It Takes a Socialist to Get a Bipartisan Bill in the Senate

The arrogance was astounding.

U.S. taxpayers, terrorized by proclamations that "this sucker [the economy] could go down," rode to the rescue of Big Gambling (read: derivative-drunk, too-big-to-fail banks) and shelled out trillions of dollars to bail them out. This is after they'd been using our deposits and investments to sit at the roulette table, mind you. But when we asked to see the receipt, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told us what we could do with our request. I'm too polite to paraphrase him, but here's a hint: it wasn't something you do at the dinner table.

The irony of having a gun pointed to your head by bankers shouting "gimme all your money" shouldn't be lost on anyone.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been working tirelessly to let the rest of us see who was behind the ski masks and how much they got from our cash drawer. It's a simple request. They already have the money. We just want to know who got how much of our money and why.

Today, Sanders' legislative language passed in the Senate. Thanks to his tireless work on this issue, we'll get a one-time disclosure from the Federal Reserve, and there's hope that in the conference committee between the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the one-time bit of sunshine can be strengthened into a recurring audit. This is a great moment for transparency in our country, and a big blow to the arrogant, elitist culture among the big banks and the Federal Reserve. We owe thanks to people across the political divide for this breakthrough, including Sanders and U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Ron Paul (R-TX).

Well done, guys. Well done.

Audit the Fed.