In an interview with US News & World Report, C4L Chairman Ron Paul discussed his thoughts on yesterday's historic Audit the Fed vote in the U.S. Senate:
Though the Senate blocked the measure, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul (Rand's father) tells U.S. News the vote "was a tremendous success" because it builds momentum. "We really never expected to overcome cloture," he says.
The libertarian leader was the idea's original champion, making it a key talking point during nationally prominent runs for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and 2012. He says opposition to his son's legislation was irrational.
“I can’t imagine anyone voting against transparency. This whole thing that it would be politicized if Congress has something to say about it -- it’s always politicized," he says, "it’s just who’s behind the scenes doing the politicizing. And that’s what they don’t want to know, because the special interests are the political forces that direct monetary policy.”
The elder Paul says Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a reputed crusader for the working class, “voted with the bankers” Tuesday and lashed out at one of his son's rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who didn't cast a vote. "Cruz didn't show up, and that won’t help him because he pretends he’s with us,” he says.
Former Rep. Paul says he isn't optimistic that reform would come from the potential presidency of GOP front-runner Donald Trump and isn't sure if he would vote at all if Trump is the GOP presidential nominee.
"He made his fortune over fiat money and big banking," he says. "He could not have thrived, he could not have made his money without the Federal Reserve creating a boom in real estate prices," Paul says, adding he more broadly objects to Trump, who he believes panders to people's fears.
Paul says he believes the Federal Reserve transparency measure will one day pass, though he says another economic crash may be required to push it over the threshold for victory.
"I'm not expecting that next year they’ll all wake up and the audit bill will pass and we’re going to have monetary reform," he says. "The reform will come, but what I'm saying is it wont come until this thing really comes down on our head. If people thought the crisis of '08 and '09 was serious, they better be prepared for what is coming soon."
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PDFTags: Ron Paul, Audit the Fed