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The Obama administration now says it supports a proposal to audit the Federal Reserve's lending practices that has won broad bipartisan backing in the Senate.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin said last-minute changes to an amendment before the Senate would ensure that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy authority would not be compromised by an audit.
The audit has been pushed by a bipartisan coalition led by independent Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont. The audit by Congres
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will cosponsor Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) amendment to audit the Fed, he said on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon, though with modifications, the details of which are crucial to the weight of the audit.
Sanders had been negotiating a compromise with the Federal Reserve to come to an agreement on how broadly the audit powers would extend, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) told reporters.
Corker said he had spoken with Sanders and that the Fed wants to "make sure that the audit is not looking at the open market policy, where you're not looking at how interest rates are set." The White House expressed similar concerns earlier Thursday.
Sanders (I-Vt.) has insisted repeatedly that his amendment makes no attempt to audit monetary policy, but rather is focused on the trillions in lending the Fed has done in the dark.
The goal of the negotiations, said Corker, was to make sure "what you're looking at is the financial transactions.... It's my understanding he's working very closely with the Fed to try to get that part right."
Spokespersons for Sanders and the Fed declined to comment.
Shortly after Corker spoke, Dodd, who had been opposing the amendment, took to the Senate floor.
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"He's absolutely correct on the transparency issues," Dodd said, adding that he wanted the audit "done in a way so there is no concern about the independence of the Fed being compromised in any way. He has guaranteed with his language here that that is no longer an issue whatsoever. And I want to thank him for that. It's a great amendment."
Sanders, on the Senate floor, hinted at the agreement. "Would allow the GAO to conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all of the Federal Reserve's emergency lending activities since December 1, 2007. In addition, the modifications require the Fed to put on its Web site all of the recipients of over $2 trillion in emergency assistance since December 1, 2007," Sanders said.
Originally posted by AwakeAndAware
This is the best news yet. Kennedy was killed after signing executive order 11110 trying to end the fed and Reagan was shot after mentioning abolishing the fed in a speech a couple of weeks earlier.......... I think obama is finally on the right path.....
Originally posted by Frankidealist35
reply to post by ModernAcademia
I think this is a false hope.
The one-time audit would focus on the Fed's emergency lending to financial institutions in the months leading up to and after the 2008 financial crisis. At its peak, at the end of 2008, the Fed's lending totaled $1.16 trillion.
Originally posted by ModernAcademia
reply to post by Frankidealist35
Ya I know, I was so surprised I posted before reading the article.
Then I had the misfortune of reading the article immediately after.