Bernie Sanders: The Veil of Secrecy at the Fed Has Been Lifted, Now It's Time for Change

[babsbunny]

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/13129

The following is a statement from Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vermont - I):

As a result of the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street, the American people have experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college. Small businesses have been unable to get the credit they need to expand their businesses, and credit is still extremely tight. Wages as a share of national income are now at the lowest level since the Great Depression, and the number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high.

Meanwhile, when small-business owners were being turned down for loans at private banks and millions of Americans were being kicked out of their homes, the Federal Reserve provided the largest taxpayer-financed bailout in the history of the world to Wall Street and too-big-to-fail institutions, with virtually no strings attached.

[banned from Kos]

1. Bernie is starting to sound like Rick Perry with his Fed bashing.

Krugman wants a HUGE QE program. Bernie got his misnamed "audit" in the Dodd-Frank bill. Now what does he want?

[me b zola]

3. if you read Bernie's entire statement and you believe he sounds like Rick Perry

...then no amount of information is going to help you.

[banned from Kos]

7. Yes - even AFTER the successful Fed "audit" Sanders wanted in Dodd-Frank he says

"Incredibly, the chairman of the Fed refused to answer these fundamental questions about how trillions of taxpayer dollars were being spent."

What?

Every DIME was accounted for in the GAO "audit". That is what they wanted! And the Fed went to Ron Paul's committee on Monetary Policy (which was hostile) and answered every single question!

Bernie is not being forthright.

Here is Bloomberg's final accounting after the "audit" --- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-21/wall-street-aristocracy-got-1-2-trillion-in-fed-s-secret-loans.html

($1.2 trillion in LOANS that were repaid - case closed)

[girl gone mad]

8. Your accounting is wildly incomplete.

The audit "found that over $16 trillion was allocated to corporations and banks internationally, purportedly for “financial assistance” during and after the 2008 fiscal crisis."

It also turned up many conflicts of interest.

As Sanders correctly stated: “This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you’re-on-your-own individualism for everyone else.”

[banned from Kos]

10. Bloomberg is calling Bernie a liar - link again for Bernie-bots

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-21/wall-street-aristocracy-got-1-2-trillion-in-fed-s-secret-loans.html

[girl gone mad]

20. Your source says no such thing.

[rhett o rick]

11. Go back to KOS. nm

[kentuck]

4. Are you defending the Fed?

In their actions regarding the bailouts?

[banned from Kos]

17. Do you know why the Fed was started? LENDER OF LAST RESORT!

Its their fucking job since 1913 to LOAN money to troubled banks. They did that in 2008.

JEEZ!

Next you will complain about the EPA "protecting" the environment.

[girl gone mad]

19. We don't need the Fed to lend us our own sovereign currency.

Duh!

[banned from Kos]

21. The Fed is not loaning us a nickel! Those US Dollar bills are Fed liabilities!

When you hold a $50 bill with Grant's portrait on it - that is a Fed liability to YOU!

Now, when the Fed bought $600 billion in Treasuries that is an offset -

Asset = $600 billion in UST.

Liability = $600 billion in FRN's.

[girl gone mad]

24. "Lender of last resort" that "doesn't lend a nickel"?

You might wanna try getting your story straight next time.

[woo me with science]

25. Um, we can print money.

:eyes:

[astral]

28. That's the point -- we're NOT the ones printing the money.

The "Fed" is not us.
It is not the federal government.

When the media speaks of "the feds" it means the federal government.

When it speaks of "the fed" it does NOT mean the federal government.

We CAN print our own money. We SHOULD START DOING JUST THAT.

[woo me with science]

29. Thank you. nt

[girl gone mad]

5. You defend Corzine, too.

All anyone really needs to know about you.

[rhett o rick]

9. Are you defending the FED? And disparaging Sen Sanders? Who are you? nm

[banned from Kos]

12. Tell me what Bernie wants. There are 51 Dem Senators not bitching.

What does he want?

[rhett o rick]

13. If you have to ask, you aint on our side. nm

[banned from Kos]

15. So you're not on the Dem Senate side? I am.

That is OK. I have no problem with that.

But when Bernie spouts nonsense don't blame us Democrats.

[rhett o rick]

27. This isnt a Democrat/Republicon fight. Wake the hell up. Sen Sanders is on the side of the

99%. Which side are you?

[slipslidingaway]

14. Paul and Grayson wanted a full Fed audit, as did 320 cosponsors of the bill ...

H.R. 1207: Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009

Show Cosponsors (320)

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1207

[banned from Kos]

16. Define "full audit" - this is my business.

They don't know what it is.

They think its oversight over FOMC decisions like funds rate calls - good luck, assholes. That will never happen.

[slipslidingaway]

22. For starters, a one time audit, link to the bill was in my post ...

so you can read the differences, since "this is your business."

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/05/06/video-transcript-ron-paul-says-sanders-switched-and-watered-down-audit-the-fed/

"But as we speak — this is Thursday night — they are working on this on the Senate floor. And we need to get as many messages as possible to as any Senators you can think of, especially to Bernie Sanders’ office, that we don’t want this version. We want a true audit of the Fed. We need to know what the Open Market Committee does. And we need to know what they’re doing overseas with the agreements with central banks and financial institutions and other governments.

And in this bill that is being offered, that amendment is being offered now does not include this. So I am sure that Senator DeMint is working on this and may come up with an alternative. But the only thing that would be fair to the American people after all this work and energy that we put into this is have an up and down vote on what was our 1207 in the House which is 604 in the Senate.

Yes they may water it down and they may win it, but if they don’t have an honest vote on the Senate floor to me it would be very very discouraging. But it also shows what kind of forces we’re up against. The President doesn’t want this, the leadership on Wall Street doesn’t want it, the Federal Reserve doesn’t want it, so they’re powerful forces..."

[GentryDixon]

18. I understand why you were banned

from Kos.

1000+ posts in 5 months. You are telling on yourself. That and your inane argument against Bernie.

[Kaleko]

2. Bernie - a sane voice in the bewilderness of relentless

propaganda from both sides, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Tossing an air kiss to Bernie,
not that it will help avoid what's coming down the pike.

[RegieRocker]

6. !!!

[sarcasmo]

23. Bernie is always speaking the truth.

[woo me with science]

26. Thank you, Bernie. Yes, the time is now, and that is a critical point.

This is exactly what we need to hear, in contrast to the President's MLK Day speech about being patient for change and realizing that it comes slowly.

No, change does not have to come slowly. In the case of reforming the Fed and the banks, nothing could be further from the truth. They have only the power we give them, and it can be taken back legislatively as swiftly as our liberties were traded away with the signing of the Patriot Act.

We need to demand reform NOW.


K&R