MeanMesa reaches far down into the monthly budget "purse," already stretched thin thanks to the economic collapse, to send Representative Grayson a small contribution ($5) every other month or so. The heavily financed, direly soiled neo-con thugs have targeted Grayson for an electoral "take-down," and if MeanMesa wants men such as Alan to stay in the Congress -- raising hell -- we all have to part with the cost of a double cheeseburger once in a while.
Yes, New Mexico is a long way from Florida. Yes, we have been taught that our campaign contributions must go to local, in-state Representatives or we won't get all of our "special favors." But, perhaps, no, we haven't been taught that we have to think of the entire nation, the health and future of our sacred democracy.
When we find a brave, progressive American who is clearly not afraid to risk his next election to say what is on his mind -- truth to power -- we have to either get on the wagon or quietly quit bitching.
Even the smallest token of our support can mean everything to this rancid climate where EVERYONE AGREES that money delivers elections. Well, that is crap.
Ideas deliver elections. And we know about those ideas when someone -- like Alan Grayson -- has the gonads to stand up and say what they are.
Alan was the guy, by the way, who delivered the scalding rebuke to the cash suffocated neo-cons during the health reform debate. The Republican plan: "If you get sick, die quickly." They demanded that he apologize. He didn't.
Feel like donating $5?
Alan's most recent campaign to clean house calls for an audit of the Fed. Here, MeanMesa will share an email that the Congressman generously sent to one of his smallest contributors.
He cares about all of us. He cares about America. That's the way it's supposed to be.
The email:
Dear Chad,
The Senate just voted, 96-0, to audit the Federal Reserve. Soon, we will know what the Federal Reserve did with the trillions of dollars that it handed out during the financial crisis.
A few months ago, such a vote would have been unthinkable. One senior Treasury official claimed he would fight to stop an audit 'at all costs'. Senator Chris Dodd predicted that an audit would spell economic doom, while Senator Judd Gregg attacked accountability for the Fed as "pandering populism".
Today, both the Treasury Department and Senator Dodd support this amendment. As for Judd Gregg, he was just on the floor of the Senate discussing -- of all people -- 19th century populist Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.
What happened?
People Power is what happened. We built a coalition of people on the right and the left, ordinary citizens and economists, ex-regulators and politicians, all with one question for which we demanded an answer: "What happened to our money?"
No longer can Ben Bernanke get away with saying, "I don't know."
Now, we're going to know who got what, and why.
Releasing this information will show that the Federal Reserve's arguments for secrecy are -- and have always been -- a ruse, to cover up the handing out of hundreds of billions of dollars like party favors to the Wall Street favorites who brought the American economy to the brink of ruin.
But our work isn't quite done. The Senate audit provision isn't as strong as what we passed in the House. The Senate provision has only a one-time audit, whereas what we passed in the House would allow audits going forward. There will be a conference committee that will merge the provisions from the two bills.
The need for audits and oversight over Fed handouts going forward is great. The financial crisis isn't over, and neither are the Fed's secret bailouts. Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve announced it was going underwrite the Greek bailout by lending dollars to the central banks of Europe, England, and Japan. The loans may never be paid back, the Fed accepts the risk that the dollar will strengthen in the meantime, and the interest rate charged by the Fed is very likely at below-market rates. So such loans are in effect just a subsidy, to bail out foreigners.
The Fed has not been chastened. It is bolder and more of a rogue actor than ever. It's clear that without full audit authority going forward, the Fed will continue to give out "foreign aid" without Congressional or even Executive permission.
And it will do so in secret.
So we will be fighting on to get a full audit from the conference committee.
But let's not lose sight of what we have accomplished so far - real independent inquiry into the Fed, and its incestuous relationships with Wall Street banks. For the first time ever.
Our calls, emails, lobbying, blogging, and support really mattered. We made it happen.
Today, we beat the Fed.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
The Senate just voted, 96-0, to audit the Federal Reserve. Soon, we will know what the Federal Reserve did with the trillions of dollars that it handed out during the financial crisis.
A few months ago, such a vote would have been unthinkable. One senior Treasury official claimed he would fight to stop an audit 'at all costs'. Senator Chris Dodd predicted that an audit would spell economic doom, while Senator Judd Gregg attacked accountability for the Fed as "pandering populism".
Today, both the Treasury Department and Senator Dodd support this amendment. As for Judd Gregg, he was just on the floor of the Senate discussing -- of all people -- 19th century populist Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.
What happened?
People Power is what happened. We built a coalition of people on the right and the left, ordinary citizens and economists, ex-regulators and politicians, all with one question for which we demanded an answer: "What happened to our money?"
No longer can Ben Bernanke get away with saying, "I don't know."
Now, we're going to know who got what, and why.
Releasing this information will show that the Federal Reserve's arguments for secrecy are -- and have always been -- a ruse, to cover up the handing out of hundreds of billions of dollars like party favors to the Wall Street favorites who brought the American economy to the brink of ruin.
But our work isn't quite done. The Senate audit provision isn't as strong as what we passed in the House. The Senate provision has only a one-time audit, whereas what we passed in the House would allow audits going forward. There will be a conference committee that will merge the provisions from the two bills.
The need for audits and oversight over Fed handouts going forward is great. The financial crisis isn't over, and neither are the Fed's secret bailouts. Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve announced it was going underwrite the Greek bailout by lending dollars to the central banks of Europe, England, and Japan. The loans may never be paid back, the Fed accepts the risk that the dollar will strengthen in the meantime, and the interest rate charged by the Fed is very likely at below-market rates. So such loans are in effect just a subsidy, to bail out foreigners.
The Fed has not been chastened. It is bolder and more of a rogue actor than ever. It's clear that without full audit authority going forward, the Fed will continue to give out "foreign aid" without Congressional or even Executive permission.
And it will do so in secret.
So we will be fighting on to get a full audit from the conference committee.
But let's not lose sight of what we have accomplished so far - real independent inquiry into the Fed, and its incestuous relationships with Wall Street banks. For the first time ever.
Our calls, emails, lobbying, blogging, and support really mattered. We made it happen.
Today, we beat the Fed.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
If you are a MeanMesa visitor living in Florida's 8th District, you are encouraged to contribute until it hurts to keep this man in the Congress. For that, you will receive our most sincere gratitude. He is facing the same slithering neo-cons in his campaign that we have seen elsewhere across our nation.
If you are a MeanMesa visitor living elsewhere, take a look at your family's monthly budget and see if you can't part with $5 or $10 bucks to keep democracy working.
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