On June 15, 2007, Ron Paul introduced HR 2755: Federal Reserve
Abolition Act. There were no co-sponsors, no further action was taken,
and the legislation was referred to the House Committee on Financial
Services and effectively pigeonholed and ignored.


Its a bold
and needed measure to "abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks, to repeal the Federal
Reserve Act, and for other purposes."

The bill provides for
management of employees, assets and liabilities of the Board during a
dissolution period, and more as follows:

— it designates the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget to liquidate Fed assets
in an orderly and expeditious manner;

— transfer them to the General Fund of the Treasury after satisfying all claims against the Board and any Federal reserve bank;

— assume all outstanding Board and member bank liabilities and transfer them to the Secretary of the Treasury; and

—
after an 18-month period, submit a report to Congress "containing a
detailed description of the actions taken to implement this Act and any
actions or issues relating to such implementation that remain
uncompleted or unresolved as of the date of the report."

On
November 22, "End the Fed" protests were held in 39 or more cities
nationwide (including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington,
DC), but you’d hardly know it for lack of coverage. Attendee demands 
were simple and emphatic:

— end a private banking cartels illegal monopoly control over the nations money supply and price;

— return that power to the US Treasury as the Constitution mandates;

— end a fiat currency system backed by the waning full faith and credit of the government; and

— return the country to a sound, hard currency monetary system.

"End the Fed! Sound Money for America!" is their slogan, and writer and US policy critic Webster Tarpley puts it well:

"….the
privately owned central bank….has been looting and wrecking the US
economy for almost a hundred years. We must end a system where
unelected, unaccountable cliques of bankers and financiers loyal to
names like Morgan, Rockefeller, and Mellon set interest rates and money
supply behind closed doors, leading to de-industrialization, mass
impoverishment, and a world economic and financial depression of
incalculable severity."

In theory, the Fed was established to
stabilize the economy, smooth out the business cycle, manage a healthy,
sustainable growth rate, and maintain stable prices. In fact, it failed
dismally. It contributed to 19 US recessions (including the Great
Depression) and significantly to the following equity market declines
that accompanied them as measured by the Dow or S & P 500 average –
the S &Ps inception was 1923; it became the S & P 500 in 1957:

— 40.1% (Dow) from 1916 – 1917;

— 46.6% (Dow) from 1919 – 1921;

—
the 1929 (Dow) crash in two stages – 47.9% in 1929  followed by a
strong, temporary rebound; then – 86%; an 89% peak to trough total from
October 1929 to July 1932;

— 49.1% (Dow) from 1937 – 1938;

— 40.4% (Dow) from 1939 – 1942;

— 25.3% (S & P) from 1946 – 1947;

— 19.8% (S & P) in 1957;

— 26.8% (S & P) from 1961 – 1962;

— 19.3% (S & P) in 1966;

— 32.7% (S & P) from 1968 – 1970;

— 45.1% (S & P) from 1973 – 1974;

— 20.2% (S & P) from 1980 – 1982;

— 32.9% (S & P) in 1987;

— 19.2% (S & P) in 1990;

— 18.8% (S & P) in 1998;

— 49.1% (S & P) from 2000 – 2002; and

— about 50% (S & P) and counting (excluding a bear market rebound) from October 2007.

The
Fed is also directly responsible for monetary inflation and the decline
in the US standard of living since its year end 1913 inception and
especially since the 1970s. From the late 18th century to 1913,
virtually no inflation existed under the gold standard except during
times of war. Using government data, it now takes over $2000 to equal
$100 of pre-Fed purchasing power. In other words, a 1913 dollar is
worth about a nickel today.

At that time, a dollar was defined
as 1/20 of an ounce of gold or about an ounce of silver. The Fed then
changed the standard away from precious metals to the full faith and
credit of the government. Ever since (except for periods such as the
1930s) inflation eroded the currencys value and (more than ever)
continues to do it today.

Its why one analyst calls the
dollar "nothing more than a popular symbol for the tangible substances
it once represented – gold and silver." Its true value represents the
worlds waning confidence in Americas ability to honor its debt
obligations, and with good reason.

Under the Federal Reserve
System (besides inflation), we’ve had rising consumer debt; record
budget and trade deficits; a soaring national debt; a high level of
personal and business bankruptcies; today, millions of home
foreclosures; high unemployment; the loss of the nations manufacturing
base; growing millions in poverty; an unprecedented wealth gap between
the rich and all others; and a hugely unstable economy now lurching
into crisis mode.

In a November 24 Wall Street Journal op-ed,
Hong Kong-based author and equity strategist Christopher Wood believes
"The Fed Is Out of Ammunition." With trillions in personal wealth
erased, "there is little doubt that we are witnessing a classic
debt-deflation bust at work, characterized by falling prices, frozen
credit markets and plummeting asset values."

He notes how
"over-investment and over-speculation" on borrowed money got us here.
Today, the Fed can control the supply of money but not its velocity or
the rate it turns over. The current collapse set it in reverse with no
signs of an impending turnaround.

Wood believes monetary and
fiscal measures won’t work. There are no easy solutions – "not as long
as politicians and central bankers (won’t) let financial institutions
fail," and let market forces wash out  excesses over time.

The
Fed and Treasury will spend trillions of dollars to correct things,
"but will merely compound (the problem) by adding debt to debt." The
current crisis will end up "discrediting mechanical monetarism – and
with it the fiat paper-money system….The catalyst will be foreign
creditors fleeing the dollar for gold. That will in turn lead to global
recognition of the need for a vastly more disciplined global financial
system" with gold very likely playing a part.

Absent a hard
money currency has led to the kind of monetary madness that Nouriel
Roubini calls "crazy" policy actions – an explosion of quantitative
easing in the trillions with no end of it in sight.

Roubini:
"The Fed Funds rate has been abandoned…as we are already effectively
at (zero interest rates) that signal a liquidity trap….Even (a sharp)
fall in mortgage rates….will be of small comfort to debt burdened
households as only those (that) qualify for refinancing will be able
to" net out a "modest" monthly mortgage saving of about $150.

The
Feds "desperate policy actions….will eventually lead to much higher
real interest rates on the public debt and weaken the US dollar (the
result of a) tsunami of implicit and explicit public liabilities and
monetary debt." It will get foreign investors to "ponder the long-term
sustainability of the US domestic and external liabilities," and why
not. They keep growing exponentially, and with nothing restraining a
runaway Fed, dollar debasing may continue to the point where no one
will want to hold them. Its gotten some analysts to recommend moving a
portion of savings out of them into gold – the ultimate safe haven in
times of crisis.

Abolish the Fed and Return the Nations Money Creation Power to Congress Where It Belongs

Ron Paul has been in the vanguard of the Abolish the Fed movement, and on September 10, 2002 on the House floor said:

"Since
the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and working-class Americans
have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy. In addition,
most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power
because of the Federal Reserves inflationary policies. This represents
a real, if hidden, tax imposed on the American people…."

"It
is time for the Congress to put the interests of the American people
ahead of the special interests. Abolishing the Federal Reserve will
allow Congress to reassert its constitutional authority over monetary
policy."

"Abolishing the Federal Reserve and returning to a
constitutional system (as mandated) will enable America to return to
the type of monetary system envisioned by our nations founders: one
where the value of money is consistent because it is tied to a
commodity such as gold….I urge my colleagues (to co-sponsor) my
legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve."

Paul introduced his
legislation in the 106th, 107th, 108th, and 110th Congresses. Each
time, it died in committee. On November 22, he attended the End the Fed
rally in Houston and addressed the crowd.

He called the current
economic crisis as bad or worse than in the 1930s and said: "we know
who caused it. It was the Federal Reserve that gave us all this
trouble." He explained that we had a "free ride for decades because
we’ve had a system that was devised where the dollar could act as if it
were gold."

Not after August 1971 when Nixon closed the gold
window, ended the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement, and no longer let
dollars be backed by gold or converted into it in international
markets. A "new economic system" was created. It let us "spend beyond
our means, live beyond our means, print money beyond our means," and it
caused our current dilemma.

We created "an appearance of great
wealth. But it was doomed to fail," and it became apparent in the past
year: "the failure of the dollar reserve standard that was set up in
August of 1971. It has ended. The only question" is what will replace
it?

Theres all kinds of talk, including setting up a new
international fiat currency "with the loss of US sovereignty in total.
We have to stop this move towards one world government and a one world
currency." Otherwise our freedom and Constitution will be lost. When it
was written, it contained prohibitions.

Article I, Section 8
gives Congress alone the right to coin (create) money and regulate the
value thereof. The founders also wanted gold and silver to be legal
tender, not fiat money, nor should there be a central bank. In 1935,
the Supreme Court ruled that Congress cannot constitutionally delegate
this power to another body. By creating the Federal Reserve System in
1913, Congress violated the Constitution it was sworn to uphold and
defrauded the American public. Todays crisis is the fruit of its
action, but watch out.

"The writing is on the wall, and the end
of this system" approaches. "They cannot patch it up, they can’t up it
back together again. They know it and we know it. The only argument is
what is it going to be replaced with?"

For now, "Central banks
in the West especially have been dumping gold to artificially lower
(its price) to pretend the dollar is of great value. They’re still
doing it, but they’re running out of time (and) out of gold." Its
shifting to stronger economic powers, ones who’ve been saving money,
loaning it back to us, "and are ready to buy up America if we continue
to do this. So it is a contest (between fiat) money and hard money, and
that is such an important issue." It reflects what Daniel Webster once
said:

"There can be no legal tender in this country….but gold
and silver. This is a constitutional principle….of the very highest
importance." Gold, however, wasn’t the original monetary system
standard. Silver was, the silver dollar, and only a constitutional
amendment can change it.

Paper currency as well, whether
backed by gold or not, wasn’t the hard money authorized by the
Constitution. Honest money is honest weights and measures of silver and
gold. Federal Reserve Notes are paper fiat debt obligations. Fiat
currency of any kind is a mechanism of wealth transference from the
public to a privileged elite – through inflation and loss of purchasing
power. It creates debt for the many and wealth for the few, especially
when a private banking cartel controls it.

Our existing monetary
system combines money, credit and debt into a dishonest system of empty
promises in exchange for future ones. There is no eventual payment,
only unfulfillable assurances to new generations that will be forced to
pay for the debt now accumulated. Its a moneychangers dream –
ever-expanding debt and a continuing interest rate stream, masquerading
as wealth creation for the people. Its in fact a system of bondage and
indebtedness benefitting the few at the expense of the many, a
modern-day feudalism. Its how an elite 1% got to own 70% of the
nations wealth.

In the 1920s, Josiah Stamp, Bank of England president said:

"Banking
was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. Bankers own the earth.
Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits,
and with a flick of the pen (today a computer keyboard) they will
create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from
them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear, and they
ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to
live in. But if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the
cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits."

Creating
the Federal Reserve System to let bankers and not the government
control the price and amount of fiat money debased the currency and is
the root cause of todays financial problems. A return to honest gold
and silver weights and measures is needed. The Constitution states that
nothing but these metals are money and that paper bills of credit (like
Federal Reserve notes) aren’t allowed. Even ones backed by gold as the
Constitution doesn’t grant Congress the power to be bankers. It may
only coin (create) and borrow money, not loan it out or give it away –
and certainly not to bankers at the expense of the public interest.

Further,
the Constitution contains no provision allowing Congress to enact legal
tender laws. Article I, Section 10 forbids the individual states from
making "anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender in payment of
debts." However, US Code, 31 USC 5103, establishes US coins and
currency, including Federal Reserve notes, as legal tender and has been
used to debase the currency ever since – the way Greshams Law works:
bad (or debased) money drives out good (the kind with little difference
between its nominal and commodity values).

For example, until
1964, US coins (except pennies and nickels) contained 90% silver.
Starting in 1965, dimes and quarters were converted to their current
nickel – copper composition. Half-dollars (now produced in limited
quantities) had 90% silver. It then dropped to 40% in 1965 and by 1971
all US coins (except pennies and commemorative mintings) contained
nickel and copper and no silver – a good example of debasing. As for
paper currency, its just paper.

Under a private banking
cartels control, its been misused, stolen, and corrupted the way New
York Times columnist Floyd Norris suggests in his November 24 article
headlined: "Another Crisis, Another Guarantee." First the banks, then
the auto companies, and who knows whos next in line for theirs. "As
the nations obligations rise into the trillions, at some point
investors (and the public) may begin to question whether a government
running huge deficits can also credibly promise that the dollar will
not lose its value." How can there be any faith and credit left when
its vanishing and the Fed and Treasury operate like giant hedge funds.

It
got UK-based Eclectica Asset Management chief investment officer, Hugh
Hendry, concerned enough to say: "All (US) financials will be owned by
the government in a year. I bet you. Its not good," but its coming.
US taxpayers will be "paying for this for a long time," and its deeply
concerning considering the amount of money creation – with no end in
sight as problems keep mounting and limitless amounts keep being thrown
at them.

On November 25 the Financial Times associate editor,
Wolfgang Munchau, also worries about the Feds "weapon of mass
desperation" (so-called quantitative easing); focusing only on
deflation and risking a currency crisis. He calls it a flawed,
dangerous and shocking oversight – the possibility of "a mass flight
out of dollar assets (at some point) and a large rise in US market
interest rates, followed by a huge recession."

A Bloomberg.com
November 24 headline highlights the problem: "US Pledges Top $7.7
trillion to Ease Frozen Credit," and it might as well have said theres
plenty more where that came from if needed. With another $800 committed
to two new loan programs the total  reached $8.5 trillion, according to
Bloomberg or nearly 60% of US 2007 GDP of $14 trillion, and the numbers
keep rising exponentially because the problems continue to mount.

Bloomberg
puts it in perspective saying "the (current) commitment dwarfs (TARP
and puts) Federal Reserve lending last week (at) 1900 times the weekly
average for the three years before the crisis," and with the added $800
billion its about 2100 times pre-crisis levels.

In addition,
the Fed refuses to identify recipients of about $2 trillion of
emergency handouts or what troubled assets (if any) its accepting as
collateral. Call it lending or spending. They’re public tax dollars
being spread around like confetti and debasing it all as a result.

The Free Lakota Bank

On
November 21, this writer discussed how Lakotahs are treated in an
article titled "Fate of Lakotahs Highlights Americas Failed Native
American Policies." On November 24, the following press release and
follow-up information announced:

"People of Lakota Launch
Private Bank for Only Silver and Gold Currencies." All deposits are
"liquid, meaning they can be withdrawn at any time in minted rounds.
Some may confuse our economic system with isolationism….which it is
not. Since we currently produce much more than we consume, we have the
right to decide what medium of exchange to accept for our effort. And
so we accept only value for value. Across our great land, over
thousands of tribes and merchants participate in our system of trade.
We invite others to trade with us and bring value back into our
transactions."

This is the worlds first non-reserve,
non-fractional bank that accepts only silver and gold currencies for
deposit. The Lakotas "invite people of any creed, faith or heritage to
unite in an effort to reclaim control of wealth. It is our hope that
other tribal nations and American citizens recognize the importance of
silver and gold as currency and decide to mirror our system of honest
trade."

The bank states that it issues, circulates and accepts
for deposit "only AOCS – Approved silver and gold currencies." It calls
paper not real money but "merely a promise to pay – a mortgage on
wealth that does not exist, backed by a gun aimed at those who are
expected to produce it. Since we deal only in real money, we do not
participate in any central bank looting schemes." When corruption is
rewarded and "honesty becom(es) self-sacrifice….you may know that
your society is doomed." Even as victims of adversity, Lakotas are
working to prevent it.

End the Fed

Privatized
money control is the single greatest threat to democratic freedom. As
former lawyer, economist, academic, and Canadian prime minister (from
1935 – 1948) William Lyon Mackenzie King once said:

"Until the
control of the issue of currency and credit is restored to government
and recognized as its most conspicuous and sacred responsibility, all
talk of sovereignty of Parliament and of democracy is idle and
futile….Once a nation parts with control of its credit, it matters
not who makes (its) laws….Usury once in control will wreck any
nation," and indeed it has, far more now than ever.

It worried
Thomas Jefferson enough to call banking institutions "more dangerous to
our liberties than standing armies" at a much simpler time in our
history. The right to create and control money belongs to the people
through their elected representatives. For the past 95 years, powerful
bankers accountable to no one have had it. They effectively run the
country (and own it), and unless We the People change things, we’ll
continue to be victimized by economic tyranny and the eventual
political kind thats coming.

Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected].

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11435