, ironically, reputation has betrayed human decency and destroyed a proud legacy.

      The same mass passivity has eventuated some of the worst crimes of humanity.

    • gary leibowitz July 27, 2012, 7:34 pm

      BDTR,

      Yes, I agree with your assessment. It is the abandonment of regulations that allowed certain careers and industries to profit by greed and criminality.

  • mario July 27, 2012, 11:26 am

    Facts are facts: on gold and silver charts, they have BOTH broken above to the upside on the daily and weekly chart triangle they have been trading into for many weeks….we’ll see if its a false break or not…

    Furthermore, marketwatch article…Lloyd Blankfein points up investing in U.S. equities top choice for a variety of reasons, mainly that the global economy IS expanding and all is fused together now. I have stated similar view backed by many data points recently, a subject of my new MBA school business lectures, and I have to say, regardless of criticisms and rage toward Wall Street / govt collusion, I continue to agree…selective portfolio choices a must…

    Cheers, Mario

  • dajubester July 27, 2012, 4:08 am

    JFK had three bullets aimed at his head. Yes, Stripping the Fed of its power to lend their counterfeit money to the federal government was one of them. The second was the big NO to allowing BenGurion of Israel to manufacture and own nuclear./atomic weapons, and the third: His quote referring to the CIA, ” I will break it up in a thousand pieces and throw it into the wind.”
    “Final Judgement” by Michael Collins Piper….comprehensive and thorough on this subject.

  • bc July 27, 2012, 2:53 am

    Taylor Caldwell wrote “The Captains And The Kings”, an excellent novel based on Joe Kennedy’s life. In her introduction she posits that JFK was killed by “The gnomes of Zurich”. And so it goes.

    Not backing down from my call:
    Market gaps down in August, just like last year.

  • L fry July 27, 2012, 12:51 am

    V + Jill,

    Re the Kennedy assassination, I did see the video the Japanese somehow had showing clearly the driver of the Kennedy car was his killer.He quickly pulled a gun from the left of front seat,on floor , put the gun over his rt shoulder + shot Kennedy from the front . The ER docs at Parkland hospital in Dallas said ” the bullet that killed the president came from the front “. Jackie immediantly exclaimed ” THEY killed my husband “. This was no doubt due to the fact that Kennedy had said in a speech not long before ” that there were ” shadowy organizations” undermining America . He then signed in the executative order for our own treasury released silver dollar ,doing away with the Federal Reserve , a private den of vipers that Alex Hamilton Also tried to squash. He also was murdered on the 3rd attempt.

    • mario cavolo July 28, 2012, 5:42 am

      L fry….where’s that japanese video…?

  • Rusty July 27, 2012, 12:06 am

    http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKdecker.htm there is the correct link

    • Rusty July 27, 2012, 12:20 am

      This belongs with BDTR’s link sorry it ended up here

  • Chris T. July 26, 2012, 8:01 pm

    just about 1/2 of Democrats voted for the bill.
    The list of the Nays is a great roster of the stupid, ignorant, or malfeasors.

    But realistically, not cynically, the most likely reason that those losers mentioned above are joined but just one elephant is that they could easily support this, knowing the Senate would do what Rick points out.

    Just compare these Republican yeas to their voting on the TARP bill of yore.

    So, just another nail in the coffin.
    The whole establishment pull-together with resp. to Ron Paul’s candidacy, and now this, shows that no end will come from those realizing the problems and wanting to fix them, but rather from the system collapsing at the point when it just can’t keep going any more.

    Getting closer, of course, but they have been able to keep it going for longer than those who really understand economics have thought.

    This is “deferred maintenance” on the grandest scale, alas.
    When that point arrives, it will of course be orders of magnitude greater than the problems an active attempt at change/liquidation/etc will cause.

    That’s why I would not agree with John Jay:
    “…we all know it is ZIRP or NIRP or collapse.”

    It’s not “or”, because even with ZIRP/NIRP it will be collapse, but a much more horrific one.

    WWI:
    The best commentary about fiat money, central banking, etc is by Antal Fekete.
    Removing real money in earnest actually started before 1913 in France and Germany, where for ex. the latter started forcing its public employees to accept paper Marks instead of Gold-Marks.

    The Fed was even patterned on the Reichsbank.
    No wonder, given that Paul Warburg was from there, and he is the real mastermind of the Fed system.

    • John Jay July 27, 2012, 12:23 am

      Chris,
      I just read an article by Antal Fekete.
      He has some interesting insights into things.
      He said a gold standard provides for stable interest rates, and limits speculation to agricutural/industrial commodities and not financial instruments, especially bonds. He is from Hungary so I will christen him Anti-Soros! Thanks for the tip on him, I will read more of his work.

  • marketace July 26, 2012, 5:57 pm

    The FED is a crime syndicate as well as just crooked banksters and everyone now treats them with kid gloves. They do not take well to threats to end their corrupt operation.

    On June 4, 1963, a virtually unknown Presidential decree was issued by John F. Keenedy, Executive Order 11110, was signed with the authority to basically strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the United States Federal Government. President Kennedy’s Executive order gave the Treasury Department the explicit authority: “to issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury.” With the stroke of a pen, President Kennedy declared that the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank would soon be out of business. (Also note that is order has never been rescinded nor revoked, but the Treasury continues to ignore it)
    TEN DAYS AFTER SIGNING THAT EXECUTIVE ORDER KENNEDY WAS DEAD

    • BDTR July 26, 2012, 6:31 pm

      Ba-da-boom, ace.

      Occasionally the hand ain’t so invisible.

    • V July 26, 2012, 7:56 pm

      If what you state above is true, m.a., you have just unlocked the most potent piece of info, about the tangled web of lies and myths, around JFK murder.
      I want to read about this, provide a weblink about it.

    • Chris T. July 26, 2012, 8:08 pm

      that is prob.one more reason why the establishment wanted to get rid of Kennedy.

      Most directly behind the murder though was probably the primary beneficiary of the murder.
      After all, the first question an investigator asks is:
      “cui bono”?

      And of course that would be LBJ.
      Jackie Kennedy was convinced of that.

      Most likely, “they” approached LBJ, and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. One so seldom reads about LBJ as suspect number one, yet who more than him benefitted directly?

      BTW: LBJ has pretty much been shown to be involved with other murders, for ex. a USDA inspector hot on LBJ and a partner’s trail for ag. subsidy fraud…

      And of course, JFK did want to put an end to the Cold War as we then had it, because at some point in his presidency, he must have realized how right his predecessor had been wiht his military industrial complex warning farewell

    • Jill July 26, 2012, 8:52 pm

      For those rare folks who are interested in facts:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_11110

      Whoever Marketace got that info from has printed a mixture of fact and fiction. Which is great for the Internet– I mean that it contains any actual facts at all. BTW, Kennedy wikipedia article shows he died 4 months later, not 10 days.

      Since Wikipedia can be altered by anyone, sometimes it is not accurate either, but it’s a good start, and one can also check the original reference articles supplied at the end of any Wiki article.

    • Rusty July 26, 2012, 9:19 pm

      http://www.viewzone.com/lbj/ V, try this, the rabbit hole may be too deep for anyone to decipher

    • BDTR July 26, 2012, 10:30 pm

      I like to pass this on when relevant to discussion.

      If you haven’t seen this remarkable interview with LBJ’s former mistress, a relationship that spanned the assassination period, and a credible woman that loved the man still despite a brutal political reality filled with ruthless players in conspiracy, watch and learn.

      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1929769365635576415#0h4m15s

    • Rusty July 27, 2012, 12:03 am

      BTDR-

      That was great, I have never heard it. Thank you. For me she knows what she is talking about http://www.viewzone.com/lbj/ because she mentions this name, along with others, which only someone in the know in Dallas, would be aware of.

    • BDTR July 27, 2012, 12:58 am

      Glad that you watched it, Rusty. It’s a very personal and important historical interview. The subsequent obstruction of justice is very telling of the true nature and character of our despicable political legacy.

      As foundation to current political subterfuge where the political stakes have only increased, the very suggestion that anything can be taken at face value is absolute nonsense. We’re a nation run by criminals.

      This is the final installment (of 8) of a History Channel docu series that fleshes out many of the details of the interview.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuFDz-Z1jbY

  • John Jay July 26, 2012, 4:05 pm

    Gary,
    I think Grenspan got “bitch slapped” by his bosses when he made that “Irrational Exuberance” remark in about 1998. Right after that he really toed the line and had all the zeal of a convert. He most likely loved his position of power and prestige, and did not want to get the boot and go back to being plain old Professor Greenspan. That was right about the time MBS paper became legal and that scam took off. So someone up top told him to “shut up” before you ruin our plans.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 5:31 pm

      You are probably right. The current environment is quite different. A bit late but I suspect when we do come out of this bear cycle, enforcement and public safety will come first.

  • John Jay July 26, 2012, 3:24 pm

    Gary,
    All the Fed had to do was hold honest bond auctions, nothing more. Rising interest rates would have forced the Federal government to rein in the spending, and never have allowed the Wall Street mortgage bubble to get off the launch pad, and the National Debt to be at 15 trillion and rising daily. It is too late now, the dominoes are falling.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 3:44 pm

      You are talking about Greenspan? Yes he made a big mistake. The idea that business can monitor themselves. The low interest rates during the housing debacle certainly allowed greed to flow in that direction. As for the current bond auction, the Fed has to do something to instill confidence and allow banks to regain a footing.

      &&&&&

      It was more than mere mistakes that Greenspan made. He had to have been either a dolt or a liar when he flatly asserted, for one, that inflated home values constituted real wealth; and for two, that America was in an “investment boom” when household savings growth was in fact negative.

      If NYU had any integrity, they’d strip Greenspan of his PhD. Had the guy stuck with the saxophone, where he showed genuine talent, the world would probably be in much better shape financially. RA

    • BDTR July 27, 2012, 3:14 am

      In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves.

      This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists’ antagonism toward the gold standard.
      – Alan Greenspan from; Gold and Economic Freedom, 1966

      More than real mistakes includes hypocrisy necessary to enable a career in banking. A total sell-out to the PTB.

      His saxophone skills are likely as atrophied as his moral standing, but another shill was certainly and eagerly waiting in the wings.

    • mario cavolo July 28, 2012, 5:42 am

      Hi JJ…of course its easy to agree with many such points, but meanwhile I wouldn’t say the dominoes are falling rather than being realigned. While it is surely true the people at the top have served themselves first (the amounts of money some of these banker Wall Street guys make are criminally obscene), fact is also that 50% of S&P500 earnings are international and the world is expanding. That combo doesn’t bode horribly for the future…we’re just going to continue having continued inflation and lower purchasing power of our money played out in some fashion that makes it harder and harder to make ends meet if you’re not wealthy enough…

      Cheers, Mario

  • Cam Fitzgerald July 26, 2012, 3:19 pm

    Kapow!!!! Look at the Euro today! Bam!!. Right on damn target. Same with the dollar too….same with gold and silver running up the flagpole.

    Now I made four specific calls that have held for 24 hours and called the change in the market trend even as one of your other contributors basically called me a moron and suggested I jump off a building. As usual though, I was right on the money. Can’t get no respect around here. Hey Gary, looks like your going to get your wish of some nice gains on the S&P this fall.

    So where is my free subscription? (yes, that last bit is just for fun, so don’t your back up please). And yes, this is just one day in 365 but a trend is a trend and it just changed direction.

    So I am in a good mood this morning.

    • V July 26, 2012, 8:06 pm

      good one day market call.

      however, I already had read there was a shortterm tech market bounce due today, because of many support trendlines, around 1330 s&p 500.

      I did not call you a moron. nor did I suggest you to jump off a building. I said that is what usually happens, a sidewalk splatter, to chest-pounding braggarts like you.

      I still say this is a good time to go short, even better than yesterday. because nothing has changed at all, in world debt, nothing, and just because one big politician came out this morning and said, “believe me”, it just means the opposite, IMO. because when any politician says “trust me”, you should run in the other direction, as fast as you can.

      but I tell you again, like yesterday: if you are so sure, euro, stockmarkets, are going to the moon now, then put al your money into them, be true to your big mouth. Me, I am out, watching from sidelines, the continued spectacle of lies.

    • Cam Fitzgerald July 27, 2012, 3:57 pm

      On any given day you can read two projections about the future of the market that are completely at opposite polar ends to one another, V.

      So it is not special that you read about a short term tech bounce on page one and a contrary view on page two. You probably also read the S&P was going to fall hard in the next few weeks. Are either of those comments even helpful?

      I think you may have missed the significance of what happened yesterday. Rick didn’t. He has established a tracking position on the Euro after advising that the move was bullishly impulsive. More upside is coming.

      None of it was a surprise to me though and it was not good luck to make a “one day market call”. A lot of guys write a lot things every day. Most of it is fluff. I was unequivocal though and if I hedge myself it is only because it bothers some people like you to hear a call made with real conviction.

      None of that is bragging. I just want those here who are friends of mine to pay attention and catch the move along with me.

      Hopefully they made a few bucks.

    • Cam Fitzgerald July 27, 2012, 4:08 pm

      On that note, I think we are heading into a long period of growth in the value of the Euro. This should confuse because any announcement by the ECB to take all steps necessary to cover debts via bond purchases (print money) is ordinarily devaluative. Yet here we see the Euro actually strengthen on the news while the dollar weakens. What is interesting to me is that if the sentiment holds as it seems it will then we will see the Euro rise for some time before QE will ne necessitated in the US to assure the needed dollar devaluation. Either way, Gold is finally on its way back up and it is not too late to catch the ride. The down draft that has been underway for so many months is finally over.

  • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 3:06 pm

    Aren’t you angry at an institution that had nothing to do with the current debt crisis? Isn’t the problem congress who allowed this mess to begin with? Phil Gramm just absolved himself from any blame on the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. This at the same time that the ex-CEO of Citibank want the big banks to be split up.

    Fiscal responsibility is not the Feds job. They have to deal with the decisions made by our elected officials. If you want to place blame on the Fed I suggest you go back a bit to Greenspan, who naively thought that the free enterprise system will monitor itself.

    So I guess the idea that they are trying to avoid a deep depression that could last decades is some sort of cheat.

    As for you siding with the Republicans I find that amusing. They have single handedly allowed corporations and rich individuals to reap huge profits on the backs of the middle class. I find the democrats just as culpable since they did nothing to change this trend when they had power to do so. It seems you want all the social programs burden gone, while maintaining, or increasing the wealth of the already wealthy.

    Recap: Lower taxes, get rid of social programs, get rid of governments involvemnt (restrictions) in business. Got it. Your rallying cry is with Romney? So while you ignore such glaring stats that show all major economic calamity was a result of huge power/money imbalance, and corruption, you propose less restrictions and less social welfare.

    I know I went off on a tangent but I find the focus of most of our problems diverted from the real issues at hand.

    I guess I can’t stop fighting windmills.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 3:19 pm

      For almost 4 years a good number of posters have shown frustration that a fiscally irresponsible government isn’t punished. Where is the justice?

      I would suggest you might have to wait a bit longer. The domestic indicators are not falling apart. Just the contrary. In fact I doubt the Fed talks about another QE anytime soon. Interesting day developing. If it holds that indicates to me we are way oversold and any downward trend from here will be muted.

    • Redwilldanaher July 26, 2012, 3:41 pm

      The comments above are so naive and idiotic but they still stun me even though they come from Gary. These comments have to seal it for anyone that was still undecided with respect to Gary’s paid government stooge status.

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 4:02 pm

      Do you oppose the comprehensive audit of the Fed that HR 459/S1207 would enable?

      Do you support the continued existence of the Fed?

      Yes or no.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 4:23 pm

      Once again you are blaming the Fed for being the last resort of a failed economic policy dating back decades.

      An audit? What would we gain from that? Making sure the Senate take on the full brunt of the problem? It was congress that got us in this mess, not the Fed.

      Let’s instead have the 34th vote on repealling Obamacare.

      Sorry but thats like blaming the police for enforcing a curfew after rioting.

      Call me niave but the markets and earnings have done well dispite all the “criminal” manipulations and irresponsible spending behaviour. You want a sudden sobering change in policy? Now? It would have helped if the outrcy of falling over a fiscal cliff happened years ago, instead of after the fact. You would rather punish the middle class and poor insteasd of changing the behavior of congress? I find that strange. In a crisis a community should get together and share the burden of change. The people that can help more should. Is that a radical statement or expectation? Instead we have the republicans circle the wagon. In their mind they can purge us once and for all of having government welfare. If susccessful it will result in a defined class distinction, one like India has.

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 4:37 pm

      Are you incapable of giving a direct answer to a direct question?

      So, I guess that’s a no.

      And by the way pal, don’t attribute a bunch of beliefs and positions to me that you’ve dreamed up. It’s very much not appreciated.

      You assume I haven’t wanted the behavior of Congress changed. How did you arrive at that bit of deduction Sherlock? I’ve been calling for Congress to clean up its act my whole adult life. So, you can take that particular assertion and put it where the moon don’t shine.

      Is it possible for you to understand that I, and many others here, want Congress to act responsibly AND for the Fed to be held to account for everything it has done going all the way back to 1914? It isn’t simply their completely predictable response to the 2007-2008 meltdown.

      What you can’t stop fighting Gary is psychosis.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 5:52 pm

      fallingman,

      Psychosis? Really? Because I don’t rail about all the evils in the world? Because none of these issues would have been front and center had we skirted the mortgage crisis. I believe you are naive in thinking that it’s the Fed that started this mess. All, I mean all government institutions, be it immigration, housing, education, defense, etc… use their power and position to better the few at the top. Thats just human nature. I recognize that, do you? In fact that is the single most important reason that iron clad rules be enacted and enforced, instead of complaining about the restrictions we already have. I do not trust people in power to maintan an altruistic motive.

      I do not use anger and blame as my motive for change. All you will do by “exposing” the hidden nature of the Fed is allow another long debate and distraction. It does no good. Where is the benefit?

      I would rather focus on real change going forward. Looking backward never accomplishes anything. Checks and balances. It is so perverted today by graft in all areas that new strict rules must be established.

      For instance, had we made holding office a true sacrifice with a microscopic look at all activities both before and after taking office we would prevent the greed from taking hold. No special interests, no donations of any kind. Stipend government money for the races. Expose all tax returns before during and after holding office. No money or future postion in any company that shows conflict of interest.

      Finally, to attack an institution when it is under extreme pressure to try and stabilize our economy is ludicrous. You do so out of anger, and the need for retribution. You also do so becuase you don’t like their current actions. No complaint over Romney’s “known” income problems? Strange.

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 7:34 pm

      I don’t even follow the news about Romney. Who cares? He’s Obama’s conjoined twin as far as I’m concerned. I loathe the guy. He’s a fraud.

      So, you know my motivations now? I “attack” the Fed out of anger and need for retribution, do I?

      First of all, how is supporting an audit an “attack?”

      Would the auditing of a business be an attack? And what is it they so desperately want to hide? Why don’t they just say, “We have nothing to hide,” support the audit and be done with it? You’ll dodge that question, won’t you? Too simple. Too direct.

      You must presume that we’ll find something quite shocking, if not incriminating, should the veil of secrecy be lifted. What…you don’t like transparency? If any other private corporation in this country were to insist on hiding its dealing, you’d be up in arms, and rightly so, but the Fed gets a pass. Why the double standard Gary?

      On another front, have you been drinking…because you’re making my case?

      You write:

      “All, I mean all government institutions, be it immigration, housing, education, defense, etc… use their power and position to better the few at the top. Thats just human nature. I recognize that, do you?

      YES! That’s been the single overriding theme of everything I’ve ever written here. Exactly. So, do you believe that the Fed doesn’t use its power to benefit the few at the top?

      In chess, this would be a checkmate move I just made, but you’ll dodge that question too, won’t you?

      Continuing:

      “In fact that is the single most important reason that iron clad rules be enacted and enforced, instead of complaining about the restrictions we already have. I do not trust people in power to maintan an altruistic motive.”

      Atruistic motive…that’s a good one. You think I believe the people in power have altruistic motives. Ha. I think those in power…JPMorgan, Goldman, et al… have taken over the government in a quiet coup to use Simon Johnson’s expression…to the benefit of the insider banker and MIC “elite.” I think the people in power are vermin. You defame me.

      Iron clad rules. What a joke. So, people by nature are flawed and need to be controlled, and the answer is to elect and appoint certain individual from that pool of flawed people to control us…but they won’t be flawed and they will put in place and enforce the iron clad rules? But wait, all government institutions use their power and position to benefit the few at the top…and I mean all.

      Yeah, so it’s a logical impossibility that anyone coming from the pool of flawed human beings and ascending to a position of power within an insider-controlled government would not be flawed, which means they would be looking out for themselves and the interests of the few who elevated him or her to that position.

      Bottom line: Good government can’t exist. Our only hope is to keep it as small and unobtrusive as possible, but we’ve failed miserably at that, mostly because of people like you who buy into the bamboozle that government is a force for good…the operative word being FORCE, on which they have a legal monopoly, something that doesn’t trouble you apparently.

      Can you not see that without a government powerful enough to rig the game in their favor, the government you help sustain, the crony insiders would have no unfair advantage?

      Anyway, thanks for proving my point.

      Just a last bit of advice, if you ever get put on a witness stand having to defend yourself, just keep your mouth shut. You couldn’t argue your way out of anything.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 8:14 pm

      Fallingman,
      I do not believe an audit will reveal anything that is not already “expected”. I do believe it diverts people from focusing on the cause and affect. I do not view the Fed as evil, like you do. When a crisis hits the good of the economy will naturally come first. Corruption is inevitable but when a crisis hits all try to avert futher disaster. Thats common sense. You are clearly angry on how the Fed is acting, as if it’s not done with good intentions.

      Why not audit the CIA? The next possible president?

      I believe people in office start out with good intentions but get derailed by power. If that power were “controlled” we can do marvelous things.

      For instance, what have the tea party elected members done so far? I suspect they like their current position and perks. Have they shaken-up the system? Nope.

      In closing I support a government that has “common sense” restrictions to prevent another debacle. I do believe govenment is wastefull but necessary. I believe this talk on auditing the Fed is another attempt to divert blame.

      A small government means that you have no need for any of the services they provide. There was an interesting observation made recently that increased meanness is usually proportional to ones own wealth. I hope that’s not the case. Empathy is something that Christian doctrine has placed high on the list.

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 8:51 pm

      Controlled? By whom?

      Maybe what I wrote was over your head, but I tried to address that bit of silliness. What you’re asking for is the equivalent of a cop arresting himself. Ain’t gonna happen.

      You keep walking into logical traps. You write:

      “I believe people in office start out with good intentions but get derailed by power. If that power were “controlled” we can do marvelous things. ”

      Followed by:

      “…what have the tea party elected members done so far? I suspect they like their current position and perks. Have they shaken-up the system? Nope.”

      So, people get corrupted by power. So true. But you’re confident we can find people who don’t get corrupted by power to do the controlling. They won’t get corrupted, is that right? Who are these wunderkind? Don’t tell me. High minded “progressives,” right? Is that it? They’re incorruptable, aren’t they? Pure of heart and mind, never susceptible to the lure of mammon. It’s just those who represent themselves as small government types who sellout. Got it.

      I’ll repeat the pertinent questions if you like Gary, but would you please refrain from your random ramblings and answer them?

      How is supporting an audit an “attack?”

      Why the double standard? Do you not believe in transparency from all that purport to do the public’s work? How do you know they aren’t concealing every manner of crime and misdeed? Don’t you care about protecting the public? Don’t you have any empathy for those who might be getting screwed for the sake of the big boyz?

      Empathy… I hear it’s a real solid Christian virtue and those who extol its virtue should try exhibiting some.

    • gary leibowitz July 26, 2012, 10:35 pm

      Controlled, meaning not allowing loose regulations and loopholes from enticing one to greed. If you do away with the Glass-Steagall Act, why wouldn’t banks take advantage?

      Your attacks are against everything government. Everything. Bank bailouts, Fed rate cuts and handouts to banks at reduced costs, Obamacare, over regulated businesses, social welfare, 2nd amendment conspiracy to take away guns, stock manipulation, etc… All I have to do is read the last 10 articles and I would come away with 50 different atrocities this government did.

      It is a bit tiring to think that our government is so oppressive and powerful. Try to remember that this mess was a result of trying to please everyone, corporations, special interests, the middle class, the wealthy. They were an equal opportunity government that took graft from everyone. The main point is that lax laws and regulations result in people sticking their hands in the cookie jar.

      You attack government as if its some malevolent beast that should be purged from existence. I believe there should be real checks and balances to prevent good people with good intentions from getting corrputed.

      I suppose my ignorance of what is truly going on in America will remain so. I have a habit of breaking down the complex into simple. I have written and programmed a companies voice response system to incorporate the whole business cycle. If you look at in with all its complexities it would never get built properly. Breaking it down to it’s simpliest component clarifies what once was complex.

      Thats me, a simple man trying to get at the core of the problem wihout complicating it.

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 11:41 pm

      Hey, I’m just QUOTING YOU.

      “all government institutions, be it immigration, housing, education, defense, etc… use their power and position to better the few at the top. Thats just human nature.”

      Do you believe that or not? If you do, you can’t credibly asset that it can be controlled. You’ve correctly identified why government sucks, so why are you backing away from that conclusion? Because it’s “tiring” to contemplate?

      “It is a bit tiring to think that our government is so oppressive and powerful. Try to remember that this mess was a result of trying to please everyone, corporations, special interests, the middle class, the wealthy. They were an equal opportunity government that took graft from everyone.

      Putting aside the odd phrasing of that last sentence, I agree. And yes, it’s damn tiring. But just because the depredations of government are everywhere to be seen and I point them out doesn’t mean you can make reality disappear by looking the other way and pretending that government isn’t THE PROBLEM in every case.

      “You attack government as if its some malevolent beast that should be purged from existence. ”

      Yes, it it is and I do. I’d drown it in the bathtub if I could.

      “I believe there should be real checks and balances to prevent good people with good intentions from getting corrputed.”

      Okay, I guess this’ll have to end it, because this is the silliest thing you’ve said so far. As if rules and laws are what keep people from good people from preying on their neighbors and becoming corrupted by power. It’s personal integrity, Gary, and a set of values that says it isn’t right to use violence against peaceful people. That’s why decent people don’t get involved in government.

      Government attracts sociopaths who don’t hesitate to do whatever it takes secure profit and amass power. Good luck trying to change that. It’ll require changing human nature itself. A wise guy told me that once.

    • Benjamin July 27, 2012, 12:32 am

      Fallingman’s a one-man hockey team. Gary’s the puck.

    • gary leibowitz July 27, 2012, 5:33 am

      I agree that there is a big tainted image of government politics. It wasn’t always that way. It runs in cycles. When we come out of a depression, or humbling crisis, we seem to step up to the challenge.

      Long stretches of good times do entice the worst in us.
      We had one of the greatest bull runs from 1982 on. I have to agree that this is not a shining example of citizens jumping into politics to serve mankind.

    • Redwilldanaher July 27, 2012, 4:39 pm

      On a side note, I am now selling Gary rag dolls that are personally endorsed by falling man. They take a licking’ and keep on spewing inanities on virtually any subject.

    • fallingman July 27, 2012, 5:48 pm

      Oh, no no Gary. Here’s a “shining example” for ya.

      It’s none other than senator Harry Reid endorsing Bryan Dorgan’s bill to AUDIT THE FEDERAL RESERVE!

      Huh, you say? What gives? Isn’t Harry Reid crushing any hopes for passage of S1207 in the Senate? Well, yes he is. He’s doing the concrete shoe job for you Gary, so the Fed can continue to have carte blanche to conjure new money with abandon so as to pump up your precious market.

      Confused? Well, I understand.

      The video clip is from January of 1995 when the Fed was raising rates.

      Ya see, Harry was “attacking” the Fed and lauding the goal of achieving greater transparency from a secret institution back then by SUPPORTING an audit. Yeah, he was FOR it before he was against it.

      Gosh, I wonder what changed his mind? Now, he’s concerned about the Fed’s “independence.” That’s VERY important don’t ya know. Not important in 1995 when he wanted to put Congressional pressure on the Fed to lower rates, but VERY important now.

      THIS is the face of a sociopath. This is the face of government. Mr. Smith went to Washington, took ill at the sight and stench of the vomitorium…and left….for good.

      If you want to wait for criminals to transform themselves into saints, be my guest. It’ll be just about as likely that lead turns to gold. Just don’t make any plans. It could be a while.

    • fallingman July 27, 2012, 8:46 pm

      Maybe it’d be a good idea if I included the link, huh?

      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/harry-reid-most-hypocritical-man-world

    • mario cavolo July 28, 2012, 5:33 am

      Nice set of points on real world reality Gary….can’t find one point in there where you are offbase, especially about the Fed. Even Bernanke has been stating the same. Just finished reading Too Big To Fail…basically they put the govt’ back up against the wall…its like if a parebt had a selfish self-destructive child who threatened to jump off the building if I didn’t give him the keys to my Mercedes…its all screwed up, but I’d give him the keys rather than see him jump. Afterwards is another matter…

      “Aren’t you angry at an institution that had nothing to do with the current debt crisis? Isn’t the problem congress who allowed this mess to begin with? Phil Gramm just absolved himself from any blame on the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. This at the same time that the ex-CEO of Citibank want the big banks to be split up. Fiscal responsibility is not the Feds job. They have to deal with the decisions made by our elected officials. If you want to place blame on the Fed I suggest you go back a bit to Greenspan, who naively thought that the free enterprise system will monitor itself. So I guess the idea that they are trying to avoid a deep depression that could last decades is some sort of cheat. As for you siding with the Republicans I find that amusing. They have single handedly allowed corporations and rich individuals to reap huge profits on the backs of the middle class. I find the democrats just as culpable since they did nothing to change this trend when they had power to do so. It seems you want all the social programs burden gone, while maintaining, or increasing the wealth of the already wealthy. Recap: Lower taxes, get rid of social programs, get rid of governments involvemnt (restrictions) in business. Got it.

    • fallingman July 28, 2012, 6:27 am

      Here’s a clip you might want to watch if you have 2 minutes. The whole program is worth viewing, but from 21:30 to 23:30 Jim Rickards and Rick Rule talk about the Fed.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGyKtaeJbGE&feature=em-uploademail

      Listen to Rickards. It’s estimated that there’s a $400 billion dollar a year transfer of money from savers to the banks via the low rate regime. What screws the saver benefits the banks. The war on savers results in money being taken away from regular people…money that they would have gotten in interest…(that includes pension fund beneficiaries) and effectively transferred to the banks in the form of a low cost of funds so they can earn a fatter spread than normal.

      Sweet deal. It’s nice to control a government and a central bank.

      THIS is what you support Gary? Funny, I would have thought you’d be on the side of the little guy and not the corporatist megabanks.

    • Redwilldanaher July 28, 2012, 5:28 pm

      Let the record show that Gary and regrettably now Mario continue to cheer on their captors. About that assertion that all humans are essentially the same…

      No offence guys but I pray that I never find myself beside either of you in a foxhole. I respect your opinions Mario but I find your pragmatism to be appalling at times.

    • mario July 29, 2012, 2:24 pm

      Hi RWD, that’s a fair comment about my pragmatism, thanks. I’m going to ponder it further. I actually and completely believe that I allow myself to see and observe both sides of any given set of issues. Many here make reasonable cases of their point of view on both sides of the issues. There are things to be furious about, also things which are positive. But one set of the bad stuff doesn’t necessarily “negate” the good stuff, they do co_exist. Pfftt, that does sound too pragmatic.

      I do have a question. Was the FED actually in on the con to repeal Glass Steagall? That moment, near as I can tell is what opened the door to this financial nightmare…

      Cheers, Mario

    • redwilldanaher July 29, 2012, 7:11 pm

      Hi Mario,

      To answer your question, I’m not sure if the FED was in on that particular CON but I’d expect that they were but really that is of minor importance IMO anyway. The USSA has been a lawless place for a long time since selectively applying laws is effectively tyrannical.

      And “NO”, IMO the “door was opened” in 1865 at Appomattox Court House.

      That is my best current estimate as to when the USSA we believe existed (indoctrination) actually died.

    • fallingman July 30, 2012, 3:43 pm

      Of course the Fed was in on it.

      Remember the Committee to Save The World? If this were a whodunnit, you could simply say, “The committee done it…in broad daylight.”

      http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-23/committee-to-save-world-abetted-hubris-repudiated-by-successors.html

      It isn’t exactly hard to connect the dots. Sandy Weill wanted to build Citi into a one-stop shop for financial products…the financial supermarket… but couldn’t do it with G-S barring the merging of commercial and investment banking activities under the same “roof.” So, he turned to his fascist buddies to get some changes made.

      Rubin was his boy. Treasury Secretary at the time, he and Larry Summers, with Greenspan’s and Clinton’s backing and stooges Phil and Wendy Gramm on board, got it done fairly easily. Later Rubin became chairman of Citi’s executive Board…how positively interconnected.

      Rubin was and presumably still is a Democrat, by the way, as is Summers. When the Wall Street bankers want something, all of a sudden, there is zero partisanship. What does that tell ya?

  • Andrew Gutterman July 26, 2012, 2:56 pm

    Anyone catch this?

    http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article35749.html

    Seems that the more debt we take on the lower the yields go, for a VERY long time. The economy sputters as well.

    Andy

    • mario cavolo July 28, 2012, 5:35 am

      Expected future…U.S. yields aren’t going anywhere for many years for many reasons IMHO. The situation is far beyond the point where its a “they can’t or else we’re going to hell” situation…Cheers, Mario

  • John Jay July 26, 2012, 2:25 pm

    Mark,
    If the Fed wants to crash the system all they need to do is hold one honest Treasury auction. It is that simple. The debt numbers are so big that 7% rates are imploding Greece, Spain, and Italy.
    I can remember getting five or six percent on one year T-bills not that long ago. That is how out of control it has gotten in a few years. If the big banks are prepared to profit from it, they will crash it. The Police State is already in place here in the US to deal with the aftermath. There is no law that they need fear, no matter what they do to us.

    • Mark Uzick July 26, 2012, 4:00 pm

      It doesn’t seem possible that they can profit from it – it would have to be a struggle between the banking interests and other political powers, where fed loyalty to banking interests was turned toward the other power faction.

  • mac July 26, 2012, 11:24 am

    Hi Again,
    Seems the truth re the Fed is out in the open. That’s awesome! MSM will try to make big smoke screens to avoid the truth.
    And there is often a “Ron Paul” in each election – makes normal people feel they r in a real “democracy”, and that’s it, the guy never has a chance. MSM will rip him apart with lies, false accusations, phoney ballots etc.
    The elections are fixed anyway. Period.
    The Fed is organized crime.
    Never ending wars, that’s reality. Paid for by…the Chinese etc. who buy bonds, treasuries. Massive debt, much for war. Do many Americans want any of these wars? Nope. And does the country even declare war against these countries – nope. The Congress is castrated, the Senate all cronies, most w/o morality.
    Leave the country, or at least move some money-assets out b/c it looks like it is going to get nasty soon. Not only in America, but in the middle east. Gold must be physical, not stocks…Maybe a portfolio of Sprott Ag, Au, PSLV and CEF, where the PM’s r allocatted and not in a Bank.

  • mario cavolo July 26, 2012, 10:35 am

    Wow nothing could be more crystal clear for all the world to see than gold’s testing the upward resistance line of the triangle it has been trading into for many weeks….on that basis alone, it looks too early but I hope I’m wrong as I did take a long position in some silver at 26.60 recently…now let me see oil continue its summer decline please….meanwhile, fantasies about auditing the Fed are just chitchat fodder, eh…not likely to ever happen, yet let’s pay attention what we can count on; If the dollar continues rising due to whatever factors, they’ll step in one way or another to knock it back down cuz a rising dollar reduces U.S. competitiveness across global trade and that’s very bad for needed recovery….and now isn’t it interesting today’s article noting the EURO starting to be used as a carry trade currency!…who woulda thunkit?

    Cheers, Mario

    • Mark Uzick July 26, 2012, 11:18 am

      Yes, idle chit-chat as long as we have a President Obom-ney. Here’s to a miracle in Tampa!

    • BDTR July 26, 2012, 4:01 pm

      A ‘miracle’? Really, Mark?

      And how utterly delusional the premise of the title to this piece, Rick?

      Dose anyone really, seriously, believe that this unsustainable theater of the ab$urd is NOT sponsored and supported by 99% of politicians that recognize the kiss of death to any political career of one that opposes it?

      Ron Paul is seen as a loon by the vast majority of citizen muppets, if not simply because of his views on the Fed, then because of his suicidal persistence to audit. Done and good-bye, the good Ron.

      As insufficient as unscathed Dodd-Frank was as a reform prior the hatchet wielding GOP bankster proxies doing their X-rated bloody best to make it utterly irrelevant, it was at least focused for potential enforcement of law as a start. Now it’s a meaningless shred more diluted and weakened than FRN’$ a decade out.

      There isn’t one molecule of real difference between Bush and Obama aside from the rhetoric, nor the rest of the single party R/D players pretending and posturing their revolting hypocrisy to principle, responsibility, equity and democracy.

      Audit the Fed can’t die because it never had life. In the Orwellian age of new-speak pretension, the coming collapse will become our single Corporatist party’s boast of reform.

      Bank on that.

      &&&&&&

      “Utterly delusional” headline? You ought to take a ‘lude and a few deep breaths, dude. The House vote favoring an audit was 327-98, with 89 Democrats joining. RA

    • Mark Uzick July 26, 2012, 4:43 pm

      “A ‘miracle’? Really, Mark?”

      In the sense that that’s what most would call it.

      Why not? The delegates may figure out that Paul is their only hope. I wouldn’t bet on it, but I’m not very good at judging what will appeal to the common man. I’m betting on inflation, something Paul would end; and I’m, I hope, as unlucky as usual. Getting wealthy would be OK, but having a civilized society to call home would be better.

    • BDTR July 26, 2012, 5:54 pm

      Pro-forma political posturing, Rick.

      How courageous of this legion of cross-dressing impostors to transparency! What a farce when they know damn well for a certainty that it’s dead as a doorknob in the Senate. Delusion is being polite.

      FYI, been takin’ deep breaths and holding for some decades now. No need for mind numbing pharma’s answer to nervous tension with attendant lapses of consciousness, …which seems the only explanation possible for assuming the GOP to be anything more than a pretentious phantom of a once living political entity.

      Now, a conjoined corporatist twin with it’s own set of fantasies and fallacies to perp on the sleepy muppets.

      &&&&&

      With Obama and guys like Reid and Schumer as the alternative, I’ll vote for the pretentious phantom every time. RA

    • Home Boy July 31, 2012, 6:04 am

      BDTR said “There isn’t one molecule of real difference between Bush and Obama …”

      Obama has never actually grabbed guns. Willard Romney signed gun-grabber legislation as Massachusetts Governor.

      Expect the sold-out washed-up NRA to back the gun-grabber Romney.

  • Erin July 26, 2012, 10:10 am

    Amen to that! Let us then make that a national holiday… The day the fed was shut down for good. Call it Freedom day. Then a big wall of shame for the future generations to remember how this country was brought to the edge of destruction by these scumbags!

    • fallingman July 26, 2012, 4:22 pm

      Double Amen.

      Rick is right about the Senate unfortunately. The woman who pretends to represent me in the Senate, Kay Hagan, was as much as installed by the Fed. I think she pledges allegiance to them everyday.

      I agree that our best shot at auditing the Fed, much less taking it down, has come and gone. It was a super long shot to begin with, but I wouldn’t completely dismiss the progress made. It’s been pretty impressive actually.

      To even imagine the great and powerful Oz being seriously questioned was inconceivable even five years ago. It isn’t anymore. If nothing else, we annoy the hell of out ’em when we keep tugging at the curtain. And, while still highly unlikely, it’s not out of the question that someday we’re able to rip it back and expose the bastards for who they are.

  • cosmo July 26, 2012, 8:46 am

    For anyone that doesn’t know, “The Creature From Jekyll Island”, by G. Edward Griffin lays it out as clear as can be what the Fed is all about. It was reading that led me to lose any and all faith that the US govt would ever do the right thing. It would always be for the Bankers, first and last. If it isn’t clear to everyone by now, you are fast asleep. The absolute root of the problem in Amerika.

  • John Jay July 26, 2012, 5:39 am

    Only 100 Senators. It is probably much easier to bribe 51 of them than 227 Congressmen. Plus with a 6 year term, whatever they do will most likely be forgotten by their next election. In any case, we all know it is ZIRP or NIRP or collapse. If we got rid of the Fed and made honesty our policy, the 30 year would probably go from 152^26 to 52^26 real fast, probably in the first auction. All this reminds me of a wonderful painting, “The Gulf Stream” by Winslow Homer. Just Google it if you’ve never seen it. It expresses exactly how I feel.

    I have also read an opinion that a big reason for the creation of the Fed in 1913 was to enable a nice long WWI. The big bankers knew that with gold used to pay for munitions etc. all the belligerents would be BK in 6 months, no money in that. So the Fed was able to help make massive loans to keep the killing go on for for years. Back in my birthplace, Connecticut, they have just finished tearing down a huge factory that Remington Arms built in 1917 to fulfill a contract with the Russian Czar for rifles. Remington got stiffed when the Revolution came to Russia. So they sold it General Electric in 1920. GE used it until about 1985 I think.
    It sat vacant since then, now it is gone. A little bit of history in CT.

    • Mark Uzick July 26, 2012, 11:11 am

      What do you think of the possibility that the fed will betray its masters by halting or slowing QE, precipitating a banking collapse and nationalization of all banking activities? Nationalization of banking, terrible as it would be, might actually be a lesser evil than the current setup; and a cleansing deflationary depression would be tough, but needed medicine. But it it would still be a far cry from a system of competitive free market moneys and true private banking.

    • Mark Uzick July 26, 2012, 11:12 am

      “monies”

    • Benjamin July 26, 2012, 1:35 pm

      Gulf Stream, indeed. The good news is that 30-something senators already support it. The bad news is that 60-something either do not or do not have a clue (and any number of the supporters can change their minds). Rough waters ahead!

      “I have also read an opinion that a big reason for the creation of the Fed in 1913 was to enable a nice long WWI.”

      More than an opinion, imv. A great big war was the only way that the concept of central banking could escape without much if any blame of it what it had wrought in Europe (and would, in the U.S.); it ultimately results in utter bankruptcy and depression. But if the central banks print away to cover up that fate, they also lose credibility. Thus the war, which made it look coincidental and necessary, and therefore the establishment of a central bank here in the U.S. is our history.

      If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend…

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAQnfOXqiR0

      That is the first part of four. Better to go to YouTube and do a search on “Stanley Kubrick’s Gold Story”, which should give you a page with all four, in order, as the first four results. A forewarning: The first two parts may only seem to be irrelevent. But by part 3, it all comes together.

    • Home Boy July 31, 2012, 6:02 am

      “Only 100 Senators. It is probably much easier to bribe 51 of them than 227 Congressmen.”

      This is why they removed state-appointed Senators, and went to direct popular elections in 1913.
      http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Direct_Election_Senators.htm

      You know what else happened in 1913. Federal Reserve and income tax.


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