Ron Paul: The American People Demand Transparency! Audit the Fed!

Congressman Ron Paul doesn’t think his bill to audit the Fed will get past the "power structure”"aligned against it, and here he includes the prominent economists who’ve lobbied the White House and Congress to stop the "politicizing" of the Fed.

But the Texas  Republican admits being surprised how much support his effort is getting.

"Why is Congress so sympathetic to transparency?" Paul wonders. "The American people are demanding it. They've awoken and said 'we want to know what's going on with our money. Why are you bailing out the rich guys?' The timing is right. The conditions are right."

So what is Paul afraid the Fed is hiding?

"Just about everything," he deadpans in the accompanying video exclusive, taped at the Capitol Hill Rotunda in Washington D.C. "I'd like to know everything they're doing. We have a right to know what they're doing. They can literally create trillions in guarantees and not report them to us. TARP funds are small compared to what they do."

Reflecting his longtime opposition to the Federal Reserve, Paul notes he's opposed to the system vs. current chairman Ben Bernanke.

Still, recent events have heightened his calls for scrutiny of the central bank.

"Imagine if we had all the records that showed every communication between the Treasury and the Fed and Goldman Sachs?" Paul muses. "That would be really something. That's why they're ganging up [to oppose the audit]. They're a lot more powerful than I am. I have no clout whatsoever."

Well, "no clout" is a bit understated, given Paul's passionate following among many Americans, both on- and off-line, and his newfound ability to drive the debate over issues at the very foundation of our economic system.