The Federal Reserve is tasked not only with combating inflation, but also with a mandate to keep unemployment low. It's the latter responsibility that congressional Republicans don't like.
Back in November 2010, GOP officials were so concerned that the Fed might try to lower the unemployment rate they called for legislation to change the Federal Reserve's mandate -- the Board of Governors could think about inflation, but would be expected to ignore jobs.
Nearly a year-and-a-half later, the Republican fear that the Fed might lower unemployment hasn't gone away.
Reuters
Congressional Republicans criticized the Federal Reserve on Thursday for working to reduce unemployment and revive the housing market rather than maintaining a single-minded focus on inflation.
The Fed's chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, was sharply questioned by members of a House committee about the Fed's announcement last week that it plans to hold short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014, a measure that the Fed described as necessary to support a faster pace of economic recovery.
That's right, GOP officials have noticed that the Fed is interested in addressing unemployment, and it wants this to stop as soon as possible.
Republicans aren't arguing that the Fed is bad at lowering unemployment, and they're not arguing that the Fed is incapable of lowering unemployment; GOP lawmakers are saying the Fed shouldn't even try to address the jobless rate in the midst of a jobs crisis.
What matters, Republicans argued today, is largely non-existent inflation, and the possibility that inflation may become a problem at some point in the future. This fear, GOP officials argued, takes precedence over 8.5% unemployment.
The last time Republicans demanded the Fed ignore the jobless rate, Steven Pearlstein noted, "It's not exactly clear how unemployed workers would benefit from the Fed's benign neglect."
The answer, of course, is that unemployed workers wouldn't benefit at all.
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"Compassionate" Republicans actually want high unemployment and it doesn't make them happy to see the Fed wanting to help lower it. Sometimes the right just loves America so much that they can't get out of their own way to show it.
Or, sometimes, they love 'Murca soooooo much they cheat on their bed-ridden, cancer-ridden spouses, demanding the spouse consent to divorce and/or "open marriage" while said spouse is in the hospital.
Oh, the humanity!
Do these guys get high on the festering fumes of decay?
Yes... yes, they do.
That's because they ARE the festering fumes of decay!
The Federal Reserve is tasked not only with combating inflation, but also with a mandate to keep unemployment low. It's the latter responsibility that congressional Republicans don't like.
To be clear, it's the latter responsibility that congressional Republicans don't like when there's a Democrat in the White House. If a Republican were in the White House, there's no doubt that Republican lawmakers would be demanding that the Fed take action to reduce unemployment.
In plain words - it's just a bit of good old sabotage aimed at the White House.
OK, so what I don't get is how come all the Paulbots want to abolish the Fed? Many of the rightwingers do, too...but of course, none of them can explain why. Why?
It's OK that you don't understand why they want to abolish the Fed. I can assure you that they don't, either.
It would be stupid to put money into a bank w/o the Fed for much the same reason it would be stupid to put mail into a mailbox without the Post Office.
The Federal Reserve is a private bank very much like Federal Express is a private shipping company.
The Federal Reserve is the insurance company for the banking system. It advises the president if specific laws/polices are good or bad on behalf of all the other banks.
It is the underwriting company that establish interest rates, but its most important task is to take over control of banks that become insolvent.
The Federal Reserve is one of the things used to eliminate gold and silver currency.
The way the fed controls inflation and unemployment is that prices increase when interest rates are dropped by the fed because the same monthly payment will buy more.
This is why Obama dropped the prime rate to 0% when he took office.
The Federal Reserve is one of the mechanisms Obama used to improve employment.
Thank you, Crackhead...it all becomes clear to me now! Of COURSE the looneytoons who want to return to the gold standard want to abolish the Fed!
At its last Open Market meeting, the Fed basically announced there is no threat of inflation for the next two years and will be keeping interests rates low to spur growth.
Anyway, exactly where is this inflation House Republicans see lurking around the corner? They've been seeing the same shadows since 2008 and it's never showed up.
What self-serving, ignorant clowns.
Where is that illusory inflation? Right over there, next to the non-existent voter fraud the GOP is blaming for their insane rush to strip millions of likely Democratic voters of their right to vote. And, if you look closely, you can see it's also next to the non-existent omnipotent unions the GOP feels so compelled to bust, with all those horrible police, and firefighters, and state workers, and teachers who need to be tested into oblivion, or fired, or denied union representation.
If you're ever wondering who has your best interests at heart, just look at what each party does when they get power and think about what country their actions would make us most like?
The Dems would make us more like countries like Canada, the UK, Norway, New Zealand, etc. The GOP's actions would make us more like Sudan, Chad, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia, complete with an American Talliban to monitor our morality.
These are not nice people and they want to run everything.
Wait.....What?
The problem with low unemployment is that it increases workers' bargaining power (as we saw in the 50s) and that in turn comes out of corporate profits.
If the Job Creators don't have profits, they can't afford to create jobs. Which would be a Bad Thing for working Americans. Therefore low unemployment is bad for working Americans.
Bingo!
This affects not just wages, but also benefits, and continues the GOP's desired race to the bottom.
The thing that these a$$hats don't seem to get is that to have a thriving economy you need a strong middle class with spending power. Otherwise, you have no economy at all. The wealthy alone cannot sustain any economy. One rich person might buy 100 cars, but 10,000,000 middle class people having two cars is what drives the economy. Or a single washing machine x 10m workers with disposable income to buy a washer each. Or a television, microwave, pillow, whatever.
You need people with disposable income to buy crap, for that is what capitalism is about. The ability of people buying stuff which then sustains workers in another industry and so on and so forth.
"The thing that these a$$hats don't seem to get is that to have a thriving economy you need a strong middle class with spending power."
Oh, they get it....they just don't give a damn. They've got theirs, and they think that their wealth will protect them when it all crashes. I disagree.
I'm waiting for the shift in consciousness when the 99% finally really understands a very simple concept: The 99% does NOT need the 1%, but the 1% cannot exist without the 99%.
Think of a pyramid, (which is applicable, because the 1% really have turned this economy into a pyramid scheme), anyway, think of a pyramid. Now imagine the top 1% gone off the top. The rest of the pyramid is just fine, isn't it?
Now, imagine the pyramid with just the 1%, and the 99% gone - there is no pyramid.
Throughout history, when the 1% has gone too far, taken too much, hurt too many - and been too arrogant about it, it has never fared well for the 1%. Look at any revolution throughout history, and the sins of excess by the very wealthy and powerful is always at the root - and they always lose when the 99% has finally had enough.
If the 1% is smart, they'll recognize that they have already lost and give enough back, let a few of their peers take the hit, and keep their heads down for awhile. but, I don't think they will. I think they are so blinded by their greed and arrogance that they'll keep on until it's too late.
And that is why capitalism fails, because it breeds greed, and without strict controls over the "free market", that greed eventually eliminates the "people with disposable income to buy crap" - otherwise known as the middle class.
That is where we are right now. Whether America survives or becomes another fallen empire will depend on whether or not WE all wake up and make the right choices in November (and not just for POTUS - remember that nothing happens without Congress' approval).
We need a filibuster-proof majority of Dems in the Senate, and we need to take back the majority in the House. And while you're at it - throw all those GOP governors and state legislators who have spent the last two years destroying the middle class in their own states with their union-busting agendas out of office too!
Ain't happenin' this year. Just plain arithmetic.
D. C. is right. Dems will be lucky to hold the Senate this year, though the Repub craziness is improving their chances.
I think you're both dead wrong. The GOP trying to DEFUND MAMMOGRAMS FOR POOR WOMEN has absolutely opened American voters' eyes. I believe an overwhelming Democrat vote this November will absolutely rid America of the disgusting pieces of ordure called Republicans, who have attached themselves to America's shoe.
Why we have elections, people!
Every time I think that the Republicans cannot possibly sink any lower, they outdo my worst imaginings. Why the American people has not long since woken up and repudiated this sort of scum is beyond me.
If everyone voted for their own best interests, 99% would vote Democrat and the other 1% would vote Republican. Unfortunately, political beliefs are more strongly rooted in what people hear from their parents and grandparents, and not very well rooted in common sense and logic. There actually was a time when Republicans did often work for the common good, and compromised across the aisle. Those days are gone, but still some vote Republican "just because."
On top of that, the GOP are masters of hiding their true agenda with the issues like abortion.
"N.Wells
Every time I think that the Republicans cannot possibly sink any lower, they outdo my worst imaginings."
I hope your worst imaginings include the possibility that these idiots could be in charge of the country next year.
Sorry, double post.
Clearly, the Republicans do not want the economy to show any improvement whatsoever between now and November. They need unemployment to remain at 8.5% or higher, and they don't even care about overtly revealing that need. In the meantime, the unemployed continue to stand by. Let 'em eat cake. So now the Repubs are not only obstructing everything the President and Congressional Democrats want to move forward with, they are trying to obstruct the jobless.
Throw the rascals out!
Time for the GOP to get some comeuppance that they understand.
They simply didn't get how unpopular they were in 2008 and in their souls deny the legitimacy of Obama's presidency. They put a lot of money and energy into the midterms and only got the House, which hopefully will return to the Democrats next time around.
This House majority, Senate Republicans, Republican State Governors and the party as a whole including those few they represent, have obviously reached an all time low in public polling but in reality they are the most disgraceful representatives we as a people have ever had. While it's true they have been very bad over the last 15 years as a whole this particular group has been particularly reprehensible.
They have been responsible for the firing of over 500,000 government employees, mostly state employees, during a time when our jobs have been at an all time low and when they all ran on job creation and yet they all blame the President for job losses. This while they have voted against every one of the Presidents job bills. They continually fight for lower taxes for corporations and the very wealthy who own and control the corporations while screaming for less government spending and government revenue and yet the top 30 corporations pay zero in taxes but pay what they should pay in taxes in lobbying fees and that doesn't even take into consideration the money they spend in organizations like ALEC where they actually write legislation to hand to our representatives for passage and press pieces they hand to the media (although I'm sure the corporate media are members of ALEC themselves) for propaganda messages.
It makes me sick when "journalists" in the "news media" claim the corporations don't have a choice, they have to outsource and ship factories over seas because the laws are written in such a way the it's financially irresponsible not to do so. They don't tell you that it's the corporations who used their tax money to pay lobbyists instead of paying taxes to write that very legislation and then use their influence to get it passed. It's like saying don't blame a convict for being in prison, he didn't make the gun that he used to kill his victim.
These guys have no shame. They do not feel a responsibility to the governed and that is the very basis of this government and this country. In fact, it was the basis for our revolution. This Republican party lacks a basic understanding of democracy, as well as decency.
Yeah... It's what @sedwinmars said!
GOP -- Great for the One Percent.
I like that idea.
How about
Goverment by the One Percent
I think I see a sign for the nexrt rally, thanks
Government of the
PeopleOne Percentby the
PeopleOne Percentfor the
PeopleOne PercentHow about Gross Obstructionist Pigs?
Greed Over People
Greedy Old Perverts
Party Of God -- not related to the inequality issue, but it really is how they market themselves.
Can we do Party In God (PIG) instead? ;-)
We the One Percent of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Cash Flow, increase Profits, insure reduction of Taxes, provide for a defenseless labor force, promote Financial Inequality, and secure the Blessings of Profit for ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Republican Party for the United States of America
'God's Own Plutocrats'
I predict with all this fodder, that the Rethugs will be a Minority Party in the House and Senate next election. People are fed up with their shenanigans. THROW THEM OUT. They are like a cancer in the country. Here things are getting better and they do not want it.
Kevin
I hope so. All the democrats need to do is clearly show what the GOP is. Just tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Have a look at how many Republican seats in the Senate are up this year.
Subtract those who are from States like Arizona who would elect the corpse of Adolph Hitler as long as he was registered as a Republican.
What's left isn't enough to crack 60, and with the Blue Dogs 60 isn't enough.
Just change the filibuster rule. They tried tweaking it a little this year and that failed. We need to blow it up.
Republicans do not want the unemployment rate to go down until after the election. They know that if the economy is better people are more likely to vote in the incumbent. They have said from the beginning that their mission was to make Obama fail.
Unemployment should not get better because then the President would get reelected. There goes the GOP's primary mandate of making him a 1 termer.
What people fail to realize is that by keeping unemployment high it reinforces low wages for all people which translates to less expense for business and more profit for the already too wealthy. This low wage/high unemployment condition for the country plays right into the hands of the corporatocracy and the Repubs because they want us fighting over the scraps they leave us. It makes us keep quiet afraid to lose our jobs and only source of income. It means they stay in charge!
When will the working people of America get it? Republicans are NOT your friends. Vote for one and you actually vote against your own interests! Throw them out of office ! Stand up for Middle America, we and the only ones who can!
Gosh Darn It! These Republicans can't even play poker competently! They can't keep a poker face while they count the cards, peak at their oppoents' hands, and accuse the dealer of being less than honest!
Since they're holding nothing in their hand, they are trying to bluff their way to the next election. We need the Obama team to call the bluff and raise them two specific policy announcements: That the new team put together to investigate Wall Street abuse get up and running, and that the fed step in to tangibly help homeowners who are in distress.
With such a raise, the Republicans' bluff will look even more rediculous, or they will fold and rely on mega-smears against Bernancke and others, and we will be given the tell in their actions and call them out at the ballot booth in November by voting them and their stinking game of bluff out of office!
Then, the new round of cards can be a bit more worthy for all of us! -Kevo
See, I WANT to believe the best in my fellow Americans, and that they see what's happening and will throw both houses back to Democrats by a wife margin to break the gridlock and get us moving forward again. But, the reality is that the GOP is the master of making people believe what they tell them to believe.
I STILL see people wanting the "real" birth certificate.
Every time somebody disrespects the President in public it seems to get more and more blatant and a lot of people who vote GOP are applauding when, had this happened to a GOP president, they'd call it "treason". Proof of this is Newt's popularity.
People still call Obama a socialist, despite not having a clue what the word means
People still think he's a muslim and also think he is not a legitimate president as such, conveniently forgetting that there is nothing in the constitution that says a muslim cannot be president. All this despite the fact that he's not muslim.
There are but a few sorry examples of why I don't think much will change with the next election. No matter how obvious it seems to those of us paying attention, there will still be 45% of this country who votes GOP down the line, if not more, because, the GOP and the Murdock machine does their job well. The voters may be voting against their own interests but they are very unified in their hatred for all things Obama.
Honestly, I'm nervous as hell, too many stupid people who think guys like Rush and Glenn actually speak for the common man, and that they should actually BE policy makers. And that is a recipe for keeping the GOP relevant unfortunately.
err, make that WIDE margin.....
You'll be glad to know that you're WRONG! This last--the GOP refusing to give poor women MAMMOGRAMS--has turned that 45% that you correctly noted, into what is now 10% anti-Obama. WAY TO GO, GOP!!!!!!
OK here goes. How the 1% ers create jobs, hire thugs and the rest be dammed. The original tea party, the one in Boston, was orchestrated by the wealthy merchants (ie the 1% er's like John Hancock, who was the wealthiest man in the colonies at the time and a noted smuggler) because the tax ate in into their profit margins. They hire thugs to toss the tea and create a shortage which only raised the price of tea, INCREASING profits for the merchant/smugglers. Sound like the present Repugnitive, I mean Republican teabaggers and the 1%? The real Revolution wasn't about tea.
It's not well-known that the original Boston Tea Party was a demonstration over LOW taxes that put smugglers out of business.
to the tune of "old man river" They got birthers they got haters their workin like the devil to make the economy crater they just keep rollin g o p log rollin along