Posted by Joel Phillips on 10/06/09

Report: Gulf States in Secret Talks to Drop Dollar

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

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The world's oil producers, as well as China, Japan and France, are in secret talks to end the use of the U.S. dollar to buy and sell crude oil, a British newspaper reported on Tuesday, sending the American currency lower in overseas trading.

"Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars," said the report in The Independent, which cited unidentified sources in the Gulf and Hong Kong. It added that France had also been involved in the talks.

The report, written by leading journalist Robert Fisk, said Gulf states plan to transition the trading of crude oil over nine years from the U.S. dollar to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.

The report did not make clear how the change would work and raised doubts among some analysts that such a switch could occur anytime soon, despite speculation about the dominant role of the U.S. dollar in global trade and as the world's main reserve currency.

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U.S. officials, which are "sure to fight this international cabal," are aware the secret meetings have taken place but have not fully discovered all of the details, the newspaper said.

The report cited an unnamed Chinese banker as saying the plan "will change the face of international financial transactions. America and Britain must be very worried. You will know how worried by the thunder of denials this news will generate."

The issue of shifting oil trade away from the U.S. dollar has been raised occasionally in recent years. Iran began trading most of its crude oil exports in non-dollar currencies a few years ago.

In wake of the report, the U.S. dollar fell against six major currencies on Tuesday.

"There are worries that Middle Eastern countries may stop using the dollar in oil transactions," Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA, told Bloomberg. "This is causing the dollar to be sold across the board."

Reuters said sources at refiners in Japan, China and South Korea reported they had not been approached by any oil suppliers about changing the terms of their oil purchases.

Posted 10/06/09 Matt Phillips Lombard, IL

Wow.. Good catch! I was just about to blog about it!! Here are some more articles from today addressing the same subject, and one addressing a new international currency. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,560742,00.html http://www.br eitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.e272eaa74dccc30f21c6ff7638b0f37b.461&show_art icle=1 http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=OB R&date=20091006&id=10453746

Posted by Joel Phillips on 08/04/09

Where's Bill?

Posted 08/04/09 Doug.Bach Wheaton, IL

Good info, Joel. Thanks for this. We should organize at least one encounter to question him about his love of fed secrecy. I'll be back in town on the 16th, so if you want to plan something for after then, I'd be happy to attend / help plan.

Posted by Joel Phillips on 07/02/09

Dear Mr. Phillips:
 

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. I am honored to represent you, and I appreciate your active participation in our legislative process. Your involvement makes democracy work better by helping me more effectively represent you and Illinois' Fourteenth District.

As a scientist and businessman, I understand both the necessity of finding new sources of energy and the commercial implications of doing so. Urgent action is clearly necessary in order to restructure our energy systems to increase efficiency and reduce our dependence on imported sources. We do, however, have a responsibility to ensure that any attempt to change our entire energy system must make economic sense.

On March 31, 2009 the House Energy and Commerce Committee offered for public consumption a discussion draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES). Even this initial version raised serious concerns about the economic impact the complicated cap and trade system called for in this bill would impose on the United States.

On May 21, 2009 the House Energy and Commerce Committee reported out a new version of the bill that allocates 85% of its emission allowances for free to companies to reduce the cost of the program, and sends most other funds generated by the system back to taxpayers in a direct payment. I understand these revisions were made in an effort to limit the program's cost to consumers, but they were not enough. Insufficient time and effort was expended on fully understanding the economic impact of this bill, and no effort was made to rebalance the scope of the bill's effort to promote more efficient, cost effective technologies.

ACES was brought for a vote on the floor of the House of Representatives on July 26, 2009 and passed by a margin of 219-212. I voted against this legislation, because it did not promote a reasonable balance of cost effective technologies and cost containment measures that would have worked without worsening our economic condition. I also voted against the bill because I believe that insufficient time was allowed to generate and consider the kind of thorough economic analysis that should accompany any measure of this magnitude.

I believe that a more thoughtful bill - one that was subject to an economic analysis - would have attracted widespread support in Congress. Repeatedly, I encouraged my colleagues to slow down and get this bill right because of the impact it would have on American families and businesses. Unfortunately, this did not happen. And as a result, I cast my vote against this legislation.

Rest assured that I will keep your concerns on this issue in mind and continue casting votes that defend the economic prosperity of the United States, and of Illinois' 14^th Congressional district.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your concerns and I hope you keep in touch with me on this or any other issue you feel important. To stay informed of my work, or to sign up for my electronic newsletters, please visit my Web site at http://foster.house.gov. Please contact me if I can help you in the future. You can reach my office in Batavia at (630) 406-1114 and my office in Dixon at (815) 288-0680, or reach my office in Washington through our toll free number at (866) 777- 6670.

Sincerely,

Bill Foster

Posted 07/02/09 Doug.Bach Wheaton, IL

As much as I dislike Foster's love of Fed secrecy, I think he deserves a thank you for this vote. Be sure to call his district office and show your appreciation...and while you're on the line, remind him that you'd also appreciate his support for HR 1207!

Posted by Joel Phillips on 05/13/09

Dear Mr. Phillips:

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. I am honored to represent you, and I appreciate your active participation in our legislative process. Your involvement helps me more effectively represent you and Illinois' Fourteenth District.

The U.S. central banking system was established in 1913 by the Federal Reserve Act (P.L. 63-43). Congress created the Federal Reserve (popularly known as the "Fed") as an independent entity to attend to the nation's credit and monetary needs without undue influence from political pressures. Today, the Fed's monetary policy operations are intended to promote stability in the nation's economy; its supervisory and regulatory functions are intended to provide a safer, more flexible banking system.

H.R. 1207 was introduced in the House by Rep. Ron Paul on February 26, 2009. The bill directs the Comptroller General to complete an audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and of the Federal Reserve banks before the end of 2010, followed by a detailed report to Congress. It also repeals the authority of the Comptroller General to execute an on-site examination of an open insured bank or bank holding company only if the appropriate federal regulatory agency has consented in writing. The bill is pending before the House Committee on Financial Services. As a member of this Committee, rest assured that I am studying this matter carefully and will continue to support policies that both grow our economy and provide transparency to the taxpayer.

Hearing from the families I serve is vital to doing my job right. Thanks again for taking the time to share your concerns and I hope you keep in touch with me on this or any other issue you feel important. To stay informed of my work, or to sign up for my electronic newsletters, please visit my Web site at http://foster.house.gov. Please contact me if I can help you in the future. You can reach my office in Batavia toll free at (866) 324-6128, my office in Dixon at (815) 288-0680 or my office in Washington toll free at (866) 777-6670.

 Sincerely,

Bill Foster

MEMBER OF CONGRESS

Posted 05/13/09 Justin Kapacinskas Elgin, IL

Sounds like the same standard excuse for an answer that I received from Sen. Durbin on S. 604. I'd like to see one of these Congressional shysters attempt to explain how the Constitution authorizes this "independent entity" of money-transmogrifiers and thieves as the sole proprietors of our monetary system. It's very telling that Rep. Foster doesn't perceive any "undue influence from political pressures" on the federal government from the banksters who line up like junkies for another fix of inflation from their Fed druglords and Congressional enablers. Of course, Mr. Foster may well understand that Congress needs the Fed checkbook to kite the checks required to continue the welfare/warfare State. So he probably understands that, at its heart, this is an ideological battle. But we'll just have to do more to bring political pressure to bear on Rep. Foster for standing in the way of transparency of the Fed. I'm thinking that a 14th District HR 1207 Petition Drive is in order in the next several weeks--and I'll be leading the charge.

Posted 05/13/09 ckellyhurst Las Vegas, NV

I get the same sort of response/history lesson from my representative Dina Titus (NV). I definitely don't appreciate it. Just give me a yes or no.

Posted 05/13/09 Matt Phillips Lombard, IL

At least the elitist is responding. This response is better than the one that we got when we met him in person!

Posted 05/13/09 Doug.Bach Wheaton, IL

lame. Appreciate all your work and keeping us in the loop, Joel, but Foster is so lame.

Posted 05/17/09 USAF Vet Dan Huntley, IL

I got the same lame response. That's one of the reasons I'm running against him in 2010. I attempted to run against him in the 2008 general election after he won the special election against Neocon wannabe Oberweis in February, '08. As Oberweis had the Republican nomination sewn up (because of all the money he had to fund his own campaign) I ran as a Libertarian. However, the RepubliCrats only needed to submit about 800 petition signatures but I was required to submit 10,000 (10% of all who voted in the 14th CD)!!! Despite putting in $thousands of my own money to pay for professional petitioners, we were only able to produce a bit more than 7,000 signatures. The Republicans challenged my petition and got me thrown off the ballot. I sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in both the Circuit Court and the Appellate Court with a very solid suit. The RepubliCrats made sure the judges in both cases were on the side of the RepubliCrat strangle-hold of our electoral process. We wanted to appeal the case to the State Supreme Court but we all ran out of money. We have not decided whether to attempt to run on the Republican ticket, the Libertarian ticket, or run as an Independent. The decision will be purely based on how best to achieve a positive outcome - getting elected. Any thoughts you or anyone else may have on this would be most appreciated. My website from last year is still active. Go to www.TimeForDan.com and you'll see a pure "Ron Paul platform". I've been an active Constitutionist (and a Ron Paul fan) for more than 20 years. I also ran for Congress (8th CD) back in 1996 against then 14 term incumbent, Phil Crane after he abandoned his pro-Constitution stance in favor of supporting NAFTA. I won a debate (Barrington League of Women Voters) against Crane but was black-listed by the MSM (surprise!). Any support you and the Illinois arm of C4L can give me would be most appreciated.

Posted 05/17/09 ConstitutionFollower Oglesby, IL

Is there any way to get a rules changed as to the number of signatures needed in order to be put on the ballet to be equalized for all the political parties. Can this rule be challenged and removed from the rules that establish who is allowed to run for a political office. These rules seem most unfair for the underdog parties.

Posted 05/21/09 USAF Vet Dan Huntley, IL

ConstitutionFollower: In this case, the fox (RepubliCrat state legislators) is guarding the hen house (fair ballot access). In lieu of a favorable court decision, duopolists would have to pass legislation to end the duopoly. As you can see, our suit made three strong Constitutional challenges to the unfair requirement. http://www.state.il.us/court/OPINIONS/AppellateCourt/2008/1stDistrict/November/1 082440.pdf

Posted 05/26/09 philhoeksema Sugar Grove, IL

I got the exact same response from him--of course, a canned response from his staff. I wrote to him...I don't need a lesson from him on what the bill is and who introduced it.

Posted by Joel Phillips on 04/27/09

On Saturday 4/25/09 Ashley Hunt, Aaron Camp, Matt Phillips, and myself met with Bill Foster at his "Congress on your Corner". After introducing ourselves we brought up HR1207 and our desire that he cosponsor it. Mr. Fosters first response was "Oh yes, that Ron Paul bill, right?". Things had already started as could be expected.

We explained that the transparency in government promised during his campaign for congress is just as important as transparency in the Federal Reserve. We mentioned that inflation is a tax and that if our representatives can not look into the activities of the Federal Reserve we were being taxed without representation.

Congressman Foster did admit that some sort of transparency on the Fed is necessary but explained that he and his staff felt HR1207 could be dangerous in that if the public found out where the money has been being spent it might cause mass hysteria.

We explained that we disagreed with him on that and provided petitions of 96 signatures of his constituents for HR1207. The petitions did get a reaction from him! This was about the time our 3 minutes were up.

Looks like district 14 still has some work to do. On a positive note I have seen first hand that our congressmen DO react to signed petitions.

Joel Phillips

Posted 04/27/09 Heather D Port Byron, IL

Great job, Joel! Keep the pressure on.

Posted 04/27/09 jcesarone Chicago, IL

Thanks for the write-up, Joel, and thanks to all four of you for attending this event. I am glad you presented the petitions to him in person, rather than waiting until tomorrow's mass action day. I wish I could have seen his reaction! Keep collecting those signatures - we will be doing this well beyond Mass Action Day. It looks like Foster is going to need a lot of convincing...

Posted 04/27/09 kuehltha Mount Prospect, IL

Nice work Joel. I can't believe that "HR1207 could be dangerous in that if the public found out where the money has been being spent it might cause mass hysteria" is an actual excuse! What kind of Representative doesn't want his constituents to know what is going on in the nation? In a good Republic the leaders should be afraid of the public, not the other way around, so we have that going for us.

Posted 04/27/09 Justin Kapacinskas Elgin, IL

Thanks for posting this Joel! It's truly an inspirational story. Keep up the fight for liberty--we're gonna win this thing! Now, if I could get a few like-minded people here in the 9th District to join the crew to put the pressure on Rep. Schakowsky (who called the Tea Parties "despicable"), then I'd be happy.

Posted 04/27/09 lisaw Momence, IL

Thanks Joel, Ashley, Aaron and Matt for your efforts. Now some of us who are meeting with regional directors/staff tomorrow have some idea of the type of excuses that might come our way!

Posted 04/27/09 Jake Mabus Springfield, IL

Thanks Joel for the update. Thanks again to everyone working hard in your area! Inspired and angry at the same time, inspired at your work and HR1207 and very angry at the response from Foster; "He and his staff felt HR1207 could be dangerous in that if the public found out where the money has been being spent it might cause mass hysteria." WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE IS THAT!!!!? Does he even remember why he's in office? Not to be so blunt but come on, are you seriously kidding me? This too, in a way, inspires me to work that much harder to get these politicians into RETIREMENT, AND US IN OFFICE!

Posted 04/27/09 Joel Phillips Yorkville, IL

Thanks for all of your kind words. Surprisingly, yes, that was his response. He spent much more time making the point but that is what it came to. I was shocked. So continue in our current flawed methods because the people will get upset if they find out we have been doing it?

Posted 05/17/09 USAF Vet Dan Huntley, IL

I got the same lame response. That's one of the reasons I'm running against him in 2010. I attempted to run against him in the 2008 general election after he won the special election against Neocon wannabe Oberweis in February, '08. As Oberweis had the Republican nomination sewn up (because of all the money he had to fund his own campaign) I ran as a Libertarian. However, the RepubliCrats only needed to submit about 800 petition signatures but I was required to submit 10,000 (10% of all who voted in the 14th CD)!!! Despite putting in $thousands of my own money to pay for professional petitioners, we were only able to produce a bit more than 7,000 signatures. The Republicans challenged my petition and got me thrown off the ballot. I sued the Illinois State Board of Elections in both the Circuit Court and the Appellate Court with a very solid suit. The RepubliCrats made sure the judges in both cases were on the side of the RepubliCrat strangle-hold of our electoral process. We wanted to appeal the case to the State Supreme Court but we all ran out of money. We have not decided whether to attempt to run on the Republican ticket, the Libertarian ticket, or run as an Independent. The decision will be purely based on how best to achieve a positive outcome - getting elected. Any thoughts you or anyone else may have on this would be most appreciated. My website from last year is still active. Go to www.TimeForDan.com and you'll see a pure "Ron Paul platform". I've been an active Constitutionist (and a Ron Paul fan) for more than 20 years. I also ran for Congress (8th CD) back in 1996 against then 14 term incumbent, Phil Crane after he abandoned his pro-Constitution stance in favor of supporting NAFTA. I won a debate (Barrington League of Women Voters) against Crane but was black-listed by the MSM (surprise!). Any support you and the Illinois arm of C4L can give me would be most appreciated.

Posted 05/26/09 philhoeksema Sugar Grove, IL

Joel, Thanks Joel for your work. I am absolutely floored by Foster'a response. I shouldn't be surprised based on previous communications from him, but this one really threw me, especially with all of his "transparency" talk during the campaign and even highlighted on his website.

Posted 06/08/09 sara dinicola DeKalb, IL

"if the public found out where the money has been being spent it might cause mass hysteria"...UNBELIEVABLE THAT HE LET THE WORDS OUT OF HIS MOUTH....This means he thinks people's normal, human reactions are something to be manipulated, instead of correcting WHAT we would legitimately be hysterical about!!!...All I ever get is form letters from the guy acting like the FED is some benign, benevolent entity, created for the good of the people. Ideally, in my opinion, all those who want to topple the corrupt Repub/Dem. 2-party system, should run as Independents and that We the People should ONLY vote for Independent candidates....Trouble is, there's a handful of wonderful people like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich who do not fit that mold; there are others who won't get ANY press unless they pretend to be Dem. or Repub...What a dilema...Do we keep on gaining attention one by one, or somehow gather all like-minded into a Third Party, or TAKE OVER one of the 2-parties???...The MSM and even disorganization on the internet causes in-fighting which is as real an Enemy as the State (we need to respect that on the larger scale, we DO agree to be against power-grabbing politicians, and put our petty disagreements aside).....I know Ron Paul pulled me right out of thinking not enough Americans thought like me, so if we could better tap into that power!!...I'm stumped, but I do like the petition idea, showing right in their face what their constituents have to say...I will help get signatures....Sara DiNicola 815-375-7413