Poll: Obama Facing Tight Race With Top GOP Contenders

President Barack Obama is facing a number of GOP match-ups that are too close for comfort, a new Gallup poll found. 

Gallup put the top four Republican presidential candidates up against the President in a general election scenario. Results show that Obama narrowly escapes Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas), 48 to 44 percent and 47 to 45 percent, respectively. 

However, when going head-to-head against Texas Governor Rick Perry, Obama only matches the 47 percent support from likely voters Perry rakes in. The lone GOP’er to topple Obama in a general election match up was former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, out pacing the Commander-in-Chief 48 to 46 percent. 

Given that the election is more than a year away, poll results show that the race is a competitive one thus far. Additionally, despite the four candidates’ varying popularity and name notoriety, each fared about the same. 

The survey was conducted August 17-19, a period of time when Presiden Obama saw his approval ratings dip to just 40 percent. 

Ron Paul Seeks Fed Oversight, Fed Fights Back

by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

Should the Federal Reserve Committee be regulated by the Government Accountability Office? U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R-Texas) says yes, and Scott G. Alvarez of the Federal Reserve says no.

Paul is the sponsor of H.R. 1207, which calls for audits on the Federal Reserve, a quasi-public entity that in theory can control the nation's money supply, set interest rates, and implement monetary policy.

At a Friday hearing, Paul said the Fed needs GAO oversight because they aren't doing their job correctly.

"The Federal Reserve was designed, and their mandate was to make sure that we have full employment, price stability, and stable interest rates," Paul said. "In my lifetime, interest rates have been 21 percent and less than one percent- so they fail there. They [the Fed] want a stable dollar and stable prices... well, we have continuous inflation."

Paul said it's Congress' responsibility to make sure the Fed does what it was created for and not buy into the idea that the Fed needs more power and more secrecy.

Fed Board of Governors General Counselor Scott G. Alvarez argued before Paul, Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), and other members of the House Financial Services Committee, saying that Fed autonomy is instrumental in safeguarding U.S. interest rates, but also that an independent Fed is a nonpolitical Fed.

Alvarez said from an economic stance, GAO regulation would hinder Fed access to and implementation of some programs.

"If it looks like the Federal Reserve is changing directions because a statement [of] the policy review by another agency is influencing the Federal Reserve's decision... then the integrity of the process will be undermined, confidence that the Federal Reserve will move in the direction that is best for the economy will be undermined, and we won't be able to carry out our job as well," Alvarez said. "And that's what we're concerned about."

Alvarez said the Fed has taken many steps to increase transparency since the 2008 bank bailouts, but when Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II (D- Mo.) asked him about the misinterpretation between Congress and the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, as far as Troubled Assets Relief Program allocations, Alvarez said the latter departments decided to use the funds to restore confidence to banking institution, a decision Cleaver said was not immediately apparent when TARP was passed.

House Committee Questions Fed Member On Fed’s Expansion

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee questioned Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Donald Kohn regarding a proposal recently advanced by the Obama administration that would expand the powers of the Fed.

The Fed currently oversees monetary policy, and in 1977 Congress established that the agency's objectives are to maximize employment and stabilize prices.

The expanded powers would grant the Fed the authority to oversee systemic risks to the financial system as a whole. Said Kohn, “the job of the systemic risk regulator would be to take account of those interrelationships, the markets and how they’re developing, and the institutions and how they fit into the markets, and look at the overall risk to the system, as well as the risk of the individual institution.”

He added that the Federal Reserve could fulfill this role.

Some Congressmen argued that the expanded powers could compromise the Fed’s responsibilities regarding monetary policy.

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said that the House Republicans’ view of the Federal Reserve dramatically differed from that of the administration. “Republicans believe that the Fed’s core mission, and I stress this, is to conduct monetary policy, and that that will be seriously undermined if its supervisory responsibilities are dramatically expanded.” He suggested that the Fed could become a “permanent bail-out agency,” and its political independence could be compromised.

“We need to end the bailouts that the Fed I think has been instrumental in carrying out over the last eighteen months, and I mean the ad hoc bailouts of individual institutions.”

Kohn said “we do not believe that enhancements to our existing supervisory and regulatory authority proposed by the administration would undermine our ability to pursue our monetary policy objectives effectively and independently.”

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who has introduced a bill in the House to audit the Fed more thoroughly, expressed skepticism as to whether the Fed’s powers should be expanded. He said that the Fed needs to be more transparent, although Kohn argued that “our independence in the conduct of monetary policy is accompanied by substantial accountability and transparency.”

Congressman Al Green (D-Texas) asked the Vice Chairman how he would respond to those who argue that it is “risky to give the Fed this much power.” Kohn replied that the additional powers are “incremental...not a huge increase in our authority.” He emphasized that “for the authority we already have, we are held accountable.”

Ron Paul Calls For The Federal Reserve To Increase Transparency

By Learned Foote- Talk Radio News Service

Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) recently introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act to House, a piece of legislation that calls for a stronger audit of the Federal Reserve along with a "detailed report to Congress.” The bill currently has 241 co-sponsors.

During a forum at the Cato Institute, Paul said he originally decided to run for Congress in the 1970s due to his interest in monetary policy, which is conducted by the Federal Reserve. “I’ve been talking about it for decades, and arguing that we had a financial system that was very fryable, very vulnerable, and it was the Fed that was creating the bubbles. Therefore we should be looking into it and preventing these problems rather than waiting for cataclysmic financial crisis to hit.”

Gilbert Schwartz, Former Associate General Counsel to the Federal Reserve, appeared alongside Paul, argued that the Fed is responsible for the financial crisis to some degree, he praised the “flexibility that the Federal Reserve exhibited in terms of their willingness to make sure that the economy—not just the U.S. economy, but also the world financial system—did not collapse.”

Schwartz went on to explain that the Fed understands the growing demand for transparency. He cited recent financial statements released by the Fed, saying, “clearly the message is getting to the Fed, and... this indicates at least some degree of attempt by the Fed to: one, be responsive to that criticism, and number two, probably to thwart the legislation that would otherwise subject them to GAO [U.S. Government Accountability Office] audit.”

Paul said that his bill will “open the books,” but not necessarily affect monetary policy. “It’s less confrontational for those who want to design regulations and deal with with monetary policy, and I think that’s why we’re getting such bipartisan support.” Paul believes, however, that if the audit is conducted, public opinion will turn against the Fed and monetary policy will be substantially challenged.

Ron Paul attributed the bills' support to the changing landscape of the economic system. “It had to do with the TARP funds,” Paul explained. “There are a few spammers out there that are interested in what I’ve been doing, and they’re letting their Congressmen know."

Congressmen urge Obama to reconsider troop surge in Afghanistan

By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

Today a league of congressmen sent a letter to President Obama asking him to reconsider his military policy in Afghanistan before committing 17,000 new troops in a surge. The letter said, “As the goals of our seven year military involvement remain troublingly unclear, we urge you to reconsider such a military escalation”. This letter came from a bipartisan group of 14 members of Congress.

Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said that he is “perplexed” by the president’s troop increase, considering that his administration has stated it is presently reviewing its strategy in Afghanistan. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said that America is getting deeper into a “war without end” and that we need an exit strategy in Afghanistan.

Both Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) expressed concern on waging an endless war in such a time of economic peril. Kucinich said what the country needs is a healthcare surge, a home ownership surge, and an employment surge.