Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

[shiny!]

A glimmer of light in the darkness. According to ZeroHedge it's official: Ron Paul has been appointed head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/its...y-subcommittee

The Bernank is going to have to answer to him! Unless this is a ruse to restrict the good Doctor by putting him in charge of a committee, then somehow neutering that committee.

[GRG55]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Bernanke is undoubtedly thankful he has tenure at Princeton...

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Unless this is a ruse

I don't think it is a ruse. The Fed is being brought to heel. The question is whether it bows to a larger, world banking, rule, or whether larger world banking powers weaken along side the Fed.

[mitchc]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Good for the dollar and in the long term good for capital assets. In the short and medium term bad for all other assets except the dollar. But, no time like the present to get on with it.

[flintlock]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Yay, finally some good news. Now if we can just start getting some of the crooks put away. Show the world we still stand for something.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

not sure the committee has the power to summon the bernank.

[c1ue]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Perhaps someone can elucidate, but does the committee have any veto power over any Fed actions?

Does the committee have the ability to hire or fire Fed chairs or regional Fed presidents?

Does the committee have the ability to set Fed funding rates?

Does the committee have the right to set US dollar currency exchange rates?

If the answer to all of the above is no, then the committee is just a name.

[Serge_Tomiko]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Perhaps someone can elucidate, but does the committee have any veto power over any Fed actions?

Does the committee have the ability to hire or fire Fed chairs or regional Fed presidents?

Does the committee have the ability to set Fed funding rates?

Does the committee have the right to set US dollar currency exchange rates?

If the answer to all of the above is no, then the committee is just a name.

I'm on a train this very moment returning to Manhattan from DC.

The whole city is a ridiculous comedy, a pit of decadence that will be remembered as the last gasp of a civilization on the precipice of collapse.

No one in Congress has any real power. The entire political apparatus is something akin to Versailles prior to the debt induced collapse of the ancien regime. The powers that be have done little more than buy the loyalty of hordes of people from the elected officials on do to the feeble masses who otherwise would relegated to living like animals are toiling the land.

And, by the way, between the simian masses and the bourgeois rabble who function within the apparatus, I had some amazing success with some Georgetown girls last night! They simply break down in the presence of my reactionary spirit! When the revolution comes, the entirety of the city's population will be seduced just as easily. There is just no competition. The entire city is nothing but pointless names that will soon have no value. They are meaningless as the titles of nobility that existed just prior to the French Revolution!

[shiny!]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

According to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...and_Technology :

"The subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes domestic monetary policy, and agencies which directly or indirectly affect domestic monetary policy, multilateral development lending institutions such as the World Bank, coins and currency including operations of the Bureau of the Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and international trade and finance including all matters pertaining to the International Monetary Fund and the Export-Import Bank."

[Ron] Paul has stated that he will use the position to draw attention to the Fed's policies and what he perceives to be its negative consequences.

Shining a light on cockroaches scurrying around in the dark never does any harm. More power to him!

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

If he had the power to summon these folks to testify under oath, that'd be a big deal. Otherwise... yawn.

[don]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Serge: Will you be representing the ancien regime circa 1815?

[dcarrigg]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Perhaps someone can elucidate, but does the committee have any veto power over any Fed actions?

Does the committee have the ability to hire or fire Fed chairs or regional Fed presidents?

Does the committee have the ability to set Fed funding rates?

Does the committee have the right to set US dollar currency exchange rates?

If the answer to all of the above is no, then the committee is just a name.

C1ue, Rep Paul was already the ranking member of the committee. Now he will just move to chair. Any committee has staff assigned to it. The staff goes disproportionately to the chair, but the only other member that gets assigned staff is the ranking member.

He will have control of the calendar and an oversight role over the Fed, Treasury and SEC, but that's about it. Oversight doesn't mean 'direct authority' either. Maybe he could use it for publicity, though.

He'll have more input on what goes into the first drafts of bills that come out of the subcommittee, but Spencer Bauchus will have say as to whether they get to move out of full committee and onto the floor.

Long story short, the House is a dictatorship. The speaker gets what the speaker wants.

[seanm123]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Serge your description of DC reminds me of this Video.

[ggirod]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

Maybe after Ron Paul's idealism and strong beliefs are crushed in the corporate-owned legislative branch his disillusioned supporters can join Barack Obama's. Jointly they could express their disappointment by seriously fighting corporate influence and lobbying through a Constitutional Amendment or whatever is required to bring the activist Supreme Court into line with American principles. Only bullet-proof legislation will take back the government for the people. How about "Free Speech is a human, not a corporate right" or "Corporations shall not contribute to candidates or Political Action Committees." or "Every human citizen can contribute up to $100 to support a candidate for office." or ... you get the idea.

[ltullos]

Re: Ron Paul is head of the Monetary Policy Subcommittee!

As much as I like much of Ron Paul's (Jefferson's) ideology and esp abolishing or at least auditing the Fed; sadly he is little more than a cartoon. In every session with Bernanke I've seen, he does his 5 min rambling rant and Bernanke just sits patiently and refuses to give any meaningful answers. Bernanke knows he's got the real power and very little will change other than a few more scraps for Jon Stewart and the bloggers. In short, more entertainment and little substance.