NYTimes -Bernie Sanders: To Rein In Wall Street, Fix the Fed

[nationalize the fed]

By BERNIE SANDERS
DEC. 23, 2015

WALL STREET is still out of control. Seven years ago, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department bailed out the largest financial institutions in this country because they were considered too big to fail. But almost every one is bigger today than it was before the bailout. If any were to fail again, taxpayers could be on the hook for another bailout, perhaps a larger one this time.



To rein in Wall Street, we should begin by reforming the Federal Reserve, which oversees financial institutions and which uses monetary policy to maintain price stability and full employment. Unfortunately, an institution that was created to serve all Americans has been hijacked by the very bankers it regulates.

The recent decision by the Fed to raise interest rates is the latest example of the rigged economic system. Big bankers and their supporters in Congress have been telling us for years that runaway inflation is just around the corner. They have been dead wrong each time. Raising interest rates now is a disaster for small business owners who need loans to hire more workers and Americans who need more jobs and higher wages. As a rule, the Fed should not raise interest rates until unemployment is lower than 4 percent. Raising rates must be done only as a last resort — not to fight phantom inflation....snip

...In 2010, I inserted an amendment in Dodd-Frank to audit the emergency lending by the Fed during the financial crisis. We need to go further and require the Government Accountability Office to conduct a full and independent audit of the Fed each and every year....snip
MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/23/opinion/bernie-sanders-to-rein-in-wall-street-fix-the-fed.html

A BILL
To require a full audit of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks by the Comptroller General of the United States, and for other purposes.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/264/text

Money for Nothing-Inside the Federal Reserve

The public currency should be run like a public utility
Nationalize the Federal Reserve
http://www.progressivegazette.com/2013/12/nationalize-federal-reserve.html

[Happenstance24]

1. How?

How is he gonna do this without Congress backing him up? We elect Presidents, not dictators. I think some Bernie fans are falling into the same trap some of us fell into with Obama. People think he can do everything good in the world while doing no wrong. I, myself, was SO naive when it came to Barack. I envisioned him using the bully pulpit to shame Pugs into submission when it came to the wars, our infrastructure, etc. Reality is a much colder mistress. If Bernie does win out I foresee a lot of you Bernie fans turning on him before he even makes it to year 2. Some of you see Bernie almost like a messiah. The problem with putting people on pedestals is they have no where to go and ultimately fall off.

[vi5]

2. The difference is that Obama sold himself as "bipartisan"

The problem with President Obama is that he bought a lot of his hype and thought that he could sweet talk the Republicans into going along with him. Shaming them and calling them out didn't become a part of his arsenal until his second term, at which point most of the damage was done.

And that's not even getting into the fact that many of the people he chose as his advisors and his cabinet, who he signaled his closeness to even before winning the election, were all part of the problem.

Sanders has made no claim to bipartisanship or a conciliatory tone, and based on his track record there is no reason to believe he won't use it.

[Happenstance24]

3. Ok, but that still doesn't change

the fact that unless Dems control both houses, which won't be happening thanks to gerrymandering, Bernie can get nothing done without Republican help. They'll water down everything Bernie tries to accomplish. Question is will he go along with it to get something done or go down in history as a President who accomplished nothing? Anyone thinking Bernie will blow into town and accomplish even a fifth of the promises he's making are fooling themselves just as I once did. Be careful putting all your hopes into the guy, it's a long fall down to reality. As for staff....the fact Bernie's people hid this data thing from him is alarming. Even more so is that he seems to be ok with it. I can't imagine how Weaver still has a job. I hope he picks a better group of people that those that would keep him in the dark during a crisis. Have a good X-Mas.

[vi5]

4. O.K. so you're saying why bother with voting for President?

I mean if nobody can do anything anyway, why bother?

The bottom line is someone with no Wall Street ties stands a better chance of connecting to the message many Americans (even conservatives) want to hear than someone with Wall Street ties (HEAVY wall street ties).

[Happenstance24]

5. Not remotely

I'm saying have reasonable expectations. I've read posts on here from Bernie fans who claim he's gonna save the country, and single handedly take back the reigns from the Richie Riches while restoring the middle class without breaking a sweat. Are they talking about Bernie or Superman? Jesus Christ couldn't live up to those expectations. Unfortunately, I foresee a ton of his supporters turning on him real fast should he get elected and ultimately prove to be more man than superman.

BTW message is good, so long as you realize the only way any of those promises happen is with total control, which we won't be getting, or the dreaded 'C' word. So many here seem to be setting themselves up for a big disappointment. Can't say I haven't been there I guess.

[madfloridian]

6. We did control both houses....

and we lost congress soon after because we kept moving right to be more like the Republicans so we could be elected again...we thought.