According to Reuters, Rep. Barney Frank said he plans legislation to restrict the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending powers and subject the central bank to a “complete audit” in October 2009.

Frank said he has been working with Paul on compromise language. “He agrees that we don’t want to have the audit appear as if it is influencing monetary policy because that would be inflationary” . A video of his remarks was posted on YouTube here .

Frank said the audit and emergency lending provisions would be incorporated in broader legislation to revamp U.S. financial regulation that would likely pass the House in October. By seeking a compromise with Paul, Frank thinks he can strengthen the broader legislation’s chance at passage.

We’ll see if this actually gets done. Hopefully these “compromises” will not strip the bill of its teeth. We MUST have a REAL Fed Audit, not some pie-in-the-sky publicity stunt to make the ignorant think something is being done.