He is not anywhere close to being a small government libertarian.
United Liberty points out that Cain endorsed the TARP bailout, or the “recovery plan,” as he called it on his radio show. In the articles - you can read them here and here - Cain wrote that nationalizing banks “is not a bad thing.”
United Liberty provides us this interesting rant by Cain on those who want to audit the Fed:
[T]he Federal Reserve already has so many audits, it’s ridiculous. I don’t know why people think we’re gonna learn this great amount of information by auditing the Federal Reserve. Now, I no longer serve on the board of the Federal Reserve. I’m not being defensive of the Federal Reserve; in fact, some of the policies and some of the actions of the Federal Reserve, I don’t agree with because the attitude and the non-politization in the 90’s when I served is totally different than what’s going on today. But that’s another matter.Cain is a former chairman (1995-96) and deputy chairman (1992-94) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He has never addressed such issues as the decided edge Primary Dealers receive from being able to trade with the Fed and why this should not be an area audited by the Congress.
But people who say, “we outta audit the Federal Reserve because we don’t know enough about it.” Well, here’s the advice I’ve given to people who ared worried about an audit of the Federal Reserve; call ‘em up, and ask ‘em if you can stop by and have one of their PR people or one of their Public Relations people explain to you how the Federal Reserve operates.
I think a lot people are calling for this audit fo the Federal Reserve because they don’t know enough about it. There’s no secrets going on in the Federal Reserve, to my knowledge. And I tell people, we’ve got 12 Federal Reserve banks, find out which district you’re in, call ‘em up and go from there.
We don’t need to waste money with another commission, or an audit that’s not necessary, because, folks, we’ve gotta lot of other problems we need to worry about.
As proof, though, that Cain can sure blow with the wind, since his rant against a Fed audit, he is now hailing Ron Paul and a Fed audit. But notice he still sees a role for the Fed as an inflation fighter. This, the same Fed that has shrunk the value of the dollar by over 90%, since it started to manage the money supply in 1914.
If the Koch brothers are looking for an easily malleable guy, I think they have found one.
I've never heard Cain's radio show, but I used to hear him guest host for Neal Boortz when I used to listen to that show. The reason I stopped listening to Boortz is about the same reason I pay no heed to Cain: they're both empty suits; blissfully ignorant of their own double-speak, capable of holding two completely opposite opinions at the same time. They will both speak negatively for 20 minutes about how government is too big, too intrusive, too expensive, and then spend the next 20 minutes telling you all the positive things that would result for more government, higher taxes, and a bigger military.
ReplyDeleteWenzel –
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that you, a huge believer in self-determination, completely ignore the concept of his, as you characterize in a most pejorative way, “rant”.
All he’s saying is if you want to know about the Fed, fine, do some due diligence. This is the internet age. In eight hours of reading, you can be damn near dangerous on just about ANY topic.
And that’s the problem with our world: people want to be led to water AND have their water served to them.
“Audit the Fed”. The subconscious notion people have with this idea is that someone is going to go out, do some digging around, and report back to them with some neatly wrapped 50 page report that FINALLY helps them understand what the Fed does. As if there’s not already a gazillion pages of info on the Fed already on the internet…
Think I’m full of shit? Walk down the street and ask anyone if they think Fed s/b audited. Be prepared for the emphatic “hell yes!”. Then, ask them what they SPECIFICALLY would like to be the scope & focus of the audit. Be prepared for the deer in the headlights look.
Phil Gramm was right, Bob. We’re a nation of whiners. And all you do is propagate that mindset when you condemn a most-noble trait like “due your own diligence”.
I tell people if a candidate wants to run for office, make sure you ask them to sign a pledge that they would strongly support an audit of the fed cartel. If the candidate wouldn't sign a pledge or dismisses the audit as unnecessary, then look elsewhere for a candidate that would support and push for a comprehensive audit that includes discount window operations, and everything under the sun. Ron Paul/Rand Paul 2012! Truly historical!
ReplyDelete"...here’s the advice I’ve given to people who are worried about an audit of the Federal Reserve; call ‘em up, and ask ‘em if you can stop by and have one of their PR people or one of their Public Relations people explain to you how the Federal Reserve operates."
ReplyDeleteYou know, Cain is absolutely right. And while we're at it, why don't we quit wasting money on this fancy court system? If you suspect that a guy has committed a crime, there's no reason to waste time and money investigating him and trying him in court. Just ask him if he did it. If he says "yes", then lock him up. If he says "no", then you've obviously got the wrong guy.
"You know, Cain is absolutely right. And while we're at it, why don't we quit wasting money on this fancy court system? If you suspect that a guy has committed a crime, there's no reason to waste time and money investigating him and trying him in court. Just ask him if he did it. If he says "yes", then lock him up. If he says "no", then you've obviously got the wrong guy."
ReplyDelete^^^^ Comment of the week, IMO. What does Cain think the Fed is gonna do for someone who just walks through its doors and asks for an audit? Does he think they'll just open their books to him and show him all the banks and dealers they've done business with, including accurate figures?
Note to the Anonymous @ 10:52. Saying that the average guy can't articulate to you the specifics of the audit isn't an argument against the reasons to audit the fed. Thats a logical fallacy called an appeal to majority, or Argumentum ad populum. Also perhaps you should grow a pair and use a real name when you post.
Cain is useful in one respect. He divides the real from the faux libertarians.
ReplyDelete