Facts You Need to Know

We have financial markets revealing their fragility as algorithmic high-frequency trading combines with an evolving global currency and sovereign debt crisis.

We have near-weekly Greek bailout announcements that have finally become ineffective as the nation slips into civil unrest.

We have a battle in the Senate over misguided "financial reform" that will likely give us the worst possible outcome -- support for future bailouts, no protection from "too big to fail", and a neutered audit provision for the Federal Reserve.

Even worse, the financial reform bill is filled with unrelated provisions that further erode our economic freedoms.

I first ran for Congress in 2008 because I had become tired of our government lying to us. Unfortunately, it appears we have become addicted to lies -- and now lying (or at least hiding the truth) is justified as "necessary" to preserving the health of our financial system.

For example, here are Ben Bernanke's objections to an audit of the Federal Reserve:
But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while insisting on his commitment to “openness” at the Fed, said in a letter to Congress that the Sanders amendment would “seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates, and damage economic stability and job creation.”
Here's the problem -- in the long run, lying is a losing strategy. We've suspended mark-to-market accounting, we're tolerating the same off-balance-sheet accounting games that brought down Enron, we're continuing to fund bailouts that reward failure, and we're trying to borrow more money to "stimulate" ourselves out of a nasty recession characterized by too much debt in the first place.

While honesty and transparency may seem difficult in the short term, in the long term, only honesty and transparency can bring stability to our economy and financial markets.

As I wrote to our junior Senator Kay Hagan last October:
Dear Senator Hagan,
I'm afraid your rationale for opposing the Federal Reserve Sunshine Act (S 604) is backwards. You stated:
The immediate and broad disclosure that S. 604 would require could disrupt the financial markets, and jeopardize our country's international finance relationships. Ultimately, it would be taxpayers who would bear the brunt of any losses resulting from policies caused by untimely disclosure of sensitive information.
In fact, financial markets require honesty and transparency for efficient capital allocation, and systemic stability. The lack of transparency in our financial markets, which are increasingly dominated by the Federal Reserve, is causing ongoing disruption in our markets, and jeopardizing our international financial relationships.
In short, our financial system is still in critical condition. Lying and obfuscation are the disease. Honesty and transparency are the cure.
The past two years have not been kind to our economy or financial markets. Thank you for helping us bring honesty and transparency to Washington, so we can restore the economic freedom we need in our communities.

In liberty,

William (B.J.) Lawson, MD
Congressional Candidate, North Carolina's 4th District