As Dow Swings, Obama To Come Out Against Audit the Fed Today

Firedog Lake

Update: Sanders just announced he’s modifying the amendment in conjunction with Chris Dodd, who is now a cosponsor. Not a good sign.

The Dow is swinging wildly–down as much as 980 points within the last hour–largely due to insecurity about the situation in Greece and shaky retail sales. And according to Brad DeLong, who is generally pretty tight with the White House, Obama will come out in opposition to Audit the Fed this afternoon.

At a time when confidence in the markts desperately needs shoring up, the President should be looking to instill confidence in investors by supporting accountability and transparency within the financial system — not acting to shield the banks.

Even as the White House whips against Audit the Fed, Shaheen, Begich and Murkowski have signed on as cosponsors of the amendment. There are now 68 Senators who have either voted for or cosponsored Audit the Fed in the past year. As rioting breaks out in the streets of Greece–after Goldman Sachs helped them hide the extent of their financial troubles–many are evidently not excited about flip-flopping to shield the banks from scrutiny unless Obama puts himself on the line.

Jamie Dimon is on the board of the NY Fed. He knows what they’re up to. No matter what excuse Obama offers for opposing the Sanders amendment, there is no reasonable argument to be made for allowing the Chair of JP Morgan Chase to know what members of Congress cannot.

Senator	Party	State	Voted for Bill in 09	Cosponsored Bill	Cosponsored Amendment	2010 Reelection
Akaka	D	HI	x
Barrasso	R	WY		x
Begich	D	AK	x		x
Bennett	R	UT		x	x	x
Boxer	D	CA	x	x	x	x
Brown	D	OH	x
Brownback	R	KS	x	x	x
Bunning	R	KY	x	x	x
Burr	R	NC	x	x	x	x
Burris	D	IL	x
Byrd	D	WV	x
Cantwell	D	WA	x
Cardin	D	MD	x	x
Casey	D	PA	x
Chambliss	R	GA		x
Coburn	R	OK	x	x	x	x
Cochran	R	MS		x
Collins	R	ME	x
Conrad	D	ND	x
Cornyn	R	Tx	x	x
Crapo	R	ID	x	x	x	x
DeMint	R	SC	x	x	x	x
Dorgan	D	ND	x	x	x
Durbin	D	IL	x
Ensign	R	NV	x
Feingold	D	WI	x	x	x	x
Feinstein	D	CA	x
Graham	R	SC	x	x	x
Grassley	R	IA	x	x	x	x
Hagan	D	NC	x
Harkin	D	IA	x	x
Hatch	R	UT		x	x
Hutchison	R	TX	x	x
Inhofe	R	OK	x	x
Inouye	D	HI	x
Isakson	R	GA		x		x
Kerry	D	MA	x
Klobuchar	D	MN	x
Landrieu	D	LA	x	x
Leahy	D	VT	x	x	x	x
Levin	D	MI	x
Lincoln	D	AR	x	x	x	x
McCain	R	AZ	x	x	x	x
McCaskill	D	MO	x
Merkley	D	OR	x
Mikulski	D	MD	x			x
Murkowski	R	AK		x		x
Murray	D	WA	x		x
Nelson	D	FL	x
Pryor	D	AR	x
Reid	D	NV	x			x
Risch	R	ID	x	x	x
Roberts	R	KS	x
Rockefeller	D	WV	x
Sanders	I	VT	x	x	x
Sessions	R	AL	x
Shaheen	D	NY			x
Snowe	R	ME	x
Specter	R	PA	x			x
Stabenow	D	MI	x
Tester	D	MT	x
Thune	R	SD	x	x		x
Udall	D	NM	x
Vitter	R	LA	x	x	x	x
Webb	D	VA	x	x
Whitehouse	D	RI	x
Wicker	R	MS			x
Wyden	D	OR	x	x	x	x