The Fed: Independent or Unaccountable?

I know that central bank independence is held as sacred by those who back fiat money.  But are their actions truly independent, or are they slaves to the Treasury, not truly independent, but unaccountable to voters and seemingly, Congress as well.  I have written about this before: Central Bank Independence is Overrated.  Central bank independence does not mean that Congress can’t tell them what to do, even if they ignore it.  It does mean doing what is best for the nation as a whole, regardless of what the politicians say.

One reason why I think the Fed is unaccountable is the $1.2 Trillion of secret loans they made to banks during the crisis.  Those loans did not appear on the H.4.1 report.  If the Fed made these loans, where did it source the liabilities to fund these loans?  The Fed is not magic; it still has to find ways of funding the loans that it makes.  If it did not fund the loans, we have a real problem, because we can’t trust the reports that the Fed gives us.  If it did fund the loans, but did not report it, we have a real problem, because we can’t trust the reports that the Fed gives us.