It is very scary just of thinking how an administration and a government has been so corrupt and root their leadership from international bankers. Would be one of the greatest mistakes since we changed the gold standard.

What I am more shocked and dissapointed, is gonna be the parade of people, specially the poor, uneducated, and also the partisan supporters from the right wing. I hope people really become outrage and speak up. Federalism can be excused in such as defending the homeland, but banking+federal intrusion = Depression 2.0

Be ready people, the Feds are ready to feast upon our taxes, and the reigns of wage slavery to be tighten.

We have all seen what 'self regulating' has brought on the economy, disaster. These financial instutuions have been trading debt like it was a comodity or asset with real value. Debt is not an asset, it is a liabilty, ask any CPA or anyone trying to run a home. You can't spend debt, you can't sell debt (unless you are a financial instution), and it serves no value on the economy. Sure, you can keep charging and increasing debt, but where is the economic growth for the consumer? Wages and jobs get lower pay and debt goes up so what is the positive side of this? Trading and selling debt as well as interest and fees must be contriolled and self regulating finances failed so now it it going to take government intervention and controls. Hopefully to favor the consumers and not the corporate financial instutions. The consumers need more help than the banks because the consumers are the source of money to these banks. Consumers with no resources and protections means bad news for CEO's and corporate america, they are seeing the light now as consumers are broke too. The ripples are becoming Sunami waves of fear and mistrust.

The solution is to dissolve the Fed and back our dollar in gold and sliver, not grant a larger scope of powers to further weaken our economy.

I am a conservative and would really like to support this administration. I try to respect the office of the President, but this administration is really making it hard. This proposal is the tipping point for me. January can't come soon enough. Bye bye McCain, you no longer get your vote. We have seen what a Republican administration has done to this country.

I will vote for Mickey Mouse or the Democrat Nominee, I haven't decided which one would be worse.

Hopefully this will remove the viel of secrecy and confusion that dominates the nations financial manipulators that imposed the 'subprime mortgage' mess.

I swear I've seen this in a Star Wars trilogy once...

This is a bad idea. It will inflate the government, set government up to be corrupted, and burden industry.

Giving the keys to the house to the robbers.

The best thing to do is get rid of the Fed and have the government start printing it's own money again. Letting the Fed (a private institution) have regulatory powers over the economy would be disastrous.

We need less Fed control, not more. We also need more personal responsibility.

alright, let's hear all the conspiracy theories now!

Conspiracy theories? How about this quote:

"under the gold standard, a free banking system stands as the protector of an economy's stability and balanced growth… The abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit… In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation."

Alan Greenspan
Former Chairman, Federal Reserve

Simple 'duh' test. The Fed was created and given enormous control over our lives to ensure we never had depressions, etc. Ben Bernake admitted that Federal Reserve policy caused the 1930's depression. Then count all of the financial meltdowns between then and this recent one. The apologists for the Fed support a complete failure; it doesn't work. We continue to have financial meltdowns. So stop with the crud about the Fed existing to ensure that doesn't happen.

Now Bush, one of the worst Presidents in US History wants to turn over even more power to this failed, now regulatory body. Another pathetic move by a failed President.

Steve Forbes recently compared the Fed setting interest rates to New York Style Rent Controls. Yippee!

It's one thing to not support the current president, but when any of you spout off "The worst president in history" you immediately lose credibility.
You are letting your silly emotion into the equation.

Talk facts, ok?

Somebody please explain why having a gold backed currency is so wonderful. You can't eat gold anymore than you can eat a dollar bill. What if the price of gold plummets... then wouldn't the currency also plummet? Maybe it would be a great idea.... I'd like to think that the money I'm saving for retirement will actually be able to purchase something when I'm 70.

Looks like BBKing saw your comment coming, gold bug. What you don't understand is that it's the Fed who has caused the financial bubbles of the financial world, including the commodities bubble right now. By getting rid of the Fed, you wouldn't be seeing these violent spikes (up or down) in commodities and housing, for instance. It's not about owning gold, it's about stabilizing the money supply.

A question for "Last Straw" and all those who feel the same way

What will it take - how much more grief - before you stop "Trying to support this administration"? Just because a politician calls him or herself Conservative or has a big R behind their name doesn't make it so. Actions speak louder than words. Our country needs to take action against the corrupt leadership currently ensconced in the White House.

people need to read up on what "the fed" really is, how it was started, and how odd it is that we don't make our own money but buy it from "the fed" at a price. Our budget can never be balanced as long as we have "the fed" dictating how much it costs the US to buy a doller...and we are about to give them absolute power over our currency- frightening!

The reason that the gold standard was important is linked to the fact that money traditionally has "been worth something" The original idea behind paper money was to provide a certificate that was proof of gold or silver. It was much easier obviously to carry paper than metal. The only value of the paper was the metal that stood behind it. Our current system is a fiat money system. The only inherit value of the paper now is what someone THINKS it is worth. Loss of confidence=loss of dollar value. When the fed bails out criminal enterprises such as hedge funds, it does so by printing more money out of thin air. This increase in money supply makes each individual dollar worth less, hence the US dollar has taken a frightful beating vs. world currencies. So when a fund fails, we get hit twice, by the fed providing corporate bailout and by inflation. Anyone who thinks it is a great idea for monkey king George to give greater powers to the fed doesn't understand how the fed and central banks are out to protect fat cats and kill you.

Craig, as I glance through the comments I think I am the only one to make that comment. So I have no credibility with you, OK. You should know that roughly 75-80% of this country will be inclined to agree with me. Should I pause for some thought on this subject?

It takes about 20 years to fully appreciate the policies of a President, so I guess I am about two decade ahead of the curve.

And of course policies are measured in so many different ways. With limited room to comment on each point:

-NCLB
-Medicaid prescription drug plan ($20 trillion in debt and obligation.)
-Currency in the gutter.
-Forign policy at lowest point in modern history.
-National debt out of control.
-Inflation, when measured by pre-1989 measures (includes housing prices) above 10%
-Non-existent energy policies leading to many current problems.
-Sarbanes-Oxley
-Derivatives market (not yet exploded)
-Immigration failures
-Social security failures

Want more?

Now I know as a die-hard Republican, these are all someone elses fault. Maybe you are part of the neo-con club that thinks debt is a good thing. Maybe to you each of these points is a badge of honor.

75-80% won't agree.

Here we go. Depression 2.0 is an understatement. Tight government regulations not only created the depression but prolonged it after it nearly recovered twice.

How long are we going to keep telling ourselves that the government has our best interest at heart? How many years do we have to live at the same income level while prices increase dramatically?

Real Interest Savings Rates are currently negative. They were in 2003, also. Translation: All that money you think you're going to have in retirement is actually going to pay inflation taxes. You won't have any money when you retire. No matter how much you save or how hard you work.

I'm not making this up. Murray Rothbard, LV Mises and all rational economists today say the same thing. The fed is no longer inflating and as soon as the Fed has total control over economic and banking policy we we topple over the edge. Get some wheat and some gold.

We need to re-organize the FED by doing away with it. It is the cause of the credit problem and it acts like it can fix it by doing the same thing again that caused the problem. These people are nothing but a bunch of crooks. The American people need to get rid of them and set up a system that would put tight checks on how money is handled.

Go back to the GOLD standard NOW!!!!!

The depression of 1890 happened with the gold standard. JP Morgan had get a group of banks to bail us out.

Read your history 2:35 PM, you're right about 1890.

That is your response to those that say gold will save the day. Reading the history of the 1890 rush includes a healthy dose of fractional banking, translation fraud by gold standards. That means lending out more money than you have gold reserves to cover.

The overall point though is that the Fed has not stopped the financial panics circa 1890 and prior. And in order to get this so called protection from the Feds, they have more than taken our lunch money.

We are in an era of hyper-expanding credit, which cannot last forevery. Just imagine having a mid-fico of 800 and deciding to rack up all the home, auto, signature loans and credit cards you can. Just becuase you can get the credit doesn't mean you can pay back the interest. Once credit gets too far out of wack, you have one of these semi-melt downs. The Fed had not saved us from this problem as it happens about every 20 years.

For starters, the moment Sen Charles Schumer, ubberliberal from New York says he likes it, you know it's bad. This effort should be a NO vote.

To Read your history: the history you've been reading is the mythical one that supports the Fed. If you want a better understanding of the motivations behind JP Morgan and the other bankers, read some Rothbard and von Mises. The "depression" of 1890 was nothing compared to the Great Depression of the 1930's and 1940's.

I am definitely for getting rid of the FED, and I used to think the solution was the Gold Standard; I no longer think this is a good idea. Anytime you have a scarce commodity, it can be manipulated by those who control it. Who controls the Gold? Most of the world's gold is owned by central banks (the U.S. Government has very little gold - Fort Knox is empty). The number one owner of gold in the world is the IMF/World Bank. A move to the Gold Standard is a move to the One World Order. I believe that the FED would actually support a move to the Gold Standard.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you need."

I am a die hard Republican, and even I believe Bush has not acted in a conservative way. He spends money like water.

Less government. People are smart, and they do self-correct. I'm against giving away more control, and can't believe any "conservative" would be for it. One more proof that Bush is not the conservative I believed him to be.

Unfortunately, no conservative is running for office now, but that's a different column.

You should all do a google search on the "Money Masters". It is a 3 hour presentation that will change the way you understand money and the Federal Reserve - which isn't federal at all. Its privately owned. Also... a good read is Ether 8 in the Book of Mormon.

To all you naysayers, it is directly in the constitution, the same constitution that Joseph Smith said was divinely inspired. Founding fathers said that they feared the control of banks more than they feared an invading enemy. They were wary of it and they understood the banking system far better than the majority of Americans do today.

Without a gold back standard, banks are allowed to just create money out of thin air. This is what creates inflation. You deposit your money into your account and the banks use that money to back loans to customers. Without a gold standard, instead of taking the actual physical money you gave them and loaning to to customers, they create the money out of thin air. Thus, instead of making just interest, they also profit on the principal as well.

Everything the Bush administration has done previously can be corrected. Banks are far to powerful to realistically expect this action to be reversed. America can not be taken down from outside invaders. Our army is so more advanced than even the other Western super powers it is astonishing. The only way this great republic will fall is from within.

This is terrible. The Federal Reserve should have never been established.

Just as there is separation of Church and State. There should be a full separation of Business and state as well. Businesses control more of America than the people.

What is worse than this is that most Americans don't even know what any of this means...

More so that most Americans don't even care.

And why does that make America great again? I love the U.S. I really do, but stuff like this only makes me wonder if we are creating a future much worse than our past has ever been.

There is what is good for the few or what is good for ALL people from every class.

Why don't people get it? The less greed, the better everyone lives. The better they would live individually.

If businesses worked for a better society financially, educationally, morally, and intellectually. Their problems would cease.

Build up the things and people around you and you will have built your own mansion in doing so.

Businesses who build on honesty and charity will go farther than any other. Otherwise, no matter how big and rich they may get, they will fall eventually.