"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs."
--Thomas Jefferson
With all of this talk about National Deficit Spending and the Stimulus, I often times try to make sense out of monetary policy that is legislated. I won’t try to explain credit default swaps or intrinsically predatory loans; it would bore me writing it, and I’m sure it would bore you reading it. I’m going to talk to you about exactly what a stimulus is.
A stimulus is a loan. That’s all. But it’s a loan that we take out using an imaginary credit card that is linked to the accounts of every taxpayer in our country. Credit cards, as most of you know, are dangerous in the hands of those who don’t understand what they are. A credit card is imaginary money loaned to you that you are expected to pay back with interest. To date, the National Debt, which must be paid off by the taxpayers, is about $11.4 Trillion dollars. Wonder how much a trillion dollars is? Click this link to understand a bit better. Now that we’re on the same page, understand that we owe almost 12 of those.
What is our plan to pay this off? There are very few long-term answers, and far too many immediate questions. I am concentrated on giving our businesses the tools that they need to create jobs and let us work our way out of this recession; I support the elimination of the capital gains tax, but that is a discussion for another time. With many Democrats calling for another stimulus, and my primary opponent simply disagreeing, (but offering no solutions) I have a proposal: Audit the Federal Reserve.
Many of you may not fully understand what the Fed is. A quick summary can be found here. Quite simply, I propose that we do an Audit on this privately owned institution. If you, a citizen, is required to provide an record of every penny that you earn. If you are not paying the taxes that the government requires of you, or are not reporting truthfully, then the IRS will audit you. Why isn't the Federal Reserve providing a record of every penny of our tax money that they spend?
Honesty and transparency were values that I was taught as a child, and they are what dictate my actions on a day-to-day basis. We were told that the stimulus money would be spent with the greatest care, and it would target areas that could stimulate job growth. Yet, the people who loaned the money, the citizens of the United States, don’t tangibly know where and how that money is being spent.
I want to know, and I believe that you, as a people, have a right to know. We have the right to see where our money is being spent. If the Fed has nothing to fear, they should have nothing to hide.
As of today, unemployment and foreclosure is on the rise. We are worse off than we were, and now a third stimulus is being proposed. I think that the Fed needs to be investigated for misconduct before we give them billions more of our dollars to spend on another bailout. Many of my opponents claim that we need a bigger stimulus, and my response to this is:
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
