Letter: Time to take control of our money system

The economic mess we're in — our massive debt — is not political party-related. It is being caused by those who control our financial and economic system: The Federal Reserve.

This latest bubble was caused by Alan Greenspan, then the Federal Reserve chairman, artificially keeping interest rates low, resulting in a massive borrowing binge and the current housing and credit crisis.

The real crime is that the Federal Reserve is a private organization. The Constitution gives Congress the power to issue and regulate our money. But Congress gave that power to the Federal Reserve (the Federal Reserve Act of 1913). The Federal Reserve issuing United States money is actually unconstitutional.

In our debt money system, we borrow our money from the Federal Reserve by issuing bonds. We then pay interest to the Fed for our money that we borrowed from them. This interest has accumulated to the point that it is having a devastating effect on our economy.

Abraham Lincoln, instead of borrowing from banks to finance the war, issued his famous greenbacks directly from the Treasury. It did not add to our national debt. President Obama, a student of Abraham Lincoln, should be asked why he is not disbanding the Federal Reserve and reinstating this money-creating power granted by our Constitution.

Congressman Ron Paul has introduced HR-833 to abolish the Federal Reserve system. We should all demand that Congress support this bill and begin exercising their constitutional authority, taking back control of our money system.

Dennis Johnson

Arbuckle