The power to  create money rests with Congress.  But Congress farmed out (abdicated) its responsibility to a third party – private banks – in return for kick-backs in the form of campaign contributions.  Washington’s blog has some good thoughts on this. For example:

And in 1933, Congressman Wright Patman asked Congress the following rhetorical question:

“Why is it necessary to have Government ownership and operation of banks? Let us go back to the Constitution of the United States and follow it … The Constitution of the United States says that Congress shall coin money and regulate its value. That does not mean … that the Congress of the United States, composed of the duly elected representatives of the people, have a right to farm out the great privilege to the banking system, until today a few powerful bankers control the issuance and distribution of money – something that the Constitution of the United States says Congress shall do.”But FDR did not heed the insights of McFadden or Patman. He kept the status quo of the Federal Reserve acting as the “central bank”, even though the Fed caused the Depression.

He also maintained the Fed’s power of creating money and credit, and charging the government interest on that money, even though that was contrary to the intention of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. See this, this and this.

If we can get the FED audited, we can make the average American understand this scam and FORCE the government to properly exercise its responsibility to create money WITHOUT delegating it to a special interest.