DownsizeDC.org is part of a transpartisan coalition of 40 organizations demanding that an audit of the Fed take place before Chairman Ben Bernanke is re-confirmed. Keep in mind, however, that the issue is not about Mr. Bernanke, but about Fed transparency, which he opposes. Let's use his renomination process as a lever to move the Fed Audit forward . . .

December 3, 2009

Dear Members of the U.S. Senate:

In the last two years, the Federal Reserve Board has lent several trillion dollars to banks and other private companies, financial and non-financial institutions through a series of special lending facilities. The total amount of loans made through facilities exceeds the annual budget of the United States. In addition, it guaranteed trillions of dollars of various assets and also made hundreds of billions of dollars available to several foreign central banks through currency swap arrangements.

At this point, neither the public nor members of Congress have any information about who benefited from these loans, guarantees, and swap arrangements. There is no information available on the specific terms of the loans – the interest rate charged, the collateral posted, and whether or not they were repaid. There is no information available on how it was decided who would qualify for the Fed’s help and who would be denied assistance.

Almost three quarters of the members of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored a bill calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve Board. This audit will allow Congress to assess how the Fed, under the leadership of its chairman Ben Bernanke, performed in this crisis and whether it acted appropriately in its disbursement of an enormous amount of money and guarantees.

Without this audit, Congress lacks the information it needs to evaluate Mr. Bernanke’s performance. Therefore the Senate should delay action on Mr. Bernanke’s reappointment until an audit of the Fed’s books takes place, the results are made available to the Congress and Mr. Bernanke answers a serious inquiry into the actions he took.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe, president, FreedomWorks

Grover Norquist, president, Americans for Tax Reform

Duane Parde, president, National Taxpayers Union

Ryan Alexander, president, Taxpayers for Common Sense

Chris Bowers, founder, OpenLeft

Dean Baker, co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research

Robert Borosage, co-director, Campaign for America's Future

Danielle Brian, executive director, Project On Government Oversight

Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies, Cato Institute

Mark Cohen, executive director, Government Accountability Project

Tom DeWeese, president, American Policy Center

Tyler Durden, founder, Zero Hedge

Sandra Fabry, executive director, Center for Fiscal Accountability

Jane Hamsher, founder, FireDogLake

J. Bradley Jansen, Director ,Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights

Gary Kalman, Washington director, Public Interest Research Group

Aaron Swartz, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Phyllis Schlafly, president, Eagle Forum

John Tate, president, Campaign for Liberty

John Taylor, CEO, National Community Reinvestment Coalition

Stephanie Taylor, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

Robert Weissman, president, Public Citizen

Chuck Muth, President, Citizens Outreach

John Whitehead, president, The Rutherford Institute

Larry Greenley, Director of Marketing, The John Birch Society

John Berlau, Director, Center for Investors and Entrepreneurs, Competitive Enterprise Institute

William Greene, President, RightMarch.com

David E. Williams, Vice President, Policy, Citizens Against Government Waste

Andrew Langer, President, Institute for Liberty

Jim Babka,  President, DownsizeDC.org, Inc.

James Kenneth Galbraith, economist

Adam Green, co-founder, Progressive Change Campaign Committee

George Goehl, executive director, National People's Action

Jim Turner, Chairman, Citizens for Health

Gary Kalman - Director of the Washington, D.C. Office, U.S. PIRG

Eileen Dannemann, Directori, National Coalition of Organized Women

Eli Gold, Chairman, The Harbour League

Dane vonBreichenruchardt, President, U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

Tiffiniy Cheng, Director, A New Way Forward

You can also send a letter telling Congress to audit the Fed using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.