The Republicans are now attacking the Federal Reserve's Dual Mandate. What is the Dual Mandate? Only one of the last progressive pieces of legislation enacted before the Reagan Revolution, a cherished goal of progressive hero Hubert Humphrey. Simply put the Dual Mandate is the mission that Congress told the Fed to do when it gave the Fed its power:
The Fed has a dual mandate, which is full employment subject to price stability. So basically, we want to get the unemployment rate as low as possible, consistent with a very low inflation rate.
That is, according to law, the Fed currently can't just do anything it wants. It is required to try and bring down unemployment as much as possible, so long as it doesn't create inflation.
Now, there are a lot of ways to criticize the the Fed's particular actions. But recently Republicans have started saying that creating jobs shouldn't be a goal: repealing the Dual Mandate.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a key member of the Senate Banking Committee, became on Monday the latest Republican to propose that the central bank stop worrying itself with the jobless crisis.
"It is time that we work to clarify the mandate of the Federal Reserve," Corker said in a statement. "Providing our central bank with a clear and explicit focus on keeping inflation low will serve America better than the broader mandate approach we have today."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Corker's not alone:
Corker’s comments come on the heels of a legislative push by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) to limit the central bank. Pence on Monday announced he would introduce a bill that would require the Fed to focus exclusively on keeping inflation low.
In short? Screw you America, full employment shouldn't be a goal. Creating jobs shouldn't be a goal.
They campaigned on not enough jobs in the last election, and but now they oppose any action that would actually create jobs. They opposed fiscal stimulus, and now they oppose monetary stimulus.
Not because they have a better plan-- they don't, and they don't make much of an attempt to argue otherwise. They've said it explicitly now: they oppose the goal of job creation, period. This is economic treason. I can't believe that Obama and the Democrats are not seizing on this issue and fighting it full barrel.
Here's the truth:
Republicans don't want jobs created. They don't want economic recovery. What they want is to return to full power.