Money printer extraordinaire and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is at it again. He and several of his central banking buddies in Europe and Asia are going to lend dollars to non-U.S. banks that lack adequate liquidity to operate. Many of the recipient banks are feeling the pinch because of their exposure to the Greek debt crisis.
Of course this isn’t the first time the Fed has lent our money to foreign banks to stave off their insolvency. In July of 2009, Bernanke testified in front of Congress that the Fed had loaned over $550 billion to foreign banks during the height of the financial crisis in 2008. And thanks to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act a one-time General Accounting Office audit uncovered a remarkable $16.1 trillion in Fed loans to various banks including non-U.S. ones during the same time frame.
Now, it’s bad enough the Fed has and will again use our money to bailout foreign banks that were irresponsible. But, the latest round of foreign bailouts comes at a time when it is being reported that tent cities filled with homeless folks are becoming commonplace across America and some Americans are resorting to dumpster diving to feed their families. Is this what America is coming to? Our central bank helps Greek citizens retire at fifty while our citizens live in nylon igloos while wallowing in trash dumpsters for their next meal? Worse yet, besides Ron Paul, no member of Congress or the Obama administration has expressed any outrage over the foreign bailouts.
The whole sordid affair is yet another reason why we need to return to a gold standard to protect the integrity of the dollar. As Congressman Paul has stated many times, we must return to the constitutional mandate requiring gold and silver be used as money. Article 1, Section 10, Clause 1 of the Constitution states in part, “No State shall…emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts…”
