Rand Paul Raises Funds Off 'Audit the Fed' Campaign as Fed Condemns It
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) campaigns for Georgia Senate candidate David Perdue (left) during a campaign stop at the McDonough Square on October 24, 2014 in McDonough, Georgia.
Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty ImagesWhat a difference an incipient presidential campaign makes. Before Kentucky Senator Rand Paul spoke to an Iowa crowd in support of his "audit the Fed" legislation, officials of the central bank were calling him dangerous, going on the record against the bill. Since the speech, in which Paul said the Fed was over-leveraged and the dollar was backed by "used car loans, bad home loans, distressed assets and derivatives," the howls from the Fed have gotten louder.
In a speech Tuesday, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker characterized "audit the Fed" as a scheme for "high-frequency harassment" of monetary policy-makers. Separately, in an interview with Bloomberg's Peter Cook, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell more or less accused Paul of dissembling.