Democrats in Congress are saying that Republicans are giving them a hard time over the creation of a "Jan. 6 committee" because they are "afraid of the truth." I carry no water for the Republicans of today, but I have to say, THAT way of putting the problem is a little ... meh. The kind of August Commission and Big Thick Book of conclusions that the Dems have in mind here isn't meant to set out The Truth. It is meant to present an official version thereof. Consider the Warren Commission, by way of example. Even people who believe that Oswald killed Kennedy and did so acting alone will likely tell you the Warren Commission's connection with truth was, at best, casual. Johnson believed that the country needed a soothing tale. He tapped Earl Warren, who agreed to provide a soothing tale. If they did stumble upon the truth, the fact is a coincidence. And the problem with Republicans today isn't that they are afraid of The Truth. It is that they are afra...
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From the National Archives, here's a letter by Th omas Jefferson discussing monetary policy. This is an explicit explanation of his views on the economic merits of the question, not simply the constitutional question of whether the federal government can charter a national bank (an argument with which I presume the readership of this blog is familiar). Jefferson is an "elder statesman" when he writes this letter, in November 1813. He hasn't been President for more than four years. Further, the original "Bank of the United States," the one that Hamilton created over Jefferson's strident objections, is no longer in operation. Its charter had expired and gone unrenewed during Madison's first term. BUT ... it was proving difficult to finance the ongoing war without a central bank, and this caused some soul-searching within the Republican-Democratic Party, by now the only national political party left. Hence the discussion. Eventually the party w...