Pelosi plays dumb on HR 1207, a bill with 234 cosponsors

Politico's Glenn Thrush and John Bresnahan are reporting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is clueless about Ron Paul's HR 1207 - Audit the Fed. Designed to shed light on probably the most secretive aspect* of the US government - monetary policy - HR 1207 had 234 cosponsors in the House as of June 18. And you only need 218 (of 435) to pass a bill!

Pelosi isn’t a supporter — and claims to have no knowledge of Paul’s bill — but she’s sympathetic to hiking oversight, a senior Democratic aide says.

Other Democrats see the measure as a populist warning shot at the White House, which has relied on Bernanke to undertake politically poisonous bailout programs that would have been nearly impossible to ram through Congress.

“I just think it will be very hard for members of Congress to go back to their constituents and say, “I’ve got $2.2 trillion of your money at risk and I don’t know where it’s going,’” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is pushing his own bill calling for names of banks aided under Fed lending programs.

A Federal Reserve spokeswoman declined to comment. But Bernanke and top Fed officials have bridled at detailed congressional oversight of their monetary policy.

For months I've been saying that Bernanke, Geithner and Summers should be fired. But really... when three of your top reports should be fired... perhaps it's their boss who needs to go?

Tim White

* Consider that the "torture memos" discussing sources and methods were released. Yet transparency over monetary policy would apparently end civilization as we know it. Huh?