Ron Paul's swan song

It’s not exactly the Ron Paul revolution in full.
But on Wednesday afternoon, a small piece of his grand vision will hit prime time, when a great majority of the House will vote to pass his Audit the Fed bill. To understand how remarkable this moment is — coming near the end of Paul’s congressional career — consider this: When Paul first introduced his bill a decade ago, it was written off as another piece of his far-flung libertarian worldview. For a long time, Paul was a lawmaker who was largely ignored by Washington — that guy on the losing end of 414-1 votes.

And now his Fed transparency bill has 270 co-sponsors — including the great majority of the Republican lawmakers and a good number of Democrats. It’s a sign that this issue has moved into the mainstream, even if Ron Paul himself has not.

Never mind that the Fed audit is dead in the Senate — Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office has said he won’t bring it up — Paul’s relentless pursuit is backed by an energetic grass-roots movement, and he has made transparency of the Federal Reserve a national issue, not just some quirky back-burner debate.
During a floor debate on the bill, lawmaker after lawmaker gave kudos to Paul for his efforts.
“I want to appreciate and congratulate Dr. Ron Paul for his tireless pursuit of openness and transparency,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “Without his leadership, we wouldn’t be at this point today.”

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