Texas Legislators Attempt to Give Federal Reserve Guards Arrest PowersBy Aaron Dykes Bill H.B. 2346 would grant commissioned officers of the Federal Reserve some of the powers given to sworn peace officers including powers of arrest, search and seizure in matters taking place on Federal Reserve property or, more broadly, in matters related to the Fed. And thats where the power could go unchecked. The extent of the influence and business of the Fed in the nations economy is far-reaching, if not all encompassing, indeed. It has been stalled for now, but for how long is not certain. Giving arrest powers to a private force working on behalf of an unaccountable and shadowy private central bank is clearly a sloped and slippery path. The text reads: This is an institution with its fingers in all the pies. Tellingly, the motto of the Federal Reserve Police is Protecting the nations economy. What, exactly, does that make their policing business? And where does protecting the interests of the Fed end? It is an interesting, but ultimately unanswered and untested question. Already, officers at the Federal Reserve have been involved in systematically intimidating citizen journalists and threatening them with arrest for filming the central bank. Meanwhile, State Rep. Joe Pickett (D-El Paso), who introduced the legislation, had his own form of retaliation against Rep. Stickland for blocking the bill, handing him a copy of the bill that included a drawing of a pair of stick figures which labeled a Federal Reserve as a good guy theoretically stopping a bad guy bank robber. A stunning over-simplification for those wary of the growing intrusion of the Fed. The Austin American Statesman shared this image in a blog post on the incident: As G. Edward Griffin, author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, stated: The Texas Tribune reports on the large looming figure of Stickland: There are three parties in the Texas House, the joke around the state Capitol goes: Republicans, Democrats and Jonathan Stickland [] the 31-year-old sophomore legislator has poured a seemingly inexhaustible supply of populist indignation into exposing what he sees as ideological hypocrisy within his own party. Im not here playing games, he said. Im literally just here trying to bring transparency to the process. Many of his colleagues beg to differ. Theysay Sticklands tactics tying up floor debates with questions and delaying legislation with parliamentary maneuvers are doing nothing more than holding up the Houses business whilerubbing Democrats and Republicans alike the wrong way. His M.O. is to stand at the back mic and be a martyr, state Rep.Joe Pickett, D-El Paso, said last week. His whole thing is, woe is me, nobody likes me, I cant get any bills passed so Im going to sit here and cause disruption. In the waning weeks of the legislative session, Sticklands efforts have provoked almost daily rebukes on the House floor, where he frequently springs to the microphone from what he calls the liberty defense wall his desk in a row occupied by like-minded conservatives. (Read more) Aaron Dykes is a co-founder of TruthstreamMedia.com, where this article first appeared. As a writer, researcher and video producer who has worked on numerous documentaries and investigative reports, he uses history as a guide to decode current events, uncover obscure agendas and contrast them with the dignity afforded individuals as recognized in documents like the Bill of Rights. 