Urgent! Senators Unveil New Bill to Audit the Fed - Very Bad Bill

Update
On October 20th, 2009 OFallonBrent says:

Okay, here is the deal. I am not going to go into every detail we discussed, but here it is in a nutshell.

This bill is focused on the TARP and bailout funds. This should already be reviewed by the Treasury since they were the ones to issue the funds. This bill does nothing to bring light to the Federal Open markets Committee or dealings with foreign central banks. It also has no firm time line or deadlines.

This is a Trojan horse. It is meant to be a distraction. Fast action can kill this thing before it gets anywhere.

Jim DeMint is coming out hard against this. There are likely to be some strong statements from other senators as well.

The C4L is mobilizing all of its resources, ie membership, to stop this thing in its tracks.

What we are asking people to do is call their home Senator. If they have co-sponsored, thank them and tell them the FRAA (it has not been given a number yet) is unacceptable. If they have not sponsored S604, ask them to, and explain the difference between the two.

It is very important they know we support an audit and not confuse the opposition to FRAA with support of S604. WE NEED TO BE VERY CLEAR ON THAT.

We are asking people to call the DC offices. We want this to be a huge deal tomorrow in DC. Calling local offices is not going to create that buzz and we need to make a big impact with this right away.

This is a huge priority for the C4L and is one reason we've been building our numbers, for emergency actions like this.

So, call your home Senators in DC and let them know how you feel about this attempt to thwart the will of the people.

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Original post:

Earlier people were asking about the C4L. I made a post describing a small amount of information from my perspective as a Regional Coordinator.

I just received an urgent message from the C4L. All state and regional coordinators are asked to be on a conference call tonight to discuss a new senate bill that is being introduced that is a watered down version of S 604.

We've been asked not to give out the conference call number to ensure enough lines for everyone. The call will detail a plan of action to counter this new bill.

I will let everyone here know what to do after the call is over.

Here is a little info on the bill from the Wall Street Journal

Proponents of auditing the Federal Reserve have a new bill to support their cause. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) and Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) introduced legislation today to require the Government Accountability Office to audit several of the central bank’s emergency lending programs that were created during the financial crisis.

The two junior senators are joining a movement that has drawn more than two-thirds of the House and a third of the Senate. But their legislation, the Federal Reserve Accountability Act, is intended to sidestep criticism that auditing the central bank would hinder the Fed’s independence in conducting monetary policy. The bill directs the GAO — the investigative arm of Congress — to audit emergency lending programs that aren’t already subject to government audits. (Institution-specific lending programs, such as those tied to AIG and Bear Stearns, are already open to GAO review, as are programs conducted jointly with the Treasury Department.)

To avoid disrupting markets, the legislation directs the GAO to redact from its reports the names of specific institutions using the programs and “identifying details regarding assets or collateral” held in the audited facilities.

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