Asked whether he supports the House-passed measure to open the Fed to an audit, which was cosponsored by Reps. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), a senior Treasury official said he is intensely opposed to it.

The official said the measure would undermine the independence of monetary policy and could restrict the ability of the Fed to act in times of crisis. He said that the GAO already has audit authority and that the chairman routinely testifies before Congress.

Congressman Alan Grayson, a cosponsor of HR 1207, responds to the criticism that a thorough audit would undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence:

The idea that the Fed’s mission would be undermined by an audit, said Grayson, “is a scarecrow erected by people who want to cover up the actions of the Fed for their own purposes, including those who actually have worked at part of the Fed, to prevent accountability at any cost.”

Read the rest here.

The Fed will support legislation to let government auditors probe six temporary programs created to combat the financial crisis such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, Bernanke said yesterday in House testimony. While he would support the delayed release of names of firms getting aid from those programs, he said banks borrowing through the longstanding discount window must be allowed to remain anonymous.

Bernanke’s move toward greater openness may not dissuade lawmakers who want the Fed to disclose more information about the Fed’s lending and policy decisions. Lawmakers are responding to public anger over the Fed’s role in the $182.3 billion bailout of American International Group Inc.

Read the rest here.

Now his job security is in ours.

Be sure to immediately call your senators with a simple message: “No vote on Bernanke until we get a vote on Audit the Fed.”

Click here to find contact information for your senators.

Here’s what’s going on and why you need to act immediately:

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has led the charge to place a “hold” on Bernanke’s nomination to a second term as Fed chairman until the Senate votes on Audit the Fed. This means to get a vote on Bernanke, Harry Reid has to have a vote on “cloture,” and that requires a super-majority of 60 votes.  Insiders believe that Harry Reid is threatening to ram through a cloture vote as early as next week.

Senator DeMint is joined by David Vitter, Jim Bunning, and Bernie Sanders in his efforts, but these senators cannot succeed alone.   A strong message from Audit the Fed activists like you could start a stampede in the Senate that will make Harry Reid back off of Bernanke and give us a vote on Audit the Fed.

Click here to find contact information for your senators.

Make sure you let them know that:

1.) If they are not cosponsoring Audit the Fed, you expect them to sign on in support of finding out what the Fed has done with trillions of our dollars. Tell them you will make sure their constituents know of their action or inaction on this issue.

2.) They must vote “no” on cloture until after there is a vote on Audit the Fed. No vote should be taken on Ben Bernanke’s confirmation, or the nomination of anyone else for Fed Chairman, until Audit the Fed has received a public, up or down vote. The real issue here is not the Fed chairman himself. It is the need for complete transparency.

Ben Bernanke’s term as Fed chairman expires on January 31, so Harry Reid is under pressure from President Obama to act quickly.

It’s time to turn up the pressure.

Take action today to push for a vote on Audit the Fed, S. 604!

Sincerely,

The Audit the Fed Coalition

In a letter to Gene L. Dodaro, director of the Government Accountability Office and acting U.S. comptroller general, Bernanke said the Fed would make available “all records and personnel necessary” if the GAO undertook such a review. Bernanke noted that the Fed already had made “a large amount of information” about the AIG bailout public, including regular reports about outstanding loan balances, and that it had provided testimony and documents to members of Congress and other oversight bodies.

Read the rest here.  Of course, the request comes right before he’s scheduled to be confirmed by the Senate.   It should go without saying that the American people deserve to know more than just what information the Fed “provides” at their leisure.

A federal appeals court on Monday appeared skeptical of U.S. Federal Reserve efforts to prevent the press and the public from learning the names of participants in emergency lending programs designed to support and bail out the financial system.

Read the rest here.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, then led by Timothy Geithner, told American International Group Inc. to withhold details from the public about the bailed-out insurer’s payments to banks during the depths of the financial crisis, e-mails between the company and its regulator show.

Read the rest here.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday voiced his opposition to legislation calling for regular audits of the Fed’s monetary policies, but 79% of Americans think auditing the Fed is a good idea.

Read the rest here.

One of those interesting moments came when U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, said this: “I will … object to floor consideration of Mr. Bernanke’s nomination until the Senate votes up-or-down on the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act.”

The Sunshine Act refers to S. 604, which was sponsored by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and would remove restrictions on auditing important Fed practices like their open market operations, discount window operations, deals with foreign governments and their central banks, and their funding facilities.

The story ends with this gem:

One way or the other, the Federal Reserve isn’t ever going to be able to operate in the way it has in the past, and the secrecy surrounding its decisions will eventually be forced to come out in the open.

Read the rest here.

“These measures are very much out of step with the global consensus on the appropriate role of central banks, and they would seriously impair the prospects for economic and financial stability in the United States,” Bernanke wrote in a column posted on the Washington Post’s website.

Read the rest here.

House Panel Approves Broad Auditing of Federal Reserve Wall Street Journal

A key House panel on Thursday approved an amendment offered by Rep. Ron Paul (R., Texas) to give federal watchdogs massive new authority to audit the Federal Reserve.

House panel approves Ron Paul’s proposal to audit the Federal Reserve Politico

The measure, based on a Paul proposal that has attracted more than 300 co-sponsors, passed, 43-26, as an amendment to a financial reform bill. Florida Democrat and fellow Fed critic Alan Grayson co-sponsored the amendment with Paul and played a leading role drumming up support for it among committee members. The adoption of this amendment is an extraordinary victory for Paul, whose libertarian, anti-Fed leanings have often been dismissed by the political establishment.

Panel votes to audit the Fed; cap its spending at $4 trillion MarketWatch

“If you care about transparency of the Fed, you would allow a look at monetary policy,” Paul said. “We’re dealing with trillions of dollars that doesn’t get audited. There is no reason why the world can’t know, eventually, what the Fed is doing.”

Ron Paul wins a key battle in war to open Fed’s books Los Angeles Times

“If we get the audit and get the books open, make them answer the questions, I am convinced that the American people will be so outraged that then we will have reform of the monetary system,” Paul has said.

Panel Votes to Broaden Oversight of the Fed New York Times

Mr. Paul’s bill would abolish a longstanding exemption that shielded the Fed from Congressional audits of its monetary policy. Supporters of the Fed’s independence have argued the shield provided crucial insulation from political pressure, which would make it much harder for Fed officials to take unpopular action aimed at heading off inflation.

Greenspan, Volcker Opposed Ron Paul Audit Provision Wall Street Journal

Greenspan and Volcker, in a letter sent to the committee’s chairman and ranking Republicans, warned that the provision threatened the ability of the Fed to foster price stability independent of political interference.

Threatening the Fed’s independence Washington Post

Alan S. Blinder is a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University.

There are a few more hits on this story all over today, these are just a few.  Great work so far everyone, but the fight isn’t over.  We are still pushing for an up or down vote on Audit the Fed on the House and Senate floors.

Take action here.