Senate rejects Rand Paul's 'Audit the Fed' legislation ... The Senate on Tuesday blocked legislation calling for tougher audits of the Federal Reserve, rebuffing an attempt by Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul to give lawmakers greater oversight of the central bank's moves on interest rates. The 53-44 vote fell short of the threshold to overcome a Democratic filibuster. – AP

Dominant Social Theme: Dangerous legislation deserves to be blocked.

Free-Market Analysis: Audit the Fed, in which so many had invested so much hope, is no more, at least for now.

Rand Paul and Ron Paul, the dynamic duo of anti-Fed forces, invested a lot of time and money trying to get that legislation passed. But even if it reached Barack Obama's desk, it would have been vetoed.

And thus it was not destined to be. But the high-profile bill probably informed or reminded millions that the system was not a very good one and that there were better alternatives.

Here's more:

The measure call[ed] for the Government Accountability Office, a watchdog agency for Congress, to scrutinize the Fed's monetary policy and offer recommendations to lawmakers on ways to address any perceived problems.

Congress, the White House and Treasury officials have traditionally been careful to steer clear of questioning the Fed's independence to set policy, and current law blocks the GAO from reviewing the way the agency conducts monetary policy or reviewing internal deliberations.