House of Paine

ralph's dived into the right pool....but

 he can't really swim in it ....




=====================================


Bringing Democracy to the Federal Reserve
By RALPH NADER 


 

Now there is a new man 
on the Federal Reserve block
—Ben Bernanke—
and he has been using a word
—transparency—
freely as he moved into Alan Greenspan’s chair"

"So far Chairman Bernanke 
has limited specifics about his push 
for “greater transparency” 
to the idea of the Fed stating explicitly 
the numerical inflation rate
 it considers to be consistent 
with the goal of long-term price stability"


"Let’s hope that Ben Bernanke 
really is talking about ‘transparency” 
and “open government”
—the kind of transparency 
that gets the message to all citizens,
 not just bond traders and the Wall Street insiders"


. " let’s “democratize Federal Reserve transparency.” "



1. Regular open press conferences by the Chairman.




2. Adhere to the Budget Act 
which requires the submission 
of a formal annual budget
 subject to review by OMB
 and the Congress. 


3. Require congressional appropriations 
for all Federal Reserve activities


4. Allow the early release 
of Minutes of Federal
 Open Market Committee meetings 



5. Hold open meetings 
on all issues not involving monetary policy



6. Require full audits
 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO)


7. Support legislation 
to prohibit commercial bank officials
 from serving on the boards 
of the 12 Federal Reserve District Banks.


 Mr. Bernanke should avoid 
the kind of doubletalk 
that former Chairman Alan Greenspan issued