On MSNBC’s Morning Meeting, host Dylan Ratigan cleverly explains how the Federal Reserve basically exchanged $13.9 trillion of U.S taxpayer money, for a garbage bag full of bad debt.Known by some New Yorkers as the “Sheriff of Wall street”, Spitzer built a reputation as attorney-general by ardently prosecuting corporate crimes. He resigned as governor after a sex scandal.

“The Federal Reserve has benefited for decades from the notion that it is quasi-autonomous, it’s supposed to be independent. Let me tell you a dirty secret: The Fed has done an absolutely disastrous job since Paul Volcker (former Chairman) left.”  Spitzer, who is also in favor of H.R. 1207--Congressman Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Fed--said.

He continued;

“The reality is the Fed has blown it. Time and time again, they blew it. Bubble after bubble, they failed to understand what they were doing to the economy.

“The most poignant example for me is the AIG bailout, where they gave tens of billions of dollars that went right through — conduit payments — to the investment banks that are now solvent. We [taxpayers] didn’t get stock in those banks, they didn’t ask what was going on — this begs and cries out for hard, tough examination.

“You look at the governing structure of the New York [Federal Reserve], it was run by the very banks that got the money. This is a Ponzi scheme, an inside job. It is outrageous; it is time for Congress to say enough of this. And to give them more power now is crazy.

“The Fed needs to be examined carefully.”

Although the Federal Reserve has a publicly appointed Board of Governors, it operates independently from the government and is privately owned. It has never been audited.

Dr. Paul’s bill, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009, would allow Congress to see where the money was spent during the bailouts, and through the TARP program, post facto. The bill now has 276 bi-partisan sponsors in the House of Representatives.