This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," July 8, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, GUEST HOST: Despite growing pressure from the House and ordinary people, the Senate decided not to increase scrutiny on the Federal Reserve. They actually blocked a bid on procedural grounds to have the Government Accountability Office audit the Federal Reserve and issue a report.
Here is Republican Senator Jim DeMint. Senator DeMint, welcome to the program.
SEN. JIM DEMINT, R-S.C.: Thank you, Judge.
NAPOLITANO: Why should the Federal Reserve be audited?
DEMINT: Well, the value of our dollar, our whole economic system, rides on these unelected, secret agency called the Federal Reserve. We're not sure what they're doing right now. And Ron Paul in the House with over half of the House signing up as cosponsors, and me and Bernie Sanders in the Senate are pushing the idea of a complete audit of the Federal Reserve, because frankly, a lot of us here in this country and around the world, are concerned that we're going to destroy the American dollar and the worldwide reserve currency.
NAPOLITANO: How is it that legislation that has more than half the members of the House behind it and is proposed by a staunch conservative Republican like you and then independent socialists like Bernie Sanders is stopped on the floor of the Senate cold before you can even formally introduce it, before you can make a speech in favor of it?
DEMINT: Well, if we could get the Federal Reserve under control, it would make it more difficult for the Obama administration, I think, to carry out the continued spending and growing of debt. Because one thing we're concerned about is the Federal Reserve what — will do what we call monetize the debt, basically print money, buy our own debt as a country, and devalue the dollar that way.
I think if we open the doors to the Federal Reserve, it might make it much more difficult for this administration to continue this reckless spending.
NAPOLITANO: You and I have discussed this before and I have argued that the job of the CIA is to steal and to keep secrets, and we know more about the CIA than we do about the Federal Reserve.
The Obama administration not only doesn't want the Federal Reserve audited, it now wants to put the power to regulate all financial institutions — banks, insurance companies, brokerage houses — into the hands of this super-secret bank.
What are they afraid we might see if we get a chance to look at their books?
DEMINT: Well, just as Art [Laffer] just said, the issue is not necessarily just the Federal Reserve or health care or whatever we are talking about. It is control. And the administration is increasingly expanding its control on the Federal Reserve, which is supposed to be independent.
If we start the audit process and Congress has more oversight on what's going on, then we get those checks and balances that are important here at the federal level. But there is too much secrecy to an agency that controls our whole economic destiny in this country.
And, Judge, they have a death grip on our banks right now. The Federal Reserve regulators are tightening the credit, making it difficult for these banks to lend. They're killing commercial real estate development and there's nothing Congress can do about it because we don't really have the authority to audit them.
NAPOLITANO: What is the chance that the bill that now has 250 cosponsors in the House will some day have 51 cosponsors in the Senate?
DEMINT: I don't think we need 51 cosponsors. I think all we need is to get it up for a vote and most senators would be ashamed to vote against it. So, I'm going to keep bringing it up as amendments to different bills and if we can get it on a Senate bill, then it will meet the House side.
Nancy Pelosi is going to keep this from coming up in the House, I think, no matter how many cosponsors they get, just because I think she is cooperating with the Obama administration to keep the secrets that the Federal Reserve doesn't want us to know about.
NAPOLITANO: Senator Jim DeMint, thanks very much.
I got to tell you, I am just sick and tired of secrecy in the government and the Federal Reserve is the worst and the government has to pass — the Congress has to pass this legislation.
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