Burning Cash

The amount of our money the government has spent on this financial crisis is mind blowing.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/06/bailout-costs-vs-big-historical-events/

Audit The Fed

The Federal Reserve has loaned out and given away Trillions of dollars of tax-payers money in the last several months. This has been done quietly and without much media coverage. They have very little oversight and even less transparency in their dealings. And they are not required to disclose who they give this money too. After watching this video, please sign this petition to encourage your representative to support the "Audit the Fed" bill that's working it's way through Congress.



Ron Paul introduced this bill to Congress in February with the following speech: Madame Speaker,

I rise to introduce the Federal Reserve Transparency Act. Throughout its nearly 100-year history, the Federal Reserve has presided over the near-complete destruction of the United States dollar. Since 1913 the dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power, aided and abetted by the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy. How long will we as a Congress stand idly by while hard-working Americans see their savings eaten away by inflation? Only big-spending politicians and politically favored bankers benefit from inflation.

Serious discussion of proposals to oversee the Federal Reserve is long overdue. I have been a longtime proponent of more effective oversight and auditing of the Fed, but I was far from the first Congressman to advocate these types of proposals. Esteemed former members of the Banking Committee such as Chairmen Wright Patman and Henry B. Gonzales were outspoken critics of the Fed and its lack of transparency.

Since its inception, the Federal Reserve has always operated in the shadows, without sufficient scrutiny or oversight of its operations. While the conventional excuse is that this is intended to reduce the Fed’s susceptibility to political pressures, the reality is that the Fed acts as a foil for the government. Whenever you question the Fed about the strength of the dollar, they will refer you to the Treasury, and vice versa. The Federal Reserve has, on the one hand, many of the privileges of government agencies, while retaining benefits of private organizations, such as being insulated from Freedom of Information Act requests.

The Federal Reserve can enter into agreements with foreign central banks and foreign governments, and the GAO is prohibited from auditing or even seeing these agreements. Why should a government-established agency, whose police force has federal law enforcement powers, and whose notes have legal tender status in this country, be allowed to enter into agreements with foreign powers and foreign banking institutions with no oversight? Particularly when hundreds of billions of dollars of currency swaps have been announced and implemented, the Fed’s negotiations with the European Central Bank, the Bank of International Settlements, and other institutions should face increased scrutiny, most especially because of their significant effect on foreign policy. If the State Department were able to do this, it would be characterized as a rogue agency and brought to heel, and if a private individual did this he might face prosecution under the Logan Act, yet the Fed avoids both fates.

More importantly, the Fed’s funding facilities and its agreements with the Treasury should be reviewed. The Treasury’s supplementary financing accounts that fund Fed facilities allow the Treasury to funnel money to Wall Street without GAO or Congressional oversight. Additional funding facilities, such as the Primary Dealer Credit Facility and the Term Securities Lending Facility, allow the Fed to keep financial asset prices artificially inflated and subsidize poorly performing financial firms.

The Federal Reserve Transparency Act would eliminate restrictions on GAO audits of the Federal Reserve and open Fed operations to enhanced scrutiny. We hear officials constantly lauding the benefits of transparency and especially bemoaning the opacity of the Fed, its monetary policy, and its funding facilities. By opening all Fed operations to a GAO audit and calling for such an audit to be completed by the end of 2010, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act would achieve much-needed transparency of the Federal Reserve. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. More Info

Learning 'bout Lazarus

I have heard the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead so many times I though there was nothing left to learn.

Last night I told/read the story to my 4th grade class at VBS. It's amazing how much more you can get out of a story when you have to teach it. I can't say I really "learned" anything new, but the story just came alive to me in ways it hadn't before. I experienced the story more than I ever have. I felt the pain of the mourners. I saw their confused looks as Christ called a command to a dead man in a dark cave. I saw the incredulity as Lazarus, bound in grave clothes, came staggering out. I sensed their hesitation when Christ commanded someone to unwrap him. Would've I have been the first to move help Lazarus out of his wrappings?

Praise God for the truth of His Word!

2 Years of Wedded Bliss!

It was two year ago today that I watched Heidi walk down the aisle and took her to be my wife! She's been more of a blessing to me than I ever could have imagined. I praise God that He brought her into my life and placed in each of us a love for the other. As I think back over the past two years, I know that my prideful stubborn self could not have achieved the beauty our time together has shown. All glory and praise to God our father for placing in us a supernatural love and patience toward each other. Not that it's been a perfect love or a perfect patience, but, thank God, He's refining us more every day. I look forward to many wonderful years together as we grow towards our Savior's likeness.

I love you Heidi Knapp.

Beautiful Mind

Stephen Wiltshire has been called the "Human Camera." In this short excerpt from the film Beautiful Minds: A Voyage into the Brain, Wiltshire takes a helicopter journey over Rome and then draws a panoramic view of what he saw, entirely from memory.



Psalm 139:14 - I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Preaching

I recently read an article by John Piper explaining what he means by the word "Preaching". Here are several quotes that struck me.-The preacher's job is to minimize his own opinions and deliver the truth of God. Every sermon should explain the Bible and then apply it to people's lives.
-The preacher should do that in a way that enables you to see that the points he is making actually come from the Bible. If you can't see that they come from the Bible, your faith will end up resting on a man and not on God's word.

-Preaching is also exultation. This means that the preacher does not just explain what's in the Bible, and the people do not simply try understand what he explains. Rather, the preacher and the people exult over what is in the Bible as it is being explained and applied.
-Preaching does not come after worship in the order of the service. Preaching is worship. The preacher worships—exults—over the word, trying his best to draw you into a worshipful response by the power of the Holy Spirit.

-I standing vigilantly on the precipice of eternity speaking to people who this week could go over the edge whether they are ready to or not. I will be called to account for what I said there.

-That's what I mean by preaching.

Landscaping

This is what my wonderful wife did Wednesday, on her day off. It makes our house look so much more "homey". :-)

Building Feat

Life has an interesting slide show on the construction of the Empire State Building.