Fekete:

"The Federal Reserve Act (as amended) explicitly forbids the Treasury from participating in the earnings of the Fed. The purpose of this provision is to retain the undivided surplus in the Federal Reserve System to meet emergencies precisely like the present crises. The conspiracy of the Treasury and the Fed ignores this provision of the law. Year in and year out the Fed remits about 90 percent of its earnings to the Treasury under false pretences, calling it the “franchise tax on Federal Reserve notes”. No sooner had the Treasury received the remittance than it spent the proceeds, and more, on consumption. As a result, the Fed is left with no undivided surpluses and no cushion to fall back on in hard times."