By which I mean Representative Ron Paul, Libertarian icon, and Senator Bernie Sanders, socialist are have both submitted bills calling for a full audit of the books of the Federal Reserve System, both the board, and the 12 regional banks.

I think that their motivations are different, Paul has long opposed the Fed because it sees it as an unwarranted intrusion by the government into the market, and Sanders sees it as being a tool of the big banks, but knowing what the Fed is doing would be a good thing, for everyone but Federal Reserve members.

Note that there is a general bipartisan consensus towards opening up the fed, as evidenced by the Senate’s passage of a bankruptcy reform bill with an amendment that expands oversight of the Federal Reserve.

I think that it’s clear that the role of the Fed in the current crisis shows that its role should be significantly restricted. I understand why there needs to be an institution which is insulated from political winds to manages monetary policy, but in their roles of bank regulator and bank rescuer, this “insulation”, is a level of opaqueness that does not serve society.