How you own the Red Roof Inn and why we need to audit the Federal Reserve

Representative Alan Grayson explains how it is that the American public now owns the Red Roof Inn and why we desperately need to audit the Federal Reserve. These are closely related questions, as Grayson dramatically details. The Federal Reserve Bank needs to be audited because it excels at magically "make money out of nothing," just by making notations on its books. We have no way of knowing how it is that the Federal Reserve assumed liability for other large chains of hotels too. The Fed has also put up half a trillion dollars in mortgage-backed securities. Therefore, we, the People, are "owners" of massive amounts of real estate, which means that the Fed owns our homes when the mortgages go bad. This is "stealth" socialism, says Grayson, because we don't audit the Federal Reserve. Grayson, a progressive, is thus calling on conservatives to join in the call to audit the Fed "before it all comes crashing down on us." Every time the Fed creates money out of thin air, "they're taking that dollar that's in your pocket and they're making it cheaper--worth less."

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FCC caving on net neutrality

Josh Silver of Free Press is reporting terrible news on the issue of net neutrality:

On Sunday, the Washington Post reported that the Federal Communications Commission is expected to abandon its pledges to protect Net Neutrality and to ensure universal, affordable broadband. The story cites anonymous insiders confirming that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is "leaning toward" siding with the most powerful phone and cable lobbyists on a crucial decision: whether the FCC will have any authority to protect an open Internet and make it available to all. It is a testament to the phone and cable industry's overwhelming influence that they seem to have convinced the nation's communications agency to swear off authority to protect Americans' right to open communications. But it is stunning that Genachowski would even contemplate allowing it to stand, given President Obama's repeated pledge to ensure fast, affordable, universal Internet broadband for every American.
The FCC has the power to correct the damage done by a recent Court of Appeals decision that has heightened this crisis. Josh Silver explains:

In early April, a a federal appeals court ruled that, based on decisions by the Bush-era FCC, the agency lacks the authority to regulate broadband providers. In so doing, the court effectively handed control of the Internet to companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon -- allowing them to slow down or block any website, any blog post, any tweet, any outreach by a congressional campaign. The FCC no longer has the power to stop them. Fortunately, the FCC does have the power to easily fix the problem by "reclassifying" broadband under the law. All it would take is a vote by its five commissioners -- and Genachowski already has the votes.

This is your chance to take action--it will take you 3 minutes to write to Chairman Julius Genachowski--remind him that he represents the People of the United States, not the telecoms. Or as Art Brodsky of media public interest group Public Knowledge says,
The telephone and cable companies will object to any path the chairman takes . . . He might as well take the one that best protects consumers and is most legally sound.

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To the woman who answered the phone at Senator Kit Bond’s office today

Today I saw this post at Huffington, indicating that Kit Bond is not a "yes" for any proposal to audit the Federal Reserve. I believe that the secret workings of the Fed need to be exposed. Where did all of the TARP money go? Who knows? Let's find out. I called the Washington DC Office of U.S. Senator Kit Bond [phone number: (202) 224-5721] to determine Bond's position. A woman answered the phone. "May I help you?" "Yes, I'd like to know Kit Bond's position on the current proposals to audit the Fed. I read in the Huffington Post that he has expressed support to audit the Fed." "Oh, well THAT ought to tell you something. What a ridiculous website . . ." "Hold on . . . That's a huge website with legitimate news. What is Kit Bond's position?" "He's in favor of auditing the Fed." "I don't see his position in writing anywhere. It's not on his website. How do I know that he's in favor of auditing the Fed. It's a huge secret society needs to be examined closely because it controls national monetary policy without any accountability." "I'm with you on that." "I need to know Kit Bond's Position and I'd like to see it in writing." "I will relay that." [end of call] Note: I've shortened the call a bit, but this was the substance of the conversation. My bet? She wrote nothing down at all, and that Bond is against an audit of the Fed. We'll see . . . BTW, you will rarely see such vapid platitudes of policy as you will see on Bond's website. It really makes you wonder whether Bond knows much of anything about the real world. It's also clear that Bond has never seen a war that he's against. Thank goodness he's retiring soon.

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