Tea Party favorite Sarah Palin on Monday weighed in on the global debate over the Federal Reserve’s $600 billion plan to buy up government debt, suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke should “cease and desist.”
“We shouldn’t be playing around with inflation,” Palin, who is widely seen as a prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidate, said in remarks prepared for a Monday speech in Phoenix.
“We don’t want temporary, artificial economic growth bought at the expense of permanently higher inflation, which will erode the value of our incomes and our savings. We want a stable dollar combined with real economic reform. It’s the only way we can get our economy back on the right track.”
Excerpts of the remarks were published online by the conservative National Review magazine. Palin’s staff was not immediately available for comment. The report said the remarks would be delivered in a keynote address at a trade association convention.
Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, is a top Republican Party figure and leader of the Tea Party movement, which helped Republicans recapture control of the House of Representatives last week.
FED AUDITS, ABOLITION?
The loosely organized political network includes conservatives and libertarians, some of whom would like to abolish the Federal Reserve system, which operates independent of the federal government.
Voter outrage over Fed bailouts and other actions helped propel many Republican candidates on Election Day, including Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul, who has favored abolition of the agency.
His father, House Republican Ron Paul, another Tea Party favorite who has run for president twice, intends to push to audit Fed monetary policy decisions next year if — as expected — he wins control of a congressional subcommittee that oversees
the central banks.
Representative Paul Ryan, expected to become chairman of the House Budget Committee when Republicans take control of the chamber in January, said on Sunday the advantages of the central bank’s move to inject more money into the U.S. economy “are very low.”
“I think it’s going to give us a big inflation problem down the road,” Ryan said.
President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials defend the Fed’s decision to buy $600 billion in U.S. Treasury debt as a means to stimulate the economy and maintain global stability.
Palin’s remarks add her to a growing list of critics, including officials from China, Germany and Brazil, who are concerned that the Fed plan could bring instability instead.
“If it doesn’t work, what do we do then? Print even more money? What’s the end game here?,” she asked. “All this pump priming will come at a serious price.”
She appeared to align herself with recent criticism from German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
“The German finance minister called the Fed’s proposals ‘clueless.’ When Germany, a country that knows a thing or two about the dangers of inflation, warns us to think again, maybe it’s time for Chairman Bernanke to cease and desist,” Palin said.
Palin has not said whether she will make a White House bid in 2012. But she has been using public appearances to build up her political and policy credentials for the job.
Copyright © 2010 Reuters Ltd.
14 thoughts on “Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and desist’”
Not fair Carl, they’re trying to save themselves too. As for the fed they could pull a nasty strike of their own as we are witnessing.
The only thing harder than an economists head is Chinese Arithmetic. llamraF
If Sarah keeps ‘grandstanding’ with thoughtfull recommendations such as found in this article, then she just might end up as Madame President…! : |
I’m all for pulling the plug on the Fed along with terminating relations with the English and French banking establishments too.
Carl Nemo **==
What would you replace the Fed with? Perhaps let Congress call the shots? You need to have some kind of a plan before you just pulled the plug, I suspect.
Any plan that would not debase the currency as has the Fed would be a good start.
Any plan that would put the country ahead of the foreign owners of the Fed would be a good start.
Any plan that would restore US solvency would be a good start.
The plan most bandied about now will nationalize the too-bigs-to-fail and restart the mortgage system. Even that might be a good start.
Never thought I’d see the day when you’d suggest nationalizing large banks as a good start. 🙂
All ribbing aside, I’d rather see them fail so we can clear the sharks from the waters and start over. Yeah, it’s gonna hurt. It’s gonna hurt no matter what happens.
I did say “might”… throwing the bone to the ever-present DOG of fiscal reality.
Incrementalism at best, though I must admit you’ve called me out and I now need to self-flagellate in recompense.
Looking for ANY relief from the current catastrophe is my only defense.
Touche’
You know what they say about desperate times…
Of course nationalizing the Fed, bringing it under the purview of the Congress, is another story entirely.
How about replacing it with what we had before the dollar lost 95% of its value?
There’s a reason the majority of the founders were opposed to central banks and fiat currency. Of course not only were they well-read in history and philosophy, but they also had first-hand experience with the dangers of fiat currency in the Continental Dollar.
It’s also why any one today who is well-read on the subject and has first-hand experience with fiat currency (as any one who uses the US dollar as legal tender does) is generally opposed to the Federal Reserve.
Apparently there isn’t enough people here that fit that description, particularly the well-read part.
It seems that even Zoellick at the World Bank has come around to sound money.
https://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/world-bank-says-gold-is-good-anchor-20101108-17kcb.html
What’s up with that?
Ron Paul has long suggested legalizing competing currencies. Abolish legal tender laws and let the people decide what they would rather carry in their wallets. I know what I would choose.
If gold and silver were so irrelevant, why do we still compare the dollar’s value against them, particularly gold? A rhetorical question, at least in your case.
Did you ever read Ellen Brown’s stuff? Web of Debt… and her latest – a new theory of money?
Nutshell – if the govt printed money… which is only debt – then there would be no interest to pay, no deficit, and no national debt. All the debt / currency based on full faith and credit.
Hang on boys, we’ve found utopia.
BTW – she’s getting quite an amount of play in this Keynesian nightmare.
She’s just trying to get the original Tea Party to get on board with the Statist, bloodthirsty Republican-led Neo-Tea Party. That’s what the co-opting was all about. Votes. Just rhetoric.
“Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” – Plato
“push to audit Fed monetary policy decisions next year if — as expected — he wins control of a congressional subcommittee that oversees the central banks.”
How does one audit a policy decision?
I’m afraid I would have to agree with Palin on this, although I know with her it’s nothing more than grandstanding. We all know by now that she doesn’t stand for these things, it’s merely political posturing.
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