Alexander wants to shine light on healthcare but not the Federal Reserve?

I appreciate our Senator's comments on the house floor calling attention to the lack of transparency with the current healthcare legislation being crafted by special interests for their own good. I also appreciate his recognition that there are problems in the health insurance world, especially the costs, which are skyrocketing. Certainly something has to be done quickly, and he points to several pieces of legislation which may do things like help increase competitiveness, which brings down costs.

These massive bills have all kinds of trouble lurking in them, and clearly more time should be allowed before either party rams them through with cries that the sky is falling. Perhaps someone in D.C. could propose a minimum time for debate per page. At 2000+pages, that could take a while.

Speaking of transparency, why stop with healthcare? What about the nation's overwhelming demand for a true thorough audit of the Federal Reserve? S.604 and H.R. 1207 call for a more transparent Federal Reserve. Audits of the fed are currently limited to only certain areas. Wouldn't that be special if you got to pick which areas your business could be audited in and which parts could maintain secrecy?

The house bill has bipartisan support with 309 cosponsors. The senate bill has 30, but noticeably absent from that list of cosponsors are our very own Alexander and Corker. Why aren't they supporting shedding the light of day on secret financial dealings which have caused so many of the problems we are in?

You may have heard that Corker has proposed his own legislation calling for shedding a little bit more light on the fed. While that can be seen as a step in the right direction, it can also be seen as a way to try to placate those calling for transparency, while also getting to continue to pick and choose which areas get audited and which don't.

Again, I thank Alexander for his emphasis on transparency, at least in one area. It's the same concern about secrecy and the special interests behind the scene at both places. Support S. 604 (and H.R. 1207). I'm not saying that this audit would be pretty, but I'm pretty sure an honest assessment must occur before you can hope to fix the problems.

Remember this bold quote by John Adams: "All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation."

David Shinn
Hixson, TN
TN 3rd District Coordinator, Campaign for Liberty