Why Do Democrats Still Pamper Alan Greenspan?

[Itsthetruth]

CounterPunch
March 3, 2005

The Weasel Behind the Curtain at the Fed
Why Do the Democrats Pamper Greenspan?
By DAVE LINDORFF

Any Democrat who still offers praise for Alan Greenspan after his latest propaganda supporting the Bush attack on Social Security should be dumped by the party and voters alike.

Greenspan has always been a Republican agent at the Federal Reserve, even in the Clinton years, but his support for private Social Security funds, and his latest warning that cuts in benefits for retirees need to be considered are both scientifically unjustified and unsupported, and politically craven, especially coming from a man who himself is already collecting the maximum Social Security benefit and who stands to walk away with a $100,000/year federal pension on top of that when he finally retires as Reserve Board chairman.

Democrats in Congress have largely gone along with the charade that the reserve board chairman is above politics and that his deliberately chimerical statements on interest rates and fiscal and monetary policy are received wisdom.

It is probably worth remembering that when Greenspan left his private career as owner of a pension management firm, Townsend Greenspan, and went into government service, he left a company run into the ground because of his poor investment advice and market forecasting abilities. By the time he left, Townsend Greenspan had lost all its clients, who had all sought more capable advisers with better records.

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff03032005.html

[Itsthetruth]

1. Pelosi Did Release A Press Statement

Nancy Pelosi did send out this press release which was better than usual. I would have liked to seen a much stronger statement signed by almost every Democrat in the House. Perhaps Howard Dean can organized things like that as head of the Democratic Party.

I'll be looking forward to reading the hearing transcript to see who gave Greenspan a free ride and who went after him.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 02, 2005

Pelosi to Republicans: ‘Stop Robbing the Social Security Trust Fund’
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s comments before the House Budget Committee on the need to address quickly Social Security and Medicare funding issues:

“I wish Chairman Greenspan would ask his Republican colleagues to take quick action against deficit spending. President Bush and the Republicans have created a record deficit and are raiding the Social Security trust fund to make up for it.

“The Chairman is right, Medicare is a crisis and I wish the President would address it. But the President's solution should not be to make the Social Security problem worse.

“Democrats are fighting to put our financial house in order with common sense budgeting and pay-as-you-go spending. President Bush and the Republicans in Congress should stop their deficit spending and stop robbing the Social Security trust fund of its money.

“Democrats are ready to work with Republicans to address the challenges facing Social Security and Medicare. But we will not support any plan that harms the middle class, jeopardizes guaranteed Social Security benefits, or increases the deficit. We will fight to protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.”

[PA Democrat]

2. Have you ever seen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) grill Greenspan?

Bernie cuts Greenspan no slack.

[Itsthetruth]

4. I Bet He Did!

I bet Congressman Sanders did! I'd expect nothing less from him. I really don't like the way Democratic Senators have been so deferential to Greenspan in Senate testimony I've watched. It's been sickening.

Greenspan is just as much an enemy of working people and spokesman for the rich as George W. Bush.

[PA Democrat]

5. Here's a sample

SANDERS: Thank you, Madam Chair.

And, Mr. Greenspan, nice to see you again.

Mr. Greenspan, I have long been concerned that you are way out of touch with the needs of the middle class and working families of our country, that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations.

And I must tell you that your testimony today only confirms all of my suspicions, and I urge you -- and I mean this seriously, because you're an honest person, I think you just don't know what's going on in the real world -- and I would urge you come with me to Vermont, meet real people. The country club and the cocktail parties are not real America. The millionaires and billionaires are the exception to the rule.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0716-13.htm

[Toucano]

3. Greenspan is simple

The Republican dominated press give him enormous influence, but never acknowledges that his entire purpose is to protect the monied powers.

As Elizabeth Warren said, when Greenspan says things are going great, he's only talking about the fact that Americans are going to manage to make their payments for another month. That's great news for the banks and financial sector.

Greenspan never addresses the fact that to make their payments on time this month, Americans had to make hard choices. They had to return the band instruments their children rent, for example. Or pull their daughter out of Girl Scouts because they needed that money to pay the mortgage. And worse, they may have had to skip their medication to make the car insurance payment.

Greenspan never speaks about the condition of the average American. He's saying things are great for the banks.

[Itsthetruth]

6. This Is How Democrats Ought To Challenge Greenspan

Thanks PA Democrat for the link. This is how every Democrat(and Republican) who really supports working people ought to take on and expose Greenspan and the forces he represents whenever he addresses Congress.


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Transcript Not Copyrighted
July 15, 2003

Rep Bernie Sanders vs. Chairman Alan Greenspan
Exchange between Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and FED Chairman Alan Greenspan in yesterday's hearing in the Financial Services Committee.

SANDERS: Thank you, Madam Chair.

And, Mr. Greenspan, nice to see you again.

Mr. Greenspan, I have long been concerned that you are way out of touch with the needs of the middle class and working families of our country, that you see your major function in your position as the need to represent the wealthy and large corporations.

And I must tell you that your testimony today only confirms all of my suspicions, and I urge you -- and I mean this seriously, because you're an honest person, I think you just don't know what's going on in the real world -- and I would urge you come with me to Vermont, meet real people. The country club and the cocktail parties are not real America. The millionaires and billionaires are the exception to the rule.

You talk about an improving economy while we have lost 3 million private sector jobs in the last two years, long-term unemployment is more than tripled, unemployment is higher than it's been since 1994.

We have a $4 trillion national debt, 1.4 million Americans have lost their health insurance, millions of seniors can't afford prescription drugs, middle-class families can't send their kids to college because they don't have the money to do that, bankruptcy cases have increased by a record-breaking 23 percent, business investment is at its lowest level in more than 50 years, CEOs make more than 500 times of what their workers make, the middle class is shrinking, we have the greatest gap between the rich and the poor of any industrialized nation, and this is an economy that is improving.

I'd hate to see what would happen if our economy was sinking.

Now, today you may not have known this -- I suspect that you don't --but you have insulted tens of millions of American workers.

You have defended over the years, among other things, the abolition of the minimum wage -- one of your policies -- and giving huge tax breaks to billionaires.

But today you have reached a new low, I think, by suggesting that manufacturing in America doesn't matter. It doesn't matter where the product is produced. We've lost 2 million manufacturing jobs in the last two years alone; 10 percent of our work force. Wal-Mart has replaced General Motors as the major employer in America, paying people starvation wages rather than living wages, and all of that does not matter to you -- doesn't matter.

If it's produced in China where workers are making 30 cents an hour, or produced in Vermont where workers can make 20 bucks an hour, it doesn't matter. You have told the American people that you support a trade policy which is selling them out, only working for the CEOs who can take our plants to China, Mexico and India.

You insulted Mr. Castle. Mr. Castle, a few moments ago -- a good Republican -- told you that we're seeing not only the decline of manufacturing jobs, but white-collar information technology jobs.

Forrester Research says that over the next 15 years, 3.3 million U.S. service industry jobs and $136 billion in wages will move offshore to India, Russia, China and the Philippines.

Does any of this matter to you? Do you give one whiff of concern for the middle class and working families of this country? That's my question.

GREENSPAN: Congressman, we have the highest standard of living in the world.

SANDERS: No, we do not. You go to Scandinavia, and you will find that people have a much higher standard of living, in terms of education, health care and decent paying jobs. Wrong, Mister.

GREENSPAN: May I answer your question?

SANDERS: You sure may.

GREENSPAN: Thank you. For a major industrial country, we have created the most advanced technologies, the highest standard of living for a country of our size. Our economic growth is crucial to us. The incomes, the purchasing power of our employees, our workers, our people are, by far, more important than what it is we produce.

I submit to you -- may I?

SANDERS: (inaudible)

GREENSPAN: The major focus of monetary policy is to create an environment in this country which enables capital investment and innovation to advance. We are at the cutting edge of technologies in the world. We are doing an extraordinary job over the years.

And people flock to the United States. Our immigration rates are very high. And why? Because they think this is a wonderful country to come to.

SANDERS: That is an incredible answer.

[Toucano]

7. Excellent. Thanks. n/t