1. United States
There are no sharp criteria for determining whether an entity is a federal agency within meaning of the Federal Tort Claims Act, but critical factor is existence of federal government control over “detailed physical performance” and “day to day operation” of an entity. . .
2. United States
Federal reserve banks are not federal instrumentalities for purposes of a Federal Tort Claims Act, but are independent, privately owned and locally controlled corporations in light of fact that direct supervision and control of each bank is exercised by board of directors, federal reserve banks, though heavily regulated, are locally controlled by their member banks, banks are listed neither as “wholly owned” government corporations nor as “mixed ownership” corporations; federal reserve banks receive no appropriated funds from Congress and the banks are empowered to sue and be sued in their own names. . .
3. United States
Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, federal liability is narrowly based on traditional agency principles and does not necessarily lie when a tortfeasor simply works for an entity, like the Reserve Bank, which performs important activities for the government. . .
4. Taxation
The Reserve Banks are deemed to be federal instrumentalities for purposes of immunity from state taxation.
5. States Taxation
Tests for determining whether an entity is federal instrumentality for purposes of protection from state or local action or taxation, is very broad: whether entity performs important governmental function.
I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world.No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.
Let me issue and control a nation’s money, and I care not who writes its laws.
~ Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild (1773-1855), London financier, one of the founders of the international Rothschild banking dynasty, 1838.
It (Central Bank ) gives the National Bank almost complete control of national finance. The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits, or so dependent on its favours, that there will be no opposition from that class… The great body of the people, mentally incapable of comprehending, will bear its burden without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical (contrary) to their interests.
– Rothschild Brothers of London writing to their associates in New York, June 25, 1863.
Article 1, Section 8 states that Congress shall have the power to coin (create) money and regulate the value thereof. In 1935, the US Supreme Court ruled the Congress cannot constitutionally delegate its power to another group or body.
So, it becomes an issue of how much power and influence the member banks have over the Federal Reserve vs how much power and influence the Federal Reserve has over the member banks. And it becomes an issue of which specific private interests own, control or otherwise has influence over the member banks. The fact that the Federal Reserve is so secretive makes these issues unclear. Also, the fact that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks makes this lack of clarity downright murky, to say the least.
It’s impossible for the average person (or maybe even the average politician) to know what the Federal Reserve is and how it operates. Knowledge is power and ignorance is powerlessness. Secrecy is the province of authoritarian power structures which is antithetical to democracy.
Is a central bank constitutional? Second, even if a central bank is constitutional, is it constitutional for Congress to delegate its power to the Federal Reserve which includes privately owned banks? There is neither a clear and unquestionable constitutional validity to the general principle of a central bank nor specifically to the Federal Reserve. Then again, there isn’t a clear and unquestionable constitutional validity to most of what the government does. The constitution was vague and limited in what it spoke about.
You keep harping on the Constitution; I should like to point out that the meaning of the Constitution is what the Supreme Court says it is. Consequently no powers are exercised by the Federal government except where such exercise is approved by the Supreme Court (lawyers) of the land.I admit that the Supreme Court has in the past made certain decisions in this general field that have been astonishing to me. A recent case in point was the decision in the Phillips case. Others, and older ones, involved “interstate commerce.” But until some future Supreme Court decision denies the right and responsibility of the Federal government to do certain things, you cannot possibly remove them from the political activities of the Federal government.