Congressman Ron Paul questions whether there’s gold at Fort Knox, NY Fed

Not many people are aware that on the 5^th of April 1933, the US citizens were instructed to deliver up all their gold (money at the time) to the Federal Reserve and get less in purchasing power back. This confiscation of wealth would make even Emperor Nero or Henry VIII blush with its boldness.

Congressman Ron Paul has always campaigned for the Fed to open its books and have this gold counted as there are rumours that all of it is not there. An open audit would settle the matter. The Fed refuses.  You can draw your own conclusions from this.

I reader sent this link to me:

By Michael O’Brien – 08/30/10 10:21 AM ET

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said he plans to introduce legislation next year to force an audit of U.S. holdings of gold.

Paul, a longtime critic of the Federal Reserve and U.S. monetary policy, said he believes it’s “a possibility” that there might not actually be any gold in the vaults of Fort Knox or the New York Federal Reserve bank.

The libertarian lawmaker told Kitco News, a website tracking news about precious metals, that an audit was necessary to determine how much the U.S. maintains in gold reserves in case the government were to use gold to back the dollar.

“If there was no question about the gold being there, you think they would be anxious to prove gold is there,” he said.

“Our Federal Reserve admits to nothing, and they should prove all the gold is there. There is a reason to be suspicious and even if you are not suspicious why wouldn’t you have an audit?

“I think it is a possibility,” Paul said when asked if there was truth to rumors that there was actually no gold at Ft. Knox or the New York Fed.

Paul had been one of the Republicans to spearhead a broader audit of the Fed as part of the Wall Street reform bill passed through Congress this year. The provision, which was weakened somewhat in the final version, found Paul joining with a number of Democrats to require the Fed to open its books and outline its assets and liabilities.

The gold reserves, which Paul’s new bill would audit, are generally seen as a guarantee on a nation’s currency, but the U.S. moved the dollar away from being tied to the price of gold in 1972.

Paul stopped short of calling for the reinstitution of the gold standard and instead called for the government to allow the use of hard currency — gold and silver tender — alongside the use of the dollar.

“If people get tired of using the paper standard they can deal in gold or silver,” he said.

Desperate times lead to desperate measures and on a side note, I wonder what is being planned now. I remember being told at the start of my business career by a wise old multi millionaire, “remember, when the banks or the government need money, they can only come after you if you have money,” i.e. they can’t confiscate what you do not have.