United Liberty

While Ron Paul isn’t going to be the Republican Party nominee in 2012, it looks as though a part of his platform has been adopted by the guy that will carry the GOP banner this year. According to the Washington Times, Mitt Romney has endorsed an audit of the Federal Reserve:

“Very plain and simple, the answer is yes. The Federal Reserve should be accountable. We should see what they’re doing,” Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, said at a town hall in New Hampshire.
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Mr. Romney said he doesn’t want Congress to meddle too much in the business of the Federal Reserve, which is the independent agency the government set up to manage the country’s monetary policy. But he said it should be audited as part of a push to know more about the connections between the government and wealthy campaign contributors.

The GOP’s platform committee begins meeting later Monday, and Mr. Paul is seeking to have a Fed audit included as an official position of the party. Gov. Bob McDonnell, the platform committee’s chairman, told The Washington Times last month that he supported accountability at the Fed, and said the committee was looking at a number of Mr. Paul’s ideas.

Romney is still trying to appeal to Paul’s supporters, who were more significant in number during this cycle than four years ago, in hopes that they will get on board with his campaign. Paul’s Audit the Fed bill easily cleared the House of Representatives late last month, but it has been stalled by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who, despite his past vocal support for the measure, will not bring it up for a vote.

The Audit the Fed bill would open up certain information to the Government Accountability Office currently excluded from audits in subsection (b) of 31 USC 714, including agreements and transactions with foreign central banks and discussions between the Treasury Department. Thanks to audits already conducted, we now know that some $16 trillion was loaned by the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis to corporations and financial institutions.