Quote of the Day: "Economists used to worry about government using up the nation's savings. But now Americans have no more savings to use. Still, the nation that can't save a dime sets out to save the entire planet." -- Bill Bonner and Addison Wiggin, Empire of Debt, pg 35.

Subject: Another success milestone for Audit the Fed

DC Downsizers have joined with many thousands of Americans to ask members of Congress to co-sponsor Ron Paul's Audit the Fed bill. Your pressure worked! The legislation now has 27 co-sponsors in the Senate and 290 in the House (that's 2/3rds of the House!).

That should have been enough to spark committee hearings, and perhaps even an expedited vote, but Congressional leaders didn't want either thing to happen, so . . .

In early August we asked DC Downsizers to call the House Finance Committee Chair, Barney Frank (D-MA), and its Ranking Member, Spencer Bachus (R-AL) to ask for hearings on the Audit the Fed bill. Many of you did that, and guess what?

The House Finance Committee will hold hearings on the Audit the Fed bill this Friday at 9AM. You'll be able to monitor the proceedings here.

Once we know what happens at these hearings we can decide what to do next. Meanwhile . . .

President Obama is seeking expanded regulatory power for the Fed.

This must not be permitted.

It's bad enough when Congress allows the Executive Branch bureaucracy to write regulations that have the force of law, but at least we can hold both the President and the Congress accountable for what the bureaucracy does. However . . .

The Fed is an independent institution accountable to no one. In fact, without an audit, we're not even allowed to know what the Fed is doing with many of the powers and resources it already has.

* Let's use our "Tell Congress to Cut Red Tape" campaign to fight expanded regulatory powers for the Fed.
* Send a letter to Congress using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.
* Use your personal comments to say you oppose President Obama's plan to give the Federal Reserve expanded regulatory powers.
* You can send your letter here.

Congratulations. Your pressure keeps working, so keep doing it!

Thanks for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army. To see how fast your Army is growing please check out the Keeping Score report below my signature.

Jim Babka, President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

KEEPING SCORE REPORT

Your Downsize DC Army grew by 32 net new members yesterday. This brings our total growth for the year to 3,883. The Downsize DC Army now stands at 28,229, nearly 23% of the way between 28,000 and 29,000. 

YOU can make the army KEEP GROWING by following our quick and easy instructions for personalized recruiting.

We can also grow faster by spreading the word through the media. Please help us do this by starting a monthly credit card pledge -- it can be as low as $5 a month (which is just 17 cents per day). You can start your pledge using our secure online contribution form.

Please let us know if its okay to advertise your support here:

NEW MONTHLY PLEDGERS IN SEPTEMBER: James Spaller, John Houghton, Poul Petersen, Mark Wilczek, Mann Page Ciesemier, Leslie Thomas-Rieser, Jim Lorenz, Chelsea Moller, 3 unlisted -- (11 new pledgers total) PLEDGERS FROM AUGUST: Glen Ihrig, Gary J Leidy, David Bergland, Gary T Gorski, Don J Crites, 8 unlisted -- (13 new pledgers total)

Or, you could make a one-time donation. Please let us know on our secure contribution form if its okay to advertise your support here:

NEW ONE TIME DONORS IN SEPTEMBER: Pamela Sanderson, Brad Peters, Michael Lord, David D Segesta, John O'Donnell, Robert C. Jones, Jr., A.J. Stukenborg, Nathan Bailey, 3 unlisted -- (11 new donations total) DONORS FROM AUGUST: Sharon Mears, John Matthews, Patricia Barnum, Brian Travis, Sarah Franke, Dirk Doebereiner, James Wahler, Meredith Weaver, Stephen Moffett, Matthew Whitlock, Dan Litwin, Russell Kominski, Veronica Arnold, Michael Bayback, Ann & Todd Secoy (in memory of Julia Bitner), James Marranca, Kay Samalin, David Hyatt, Douglas Steinschneider, Lily Riker, Nicholas C. Beason, Mr. Marlin, Edward J. Krieger, Lynnette Thompson, 17 unlisted -- (41 total)

If a tax deduction is important you can get one by contributing to the educational outreach efforts of the Downsize DC Foundation. Contribute at the Foundation's secure contribution form.