It's amazing to see people like Bernie Sanders ask the questions that he does when he clearly has absolutely NO CLUE about how money and our capital markets work, let alone what the duties of the FED are, and how they are distinct from that of the U.S. Treasury. Even people like Lyndsay Graham don't look all that "sharp" in today's testimony and Q&A session. Just amazing that these are the "sharpest" guys that this Country has to offer. Kind of like listening to the Q&A session by the House Budget Committee back in the Fall of 2007 when Marci Kaptur of Ohio had no clue that Bernanke wasn't the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, and had no idea what Bernanke's background was. Made me want to sell everything that I own, at the time!
Where does it say that being a Congressman comes with a prerequisite that you are sharp? Most go into politics because they were good at one thing and one thing only - bullshitting people (and not paying taxes).
You would think that they would have a most basic of economics and money and capital markets so as to NOT EMBARRASS themselves on television. To not even know the difference between Bernanke ( from Princeton Econ Dept. ) and Pauson ( CEO of Goldman Sachs ) is appalling, and downright inexcusable.
I remember in early January the House Financial Services called in the SEC OIG (David Kotz) to testify about Madoff. The members continued to beat on Kotz about how Madoff happened and why Markopolos' evidence was not acted upon. It took Kotz about 100 tries to explain to them that his role is to investigate wrongdoing within the agency and that he is not part of the enforcement or inspection part of the agency. It wasn't until the very end that one member said "I guess we called the wrong guy here but since you are here we will have to send our message through you". Now as holding oversight of the SEC, wouldn't you think that the members would know the simpliest thing about the structure of the agency they oversee? wouldn't you think that in general the members would understand the role of Inspector General regardless of what agency they investigate? These members didn't and yet they will be re-elected when the time comes.
Its' really quite sad, and a sad reflection on this Country. So many of these elected Representatives have no clue about what the duties and operations of the FED are, as compared to the Treasury Department. Hell, some of these Reps don't even know what the term "collateral" means. People like Bernie Sanders think that anyone can simply waltz up to the Fed Discount Window and get "free" money. Harry Markopolos was right. All these govt. agencies and officials do is count the bodies and line-up the body bags after the crime has long occurred . . . Very sad.
Why were they elected, then? Mainly because the voters generally can't tell the difference between someone who understands the economy and someone who doesn't. Provided that elections are not outrightly stolen (now I'm not saying they aren't), the responsibility always comes back to the taxpaying, voting populace.
By the way, all sorts of questions about AIG and yet not one question about tax policy, not even by the Republican reps. Not even a comprehensive discussion about the TALF. Unreal.