Ron Paul Wins Lifelong Fight, Now May Be Forced To Vote Against Everything He Believes

Ron Paul has finally won. Buoyed by a crappy economy, a distrustful public, and a nervous legislature, he has convinced his colleagues to audit the Federal Reserve. His bill calling for more transparency at the Fed has, for all intents and purposes, cleared the financial services committee. And from here on it’s in good shape. The bill has massive support in the House—the majority of the chamber has signed on as co-sponsors—and 30 co-sponsors in the Senate. It’s an epochal development in the relationship between the government and the country’s quasi-governmental central bank. A man who wants to kill the Fed altogether may have convinced Congress to hasten its demise.

When I wrote about Paul’s bill back in July, I wondered whether it was the biggest threat to Obama’s regulatory overhaul. Obama wanted to invest the Fed with more powers while Paul and the House wanted to monitor the ones it already had more closely. But the regulatory debate has taken different turns in Washington, with Chris Dodd and Barney Frank moving away from Obama’s vision. Perhaps the support of Paul’s bill furthered the divide.

But Ron Paul’s principles are about to get conflicted. The bill will likely be mashed-up with the broader regulatory overhaul that Barney Frank is preparing. But a libertarian like Ron Paul believes in free markets no matter what, which would make him opposed to regulatory overhaul. But he supports his own legislation to audit the Fed! He’s stuck between a free market and a transparent one.

Liberty Maven suggests he’ll vote for the bill since regulatory reform will likely pass even if he votes no. It’s a rare compromise for Paul. This time, he’s determined to secure a win, even if it means taking a philosophical loss.