Opinion> Joseph Farah> A Challenge To Congress On Fed

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A Challenge to Congress on Fed

A bill in the House of Representatives sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, which calls for a full audit of the Federal Reserve, has attracted 260 co-sponsors — far more than needed to ensure passage.

Yet, the legislation remains in the House Judiciary Committee where few support it. And last week, the Senate, on a procedural vote, killed an amendment requiring Congress to inspect the books of the Fed, which has already conceded it has no intention of revealing to the people how billions in bank bailout dollars have been spent so far, even after the fact!

My guess is that unless Congress asserts its constitutional authority as the most powerful branch of the federal government and the one specifically charged with coining money and regulating its value, Paul's bill will die a slow death in committee.

That's because there has been a silent coup in America — with the Federal Reserve, a tool of the rich and powerful international bankers, used to usurp the power of the people. Now is the time to challenge Congress to reclaim its constitutional authority. And a good first step is Rep. Paul's demand for an audit of the Fed.

Does Congress have the courage to take on the powerful money masters? Or are members of Congress merely puppets on a string? Will they be content to do as they are told by the bankers, who get richer when times are good, richer when times are bad and control the money supply and the value of the dollar according to their own needs and desires?

It's time to find out. Some say the transfer of power is complete and there is no going back to constitutional government under the rule of law and the will of the people.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich said as much in a USA Today column a decade ago: "Both houses of Congress have become increasingly irrelevant. … In case you hadn't noticed, America's domestic policy is now being run by Alan Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board.

Their decisions about interest rates are determining how many of us have jobs and how many of us get a raise. … Congress is out of the loop."

This struggle for power between the elected representatives of the people and the internationalist moneyed special interests has been going on for a long time — since at least the early part of the 19th century. It was a battle waged by President Andrew Jackson who charged the central bank of his day with waging "war upon the people in order to compel them to submit to its demands."

Back then, the central bank increased the supply of paper currency in the system, promising greater prosperity. It works in the short term. Today, the Fed increases the money supply by simply adding extra digital zeroes in computer ledgers — the ultimate form of fiat currency.

Even Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood the stakes of Congress turning over its constitutional authority for money supply to private forces.

"The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson," he wrote in a letter in 1933. "The country is going through a repetition of Jackson's fight with the Bank of the United States — only on a far bigger and broader scale."

Jackson won his fight by rallying the support of the people. It took another 80 years before the Federal Reserve System was established, after he took on the banking interests. It's time for Congress to do the same now.

This is not a matter of party politics. Both Democrats and Republicans have signed on to Paul's first step: a full audit of the Federal Reserve and a chance to shine the light of day on its dark and mysterious dealings — a chance to bring accountability to a non-accountable private cartel.

Congress needs to act now, while there is still a chance to save Americans from the horror these banking interests subjected the country to during the Great Depression. Let's see if we can restore a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.