What part of "bankrupt" don't you get?

"Philosophically, yes, I believe we have a role to play and, by simply sitting back and wishing the issue to go away, just saying no to everything before we even see what it is, that's unrealistic and irresponsible," says Congressman Rahall.

I called Representative Rahall's office a couple of weeks ago to encourage him to support Ron Paul's bill, HR 1207, to audit the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private, non-government institution which has never been audited in its 96 year history! Recently it has printed large sums of money for "bailouts" of large corporations and trillions of dollars are unaccounted for! A bill is now being circulated to audit the Fed and hold them accountable for runaway spending and collusion with large corporations. Rahall's response to me was "Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should this bill come before the full House for my consideration".

The problem is this bill will not make it to the House without majority support. It already has 247 sponsors, one of whom is Shelley Capito who signed back in April. Conspicuously absent are both Rahall and Mollohan's signatures. Well, it turns out that the bill will make it to the House to be debated, no thanks to Rahall and Mollohan. We will see how they respond during the debate; however, the time for making a principled stance is now over. Although it is better to do the right thing in the end, it doesn't have the same impact as when you make a stand against overwhelming odds and you are one of the few courageous voices.

There is a time to reflect and make a wise, informed decision. However, when someone says to you; "I am going to penalize your main industry with economic caps, bankrupt anyone who attempts to use your product and give the money to your competition" it should be a no-brainer. As with the cap-and-trade bill, Rahall and Mollohan delayed in supporting an audit of the Federal Reserve, waiting until it comes to the House for debate. There comes a time when inaction becomes irresponsibility. It is much easier to do the right thing when many others are doing so than it is to take a stand on one's own. Just ask Ron Paul, he does it all the time!