Was the US the sole recipient of bailout money?
Ben Bernanke’s testimony before Congress continued today, punctuated by a very entertaining exchange between Bernanke and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), part of which was an allegation of lending to Greece to aid in the financial turmoil there. You can decide for yourself if Greece should borrow money from the Federal Reserve.
For the record, Bernanke denies all of Mr. Paul’s allegation, labeling them “bizarre.”
Is it truly that bizarre?
Is the Federal Reserve about to bailout Greece? Has that been done for other countries in the past? Greece is still a question mark, irrespective of Bernanke’s testimony. The writing may already be on the wall.
Written in “Texas Straight Talk”
In a recent weekly column at House.gov, Ron Paul wrote about Greece’s economic crisis. The government is close to defaulting on public debt, as the Treasury is almost dry. The debt level, claims Paul, is “about 120 percent of their gross domestic product,” so the public sector soaks up “what amounts to 40 percent of GDP.” This has European investors running scared, needless to say. However, the European Central Bank seems calm.
Why is that? Outsiders aren’t sure. Is it possible that the Federal Reserve is going to perform a Greece bailout? We aren’t aware, says Paul, partly due to the Federal Reserve’s distribution of bailout funds hasn’t been disclosed as well as promised, and also because if they had aided a foreign central bank, they don’t have to disclose it by law and it is exempt from audit. Considering Greece isn’t the only European nation in dire straits, many with some tie to Goldman Sachs, one wonders if they will also be deemed “too big to fail” by the U.S. banking concerns. And who will be on the hook if such is the case? It would be the taxpayers at a time when unemployment is incredibly high.
Fiat currency and garish disregard for caution in its use
Our government buys into the idea of fiat currency. They create money for whatever purpose they see fit – a check that no one has the actual capital to cash. America’s government and the Federal Reserve are obviously happy to keep such a system in place, with no thought of the debt burden it will place of future generations. Ron Paul suggests that Americans deserve to know if they are “going to be left holding the bag” as the Federal Reserve throws around money they don’t actually have – it’s imaginary!
Evidence log for your consideration
- Federal Reserve money supported Saddam Hussein and the Iraq military
- Federal Reserve money was involved in Watergate
- Here’s the Senate Watergate Report for more on Watergate.
Bernanke testimony does not inspire confidence
This is exactly why Ron Paul would like laws to be changed so that we can audit the Federal Reserve. Fast cash going from our pockets to other countries isn’t something that can perpetuate when our own is in trouble. We need to know what’s happening. Americans deserve transparency from their governmental institutions.
