Democrats Oppose Fed Audit, Don’t Want to Give the Impression That They Meddle in Financial Affairs

You can’t make this stuff up. Democratic leaders are apparently worried that auditing the Federal Reserve will give the financial market a reason to worry about lawmakers wanting to intervene in financial affairs. That ship sailed a long, long time ago. From the Washington Times :

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke doesn’t like the prospect of such a broad audit, calling it a “nightmare scenario” last week and saying it would lead to politicians second-guessing his decisions.

 

Opposition in Congress came chiefly from Democratic leaders, who said they doubt the bill ever becomes law — but worried about sending a signal to financial markets that lawmakers want to intervene in financial affairs.

 

“It seems to me what we’re talking about is taking some fake punches at the Federal Reserve but not doing anything serious,” said Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee.

 

Every top Democratic leader voted against the bill, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Whip Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, along with 95 other Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Robert L. Turner of New York.

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No surprise that Chairman Bernanke wants to avoid scrutiny. The Federal Reserve has clearly grown accustomed to not being held accountable. Harry Reid, sounding an awful lot like Ron Paul, noted the same lack of transparency in a Senate floor speech in 1995. Yes, Harry Reid was for auditing the Federal Reserve before he was against it.

This post was authored by Townhall.com editorial intern Kyle Bonnell.