Federal Reserve under attack ... again

Here we go again. A Texas Republican congressman wants to revamp the Federal Reserve. And no, this time it's not Ron Paul.

Rep. Kevin Brady plans to introduce a bill on Thursday morning that, if enacted, would strip the Fed of one of its key goals: getting the job market back on track.

Instead, Brady and his Republican colleagues want the Fed to focus its efforts entirely on inflation.

The Fed is currently the only central bank in the world that has two goals, or a so-called "dual mandate" to maximize employment and keep prices stable. Other central banks focus on just the inflation side of the equation.

Brady argues the Fed can't control the job market, and the proof is in the pudding. After all the Fed's emergency measures to boost the economy, inflation is currently around its target of 2% per year, but the latest 8.3% unemployment rate is far above what the central bank considers normal.

"Ultimately, it is the president and the Congress, not the federal reserve, that control the budget, tax and regulatory policies that create the business climate that drives economic growth and job creation," Brady said in a speech before the American Enterprise Institute.

His bill, which he's calling the "Sound Dollar Act," would also restrict the Fed to buying and selling only U.S. Treasuries, and allow all 12 of the Fed's regional bank presidents to have a voting role at Fed policy meetings. Currently, only five regional presidents get votes, on a rotating basis.

Brady's attempt at a Fed overhaul is certainly not the first. Rep. Ron Paul has introduced several bills aiming to abolish the Fed completely, only to watch them get little traction in Congress. Last year, Rep. Barney Frank – a Democrat from Massachusetts – also tried his hand at restructuring the Fed, to no avail.