Conservatives should get Their Facts Straight before Criticizing QE2

You talkin' to me?

It seems the Federal Reserve's latest proposed move to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment isn't that popular with the GOP. On Wednesday, the party's leadership sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke expressing concern that the plan to purchase an additional $600 billion worth of U.S. Treasury bonds might produce “hard-to-control, long-term inflation.” Nothing in the available economic data, however, even hints at an uptick in inflation.

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Court Rules Fed Must Release Bailout Recipient Names

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan handed down a ruling ordering the Federal Reserve to give up the names of the financial firms that used the Fed's emergency lending window during the financial meltdown in 2008. Bloomberg News requested the names in November 2008 through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which the Fed denied. The Fed argued that releasing this data would discourage companies from using the program, as it would essentially identify which banks were in danger of failing. With its ruling, the Appeals court rejected this argument, and upheld a lower court ruling also ordering the Fed to disclose recipient names.

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Bernanke Gives GAO Permission to Do Something It Already Can Do

This past Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wrote a letter to the Government Accountability Office, calling for an audit of "all aspects of our involvement in the extension of credit to AIG." The letter sparked a storm of interest, with pundits saying it was a move by Bernanke towards supporting increased Fed transparency, a hot topic these days as Bernanke waits for the Senate to confirm his new term as Fed chair (waiting which is getting harder...). There were literally hundreds of articles about the letter, with every major news outlet writing it up, making the letter a major piece of news.

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Bernanke Endorsed by Senate Banking Committee, Supports Limited Fed Audit

Yesterday, in a bipartisan vote, the Senate Banking Committee approved Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's nomination to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman. The vote wasn't in any doubt, although the closeness of the margin, 16 to 7, does indicate the contentiousness of Bernanke's nomination. The nomination now heads to the Senate floor, where, barring some crazy unforeseen calamity, he will be nominated to another four year term in January.

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Frank Declares Support for Auditing the Fed

In a positive sign for transparency advocates everywhere, on Monday the Wall Street Journal reported that House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) is expressing support for Congressman Ron Paul's (R-TX) bill authorizing the Government Accountability Office to audit the Federal Reserve. While it may seem to be the most unholy of unions (the gay liberal from Massachusetts partnering with the archconservative from Texas), this is one of those rare policy areas where almost every politician can agree.

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TARP'd Banks Back Getting Back in the Lending Game?

The Treasury Department released its June Monthly Bank Lending Survey, and the results are...mixed. Overall, outstanding loan balances for the 22 banks receiving TARP funds fell by 1 percent in June, but the new loan originations increased by 13 percent. Looking closer at the data reveals that outstanding loans to consumers fell by 1 percent, while new loans to consumers increased by 9.7 percent in the same period.

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"Not Consistent With Independence"

On Sunday (July 26) Federal Reserve Bank chief Ben Bernanke sat down with Jim Lehrer of PBS's News Hour to defend recent bold actions of the central bank to shore the nation's financial system. Specifically, Congress and many Americans question the wisdom of engineering a $29 billion bailout of Bear Stearns (as competitor Lehman Brothers lay dying in a pool of its own red ink); the extension of over $2 trillion in loans and loan guarantees using who-knows-what as collateral; and a doubling of the monetary base.

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Bernake Confirmed as Chairman of the Federal Reserve

The Senate confirmed Ben Bernake today as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He replaces Alan Greenspan, who has stepped down after more than 18 years guiding the nation’s monetary policy. Bernake was confirmed by voice vote.

Washington Post: Federal Reserve Raises Interest Rate; Bernake Confirmed as Next Chairman

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US borrowing at record rates

Nothing new here... it's amazing that just a few years ago the Federal Reserve was trying to figure out what to do once all the debt was bought back!

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Economy and Jobs Watch

This past week, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) lowered a key interest rate, suggesting that the Fed is not confident about the quality of the “economic stimulus” in the recently passed tax cut package.

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