Monday, December 6, 2010

Senator Sanders Hot on the Heels of the Fed

The anti-Fed movement has an ally, at least for the time being, in Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders, who considers himself a socialist, is asking for a bunch of new information from the Fed, info that anti-Fed types would love to get a look at.

According to WSJ:
 In a letter Monday to Mr. Bernanke, the senator who played a leading role in getting the Fed to unveil the loan data is demanding access to more information—including certain Fed officials' emails and phone logs as well as new details on the securities banks pledged in exchange for cheap loans.

Mr. Sanders asked about potential conflicts of interest between bank executives and Fed officials, and he asked the Fed to explain its rationale for lending to foreign banks.
He also wants to know exactly how much money the Fed lent to millionaires and billionaires during the financial crisis. He specifically asked for information on loans given to businessman H. Wayne Huizenga, billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson, Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell and Christy Mack, the wife of former Morgan Stanley chief executive John Mack and dozens of other borrowers.

"The emergency response appears to any objective observer to have been a clear case of socialism for the rich, and rugged free-market capitalism for everyone else," the Vermont Independent wrote. "Much of the information that you have provided on your website raises bigger questions than it answers, and some of the information mandated by the law appears to be missing." ...

Sen. Sanders made clear in the letter that he is disturbed by the hundreds of billions of dollars of short-term loans that went to foreign banks. He questioned Fed transactions with Bavaria and Bahrain, concerned that foreign governments and banks received loans while the economic downturn continues to weigh on small businesses and families in the U.S.


"At a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans have had their jobs shipped to Mexico, why did the Federal Reserve extend over $9.6 billion to the Central Bank of Mexico," Sen. Sanders asked in his letter.

He also wants to know why the Fed assisted companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. at a time when the American automobile sector was struggling.

Sen. Sanders argued that the Fed withheld details on the securities companies pledged as collateral. "I am disappointed that the Fed chose not to disclose all of the specific details on individual securities pledged as collateral by recipients of some $885 billion in emergency lending," he wrote. "I urge you to put this information on your website immediately."

2 comments:

  1. Sanders was one of the sponsors of the Audit the Fed bill in the Senate, and when it came the real moment to pass the law, he sold out and he went for the reduced one time disclosure.

    Sanders is a sold out, not someone to trust.

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  2. Is it possible for this to be a coup to root Ron Paul out of the sub-committee and substitute him with Sanders instead? No idea if thats even possible but sounds about right for these corrupt scum.

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