NH INSIDER

The Fuzzy Math of 47 Million
31.85 million of the 47 million uninsured do not actually exist.

 

Monetary Manipulation
The manipulation of money will continue to occur as long as the U.S. currency is backed by nothing.

 

The Depraved New World
Obama's Science Czar has a very colorful background that will shock most Americans.

 

The Overnights
ObamaCare is still ruling the blogosphere.

 

ALG in the News: Congressional Quarterly
CQ Politics features Executive Director of NetRight Nation Adam Bitely and his plan to flood the Obama disinformation email account.

 

Editorial: Equal Justice—Or Hypocrisy as Usual
Tom Coburn thinks that if tobacco is to be regulated by the FDA, so should medical marijuana.

 

Full Faith and Credit?
When Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Chinese students at Peking University that "Chinese assets are very safe," they had the common sense to laugh in his face.

 

The Same Old Game
Michael Steele might be able to learn a thing or two from former Senator Fred Thompson.

 

American capitalism gone with a whimper
When the Russians start noting your nation's descent into Marxism, you know you're in trouble.

 

"Why are American taxpayers paying to help China

and Russia improve their global monetary positions?

This is an insane use of American taxpayers' money.

It has no place in a war supplemental appropriation.

It is an insult to America's fighting men and women."

—ALG President Bill Wilson.

 

June 3rd, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called upon all members of Congress to reject a proposed $108 billion in assistance to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

Wilson termed it "a move that simply throws welfare at developing nations, only helps China along in transitioning away from the dollar, and does absolutely nothing to bolster America's economic standing in the world."

 

"Right now, the U.S. financial system is sinking, the national debt has exploded to over $11.3 trillion and the deficit to over $1.84 trillion, and the Obama Administration has no plan to get the nation out from under $104 trillion of unfunded liabilities. It is absolutely sickening that Barack Obama and his meek, toady Congress think it's a good time to send another $100 billion to a failed international institution. This is nothing more than international welfare checks," said Wilson.

 

Last month at the G-20 summit, Barack Obama pledged a $100 billion line of credit to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a $550 billion global effort to bolster the international bank. The G-20 then approved a new $250 billion general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR)—the bank's reserve asset.

 

The Congressional proposal also expands U.S. holdings in the IMF by $8 billion.

 

Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an amendment to remove from the Iraq and Afghanistan war supplemental both the $100 billion line of credit to the IMF and the $8 billion increase the nation's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) holdings. In the Senate the amendment to remove the provisions failed by a vote of 30-64.

 

"The Senate had a golden opportunity to kill this thing and they blew it. Now it's on the fast track, and the American people need to know what is happening," Wilson said.

 

Overall, the legislation has passed the House with at a cost of $96.7 billion and the Senate at $91.3 billion. The final version of the bill still has not been presented from conference, and the IMF provisions were not originally included in the bill as passed in the House. Since then, House and Senate Democrats have agreed to the $100 billion line of credit to the IMF and $8 billion expansion of U.S. SDR holdings.

 

The bill, HR 2346, now proceeds to the House and Senate for final approval. Today, Americans for Limited Government released a backgrounder on the issue.

 

"Russia, China, India, and Brazil are currently buying interest-bearing IMF bonds denominated in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, and meanwhile Congress is voting to pay for it with a $100 billion line of credit extension and $8 billion expansion to the IMF," said Wilson.

 

Currently, Russia, India, China, and Brazil are already prepared to purchase their first round of IMF bonds—denominated in SDR. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The IMF is preparing its first bond offering, potentially tailored to Brazil, Russia, India and China. Russia's [$10 billion] offering would equal that of India and would be about a quarter of the $40 billion China is expected to contribute to boost the IMF's resources."

 

Combined, Russia ($2.261 trillion), Brazil ($1.981 trillion), India ($3.288 trillion), China ($7.916 trillion) have GDP (PPP) of $15.446 trillion compared to the U.S GDP (PPP) of $14.264trillion.

 

"Why are American taxpayers paying to help China and Russia improve their global monetary positions? This is an insane use of American taxpayers' money," Wilson said, adding, "It has no place in a war supplemental appropriation. It is an insult to America's fighting men and women."

 

Wilson promised to remind constituents how each member of Congress votes on the supplemental. "This is not $108 billion for the IMF that was attached to a $90 billion war supplemental, it is a $90 billion war supplemental attached to $108 billion for the IMF."

 

"The American people have a right to know which of their representatives vote to crumble up the dollar on the floor of Congress, and Americans for Limited Government will not let constituents forget," Wilson concluded.

 

Background:

 

"Dollar in Danger: $100 Billion Line of Credit to IMF Backgrounder," Americans for Limited Government, June 2009.

 

 

Krugman's Folly
As gold nears $1000 an ounce and oil begins its upward push again, Paul Krugman says, "Look at me!"

Editorial: Don't Forget About Pelosi
The news cycle may be a convenient escape for the embattled Speaker of the House.

 

"The American people have barely any idea what the Fed is up to,

although we do know that they've put American taxpayers on the

hook for $7.76 trillion in less than two years. The House

has no clue where the $7.76 trillion is going either, because Congress'

best attempts at oversight have been met with consistent stonewalling

by the Fed."—ALG President Bill Wilson

 

ALG Calls Upon House to Enact Fed Audit Bill

 

May 28th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today called upon the House of Representatives to enact legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve to "ensure that American taxpayers have a full accounting of the Fed's irresponsible activities of kicking trillions of dollars out the nation's back door, manipulating markets, and crashing the economy."

 

"The American people have barely any idea what the Fed is up to, although we do know that they've put American taxpayers on the hook for $7.76 trillion in less than two years," said Wilson. "The House has no clue where the $7.76 trillion is going either, because Congress' best attempts at oversight have been met with consistent stonewalling by the Fed."

 

Wilson added, "All of this money simply cannot be accounted for, including nearly $2 trillion of loans made by the Fed—for no other reason than because the Fed refuses to disclose any information about the transactions."

 

On February 26th, Congressman Ron Paul introduced the "Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009," legislation that would require an audit of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Federal Reserve Banks.

 

According to Bloomberg News, the Federal Reserve has committed, lent or disbursed over $7.76 trillion in the past 20 months. This includes nearly $2 trillion in loans, although it is unclear who received these loans.

 

According to Bloomberg, "The Federal Reserve so far is refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return." The Fed has argued it is actually allowed to withhold "internal" memos as well as commercial and trade secrets information. Bloomberg, on the other hand, has actively filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, demanding the information.

 

Thus far, the Fed's Board of Governors has refused to comply with Bloomberg's FOIA requests. In addition, the Fed's regional banks are arguing that they are private institutions beyond the reach of the Freedom of Information Act.

 

In answering questions from Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) recently, Fed Inspector General Elizabeth Coleman testified she could not account for "$1 trillion-plus that the Fed extended and put on its balance sheet since last September..."

 

An email to Bloomberg by Coleman's office also revealed that "By law, we are the Office of Inspector General for the Board of Governors only... Consistent with our authority, we cannot conduct a direct audit of Reserve Bank operations."

 

Wilson called for the Federal Reserve to be reined in. "The Fed, although it was created by Congress, is responsible for the nation's monetary policy, and has engaged in over $7.76 trillion in transactions is beyond the oversight according to its own inspector general, and even beyond the oversight of Congress. For the House to continue to refuse to audit this unaccountable government monstrosity is inexcusable."

 

"The real questions are: What is the Fed hiding? And why are members of the House aiding them? Is the money going to foreign banks? Perhaps to central banks overseas? To China?" Wilson added.

 

H.R. 1207 would require the Comptroller General to issue an audit of both the Board of Governors and Reserve Bank operations, which are run by member banks of the Fed. The audit would have to be issued to Congressional leadership by the close of 2010.

 

So far, the Act has 179 cosponsors, including 33 Democrats and 146 Republicans.

 

"It is up to the constitutional duty of the House to account for these trillions of taxpayer dollars, before it is too late, and before the nation is drowned in insolvency," Wilson concluded.