Rep. Dennis Kucinich is not an idiot…. well… not compared to the rest of Congress… which may be damning with faint praise, but he’s just introduced a piece of legislation that is worthy of consideration:
HR 7260 Transparency in the Creation of Wealth Act of 2008 (Introduced in House)
By forcing the Fed to publish key data regarding distribution of net assets—as opposed to distribution of income—Kucinich’s bill attacks the primary con game played in political economy:
Taxing producers to pay for protection of owners in the name of “taxing the rich”.
It’s the kind of thing that routinely gets people assassinated if they get too close to accomplishing it.
Transparency in the Creation of Wealth Act of 2008 (Introduced in House)
HR 7260 IH
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7260
To increase the quality and public accessibility of research by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on the effects of monetary policy on the distribution of wealth in the United States, and the proportion of newly created monetary resources directed into various sectors of the economy, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 3, 2008
Mr. KUCINICH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To increase the quality and public accessibility of research by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on the effects of monetary policy on the distribution of wealth in the United States, and the proportion of newly created monetary resources directed into various sectors of the economy, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Transparency in the Creation of Wealth Act of 2008’.
SEC. 2. ESTIMATE OF THE OVERALL MONEY SUPPLY.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall devise, calculate and publish a replacement for the discontinued M3 monetary statistic, in order to provide a transparent estimate of the nation’s total money supply.
SEC. 3. STATISTICAL ESTIMATE OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH IN THE UNITED STATES.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall tabulate and publish a statistical description of the current distribution of wealth in the United States by quintile, including a further examination of the uppermost 1% sections by 0.1% each.
SEC. 4. CREDIT INSTITUTION SEIGNIORAGE CALCULATION FOR REPORT TO CONGRESS.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall calculate and report to the Congress the total annual seigniorage interest income received by financial institutions as a result of their being allowed to create money in the form of the credit they extend above their own cash deposits or reserves prior to extending the loans.
SEC. 5. CALCULATIONS FOR THE SEMI-ANNUAL HUMPHREY-HAWKINS TESTIMONY.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall calculate and publish semi-annually the loss or gain in economic output due to the deviation of the previous year’s actual unemployment rate from the 4% level required by the Humphrey Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 (15 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), including such loss or gain, in income by quintile.
SEC. 6. ACCESSIBLE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS OF WHERE CREDIT IS BEING DIRECTED .
(a) In General- The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall tabulate and publish data showing the amount of credit and the percentage of credit now being created and directed into each of the following:
(1) Public infrastructure.
(3) Secondary residences.
(4) Stocks, bonds, commodities.
(5) Foreign currency and derivatives trading.
(6) Mergers and acquisitions.
(8) Manufacturing infrastructure.
(9) Military expenditures.
(b) Additional Analysis- Each category referred to in a paragraph in subsection (a) shall be further analyzed by type, gender, race, wealth status, and location, if applicable.
SEC. 7. LAND VALUE CALCULATION FOR THE FLOW OF FUNDS REPORT.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall develop a market-based estimate of the value of residential, corporate and publicly owned land and report figures.
SEC. 8. FOREIGN DEBT CALCULATION.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall make projections, in 10 year increments, of the net foreign debt, and estimate and report on the location of Federal reserve notes, by country and type of holder; including an estimate of lost notes.
SEC. 9. GAO AUDIT REQUIREMENT.
Notwithstanding the requirements, limitations, and exceptions contained in section 714 of title 31, United States Code, the Comptroller General shall conduct a full audit of the Federal reserve system in every year before a Presidential election year.
SEC. 10. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE SURVEY OF CONSUMER FINANCES.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall undertake the Survey of Consumer Finances every year.
SEC. 11. SUMMARIES OF TOTAL CREDIT MARKET DEBT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall publish a summary of total credit market debt, quarterly and annually.
SEC. 12. PUBLIC NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall release—
(1) the statistics required to be compiled by this Act at a quarterly news conference; and
(2) the survey of consumer finances and the total credit market debt report at an annual news conference.
Posted by zuwr on Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:34 | #
well done.