The Virginia Tea Party Patriots have sent a letter to the members of the state’s congressional delegation that castigates the Federal Reserve’s second round of quantitative easing (QE) and calls for Congress to audit the Fed.
Earlier this year, Congress did pass a limited audit measure as part of the much bigger financial services reform bill:
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) will perform a one-time review of Federal Reserve emergency lending. The details should be on the Federal Reserve website by December 1, 2010. The GAO will have the authority to conduct more audits in the future, but there is no requirement.
So at least to some degree, the fed will be audited. Not as thoroughly as some would like and certainly not as often. But it’s a start.
As for the tea party’s demand that the Fed stop printing money…there’s probably not a great deal Congress can do in that regard, as the members don’t control the printing presses. But it might have something just as effective if Representative, and noted Fed scourge, Ron Paul takes over as chairman of the House Subcommittee for Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. Normally a sleepy congressional backwater, Paul has promised to pursue his more extensive audit legislation as well as something that could be truly revolutionary:
Paul mentioned that he hoped to use subcommittee hearings to educate the public about the causes of business cycles—which he believes are mainly attributable to monetary manipulation by central bankers.
In other words, it could be the first, ongoing seminar in Austrian economics in congressional history. And if nothing else, this educational effort could raise congressional awareness of why printing money willy-nilly is a very bad thing.
The tea party also wants Congress to stop spending. That’s certainly at the top of some congressional agendas, but here the tea party may run into a bit of a brick wall with Virginia’s congressmen. The newly-elected members of the state’s congressional delegation have all come out strongly for spending cuts…except for defense.
If the tea party coalition can convince the delegation that all federal spending – including defense – needs to be reviewed, then they will have won a significant victory.
Failing that, they could always urge the members to gut the wasteful and intrusive Transportation Security Administration. They might even gain bipartisan support for their efforts.
