TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Grassroots group wants the Fed to be audited

ADVERTISEMENT

By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: July 9, 2009

SPRING HILL - U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite is among the 249 co-sponsors of a House bill that seeks to monitor the Federal Reserve System more closely.

A political action group is taking credit for convincing Brown-Waite to jump onboard.

Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, was "on the fence" until 15 people from the Campaign for Liberty, a national grassroots group with a growing presence in Hernando County, made an appearance at the congresswoman's office earlier this year and met with aides, said local region coordinator John Baeza.

Those aides then went to the congresswoman and helped her off the fence, he said.

Campaign for Liberty will hold a public gathering beginning at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Flamingo Lounge at 3447 Commercial Way. The group continues its mission to add to the number of supporters for the proposed legislation.

The bill, also known as the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, would no longer exempt the Fed from audits. If passed, the bill would require it to be audited by the Comptroller General to the Congress by the end of 2010.

"The Federal Reserve has become the fourth branch of government," said Baeza. "The President appoints the chairman and the board ... They are not elected."

The Fed was created by Congress in 1913 to serve as the central bank of the U.S. It provides currency and executes federal monetary policy.

President Obama's own economic policies have drawn strong rebukes from some fiscal conservatives who believe the federal deficit will get worse. They also fear printing more money would erode the value of the U.S. dollar and lead to hyperinflation.

During the past two decades, countries such as Zimbabwe, Ukraine and Brazil have seen hyperinflation, which is defined as a very rapid, very large increase in the price level. Moderate inflation is measured annually, but hyperinflation is much more severe and can occur much faster.

Baeza, and others like him, thinks it could happen in the U.S. if the Federal Reserve continues to "print money out of thin air."

"We don't want that to happen to us," he said. "The U.S. has become a consumer nation ... We don't make anything. We just borrow."

The sponsor of House Bill 1207, Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said in a media statement last week the bill is the result of "tremendous grassroots and bipartisan support" and that he expected it to receive "greater public exposure."

Brown-Waite did not return a message before deadline Wednesday.

Friday's Campaign for Liberty gathering will include appearances by Wayne Dukes, a Republican who is running for the Hernando County Board of County Commissioners and member of the Hernando County Taxpayers Alliance.

The state's coordinator for Campaign for Liberty, Marc Cross, also will speak.

The group promotes "individual liberty, constitutional government, sound money, free markets and a non-interventionist foreign policy by means of education and political activity," Baeza said.

Its platform is consistent with that of Paul's, who ran for president in 2008 and 1988 as a Republican and Libertarian, respectively.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT