Bernie Sanders and Rashida Tlaib pimp socialism...and get filmed in front of empty shelves (video)

Soviet Union. Cuba. Venezuela. Argentina. Nothing epitomizes the end result of socialism more effectively than the despair of empty shelves at a grocery store. What a fitting scene for Bernie and his sidekick.

Viva la Revolucion, indeed.

He's answering a question about the justice done to ISIS' al-Baghdadi, but to put an avowed socialist in front of empty shelves is... well... oops.

Which social media genius decided to film Bernie Sanders --the presidential candidate people accuse of being a socialist -- in front of empty grocery shelvespic.twitter.com/hpPRh7irRU

— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) October 28, 2019

Fed Independence is Sacrosanct -- Kill the Sanders Amendment

Over at e21, which is an economics and finance blog and part of my daily reading menu, is a staff editorial on the need for maintaining the independence of the Federal Reserve. e21 is responding to the growing number of adherents to the Sanders Amendment, which to my eyes appears to be nothing more than a blatant power grab and foolish attempt to politicize the Fed. The popularity of Sanders' folly is driven, in part, by the inability or unwillingness of certain segments of the population to comprehend a very demanding science. Writes the editor:

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While this information is more than adequate for those interested in understanding the mechanics of the emergency lending programs that saved the global financial system, it does not suffice for conspiracy theorists eager to tie the Fed to Saddam Hussein and Watergate. Since every $100 bill circulating internationally is a Federal Reserve Note, it is not unreasonable to think extremists could tie the Fed to funding for international terrorism, the narcotics trade, or whatever other illicit transactions are conducted with U.S. dollars.
Fed Independence is Sacrosanct | e21 - Economic Policies for the 21st Century

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The editorial provides numerous links to Fed-hosted websites that provide a better accounting of Fed activities, assets and policy decisions than what we get from the Executive Branch, or even your garden variety "too big to fail" bank like BofA, Goldman Sachs or Citibank.

I can see no additional benefit whatsoever by adding another layer of oversight to an already open-books process.  It runs the calamitous risk of politicizing monetary policy.  No amount of oversight is going to satisfy the hunger for the conspiracy nuts.  They're always going to believe that the Fed is hiding something of great international importance.  But no amount of oversight or control will be enough for progressive socialists like Sanders, either.  It's not about answering questions for these people.  It's about extending power and control.

The Sanders Amendment must be defeated, and if it makes it into the final legislation, it must be vetoed by the President.

Extra Point: The conspiracy theorists tend to originate from the right. Ask yourself: Does Bernie Sanders have a solid conservative basis for auditing and greater oversight?

"Audit the Fed!" Says... Bernie Sanders?

A comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve System has been a long-standing campaign plank of Congressman Ron Paul.  So it comes as a bit of a surprise that Vermont "Independent" Bernie Sanders has sponsored an amendment to the finance reform bill to allow the Government Accountability Office to conduct extensive reviews of policy decisions.

I frankly believe both Ron Paul and Bernie Sanders are certified kooks, hailing from diametrically different ends of the political spectrum.  Paul's motivations come from a misguided belief that the Fed is a dangerous institution that plays a high-stakes game of poker with US monetary policy with no accountability.  Sanders however, is an avowed socialist.  Paul's quixotic goal is to one day return the US to the gold standard and the elimination or restriction on the use of fiat currency.  Sanders' goal is completely the opposite.  His goal is to use the the Fed's enormous financial clout to promote a sort of Eurozone in North America.

The Fed needs to remain an independent entity.  The deliberations of the Federal Open Market Committee need to remain off-limits to political meddling, and releasing the name of every institution receiving loans from the discount window would cast a chill of market confidence on those institutions' financial stability.  If the Fed loses market confidence in its ability to combat inflation, the government would be forced to pay higher interest rates demanded by borrowers as a hedge against inflation risk.  And, if markets and the public lose confidence in private sector banks borrowing at the discount window, banking panics that were once a thing of the past could become commonplace again.

One of the hallmarks of economic growth over the last three decades or so has been a stable, non-inflationary period of prosperity.  The recessions suffered in the period have been relatively brief and historically shallow.  We haven't seen the runaway inflation present in the 1970's, either.  What we've seen in money supply growth is analagous to a large river that neither suffers catastrophic flooding nor severe, longlasting droughts.

The Sanders and Paul amendments threaten that. Paul's goals are much more admirable than Sanders, but neither amendment is going to make our economic system perform better.  They'll have the opposite effect.

Extra Point: