Bill Clinton Labor Sec Robert Reich: Bernie "absolutely correct" in Daily News, criticism "bonkers".

[FourScore]

Bill Clinton Labor Sec Robert Reich: Bernie "absolutely correct" in Daily News, criticism "bonkers".
By InteGritty
Wednesday Apr 06, 2016 · 2:56 PM EST



Another day, another liberal lion with serious economic chops slams the Clinton campaign’s bizarre attempt to suggest Bernie’s Daily News interview showed any diminished understanding of his own bank break-up plan:


(LINK to Reich’s statement here)

Pretty elegant and self-explanatory.

Secretary Reich served in three Democratic Presidential administrations and, after leaving government work, has written extensively on economics and economic policy from a left/liberal perspective. He wisely endorsed Bernie Sanders for President in late February.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/4/6/1511490/-Bill-Clinton-Labor-Sec-Robert-Reich-Bernie-absolutely-correct-in-Daily-News-criticism-bonkers

[AzDar]

1. The Kitchen Sink...

[PatrickforO]

2. I agree. I read the interview transcript in another post and got in an argument with

some smug guy about the Fed and it's potential role, if any, in breaking up the big banks. I said that would be difficult as the Fed is primarily owned by Citi and JP Morgan Chase. This guy said, "No it's not, check your sources."

Sadly for him, though, I'm right. Oh, the official 'line' is that the Fed is 'quasi governmental' but since Congress has NO real oversight, it really is de facto a private entity.

I maintain that we should cancel the Fed's charter and our government should start printing its own money, as the Constitution clearly says. If you think about the Fed, it has had a truly insidious effect on us. The national debt, for instance, is money we owe to ourselves, if we accept that this is a government 'of, by and for' the people (dubious, I know, but bear with me . Since that is the case, WHY are we paying it back TO BANKERS WITH INTEREST. Somehow, we let them sneak the Federal Reserve Act through when there was barely a quorum (December 22, 1913) and the president rushed to sign it into law...just bankers attaching themselves like the parasites they are to our treasury.

But Reich is right. Bernie does have the authority provided we elect him and then back his play when he tries to do it.

[2cannan]

3. Dean Baker's comments on what Bernie said about breaking up big banks

In Fact, Sanders Has a Very Clear Plan on How to Break Up Too-Big-to-Fail Banks
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/06/fact-sanders-has-very-clear-plan-how-break-too-big-fail-banks
snip

Baker also wrote:

I certainly would have liked to see more specificity in Sanders' answers, but I'm an economist. And some of the complaints are just silly.

When asked how he would break up the big banks Sanders said he would leave that up to the banks. That's exactly the right answer. The government doesn't know the most efficient way to break up JP Morgan, JP Morgan does. If the point is to downsize the banks, the way to do it is to give them a size cap and let them figure out the best way to reconfigure themselves to get under it.

Baker goes on to contrast the media's treatment of Sanders with that of House Speaker Paul Ryan, touted as a "serious budget wonk [but who] has repeatedly proposed eliminating most of the federal government."

"So there you have it," Baker wrote. "The D.C. press corps that goes nuts because Bernie Sanders doesn't know the name of the statute under which he would prosecute bank fraud thinks a guy who calls for eliminating most of the federal government is a great budget wonk."

[BernieforPres2016]

4. The main thing this phony flap illustrates is how much of the MSM

is in cahoots with Hillary's campaign. The campaign puts out the story, CNN and MSNBC run with it and sweep the Wisconsin primary into the rear view mirror.

I read this interview yesterday before all of this nonsense started and didn't see anything wrong with what Bernie said. The federal government has broken up large businesses before on the basis of anti-trust reasons, including the Standard Oil Trust and the old ATT. What are they going to ask Bernie next, how he's going to mix the asphalt to repair roads as part of his infrastructure plan?

[panader0]

5. K and R