Originally published at: How Trump’s Attack on Jerome Powell has Royally Backfired - TPM – Talking Points Memo
President Donald Trump’s attempts to intimidate the Federal Reserve into doing whatever he says have so far done much more harm than good for the president. Trump has, over the past year, sought to use social media threats and grumbles in the press to intimidate the Federal Reserve Board of Governors into lowering interest rates…
(At this point, there are indications that even [Wall Street is starting to turn]
Wow, the Street is really quick, I mean who would have guessed that the guy who bankrupted 4 or 5 casinos really should not be close to the Federal Reserve.
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Arabic proverb: They asked the pharaoh, “What made you a tyrant?” He said, “No one stopped me.”
We all have to do what DJT’s parents could never do, i.e. say “NO” to him. Stop Trump!! He is entering lame duck status, and hopefully the midterms will make him even “lamer” and grind his agenda and antics to a halt.
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Tyrant Trump decided to go all the way in term 2 with outrageous self-dealing because when he did it before “nobody cared”.
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Feels like we’re discovering that the greatest obstacle to Trump getting what he wants may be his own consistently shambolic incompetence, mirrored in so many of his flunkies. Alas, this is not always good news (see the Iran war).
The guy is just very very bad at what he does, even when measured by his own definitions of what counts as doing well.
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What may be said about the Republican Party?
They follow a loser who has had 6 bankrupties and a number of other bussiness failures.
Does this mean they are more stupid then their leader and will follow him into Hell?
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What he does is grift, and he’s doing splendidly at that.
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In a word, yes.
They THINK a lot more of themselves as more rational, influential and intelligent than they actually are. They are really NOT serious people.
Most ReThugs are willfully ignorant, short-sighted people - full stop. They do not know HOW TO GOVERN and they don’t really care to learn how to govern. They are the short bus, “let them eat cake” people who would have ended up with their head in the Guillotine during the French Revolution.
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Re: following Trump into hell. Don’t hang out too close to him, especially at Mara-Leggo and at White House functions. Any day now, the earth beneath him may open up and he’ll get dragged down to the infernal fires. Like Don Juan in Don Giovanni.
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Technically, all the Fed Chair does is chair the meetings the power comes from the other members believing in their leadership. With another (sane) center of power available, whoever gets appointed as chair (if anyone does) my just be an empty seat.
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God bless Jerome Powell. The way he has quietly stood his ground to protect the independence of the Fed is inspiring. We’ve seen too many people and institutions cave in to Trump’s pressure. Powell’s dignity and courage have been remarkable.
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Chairing the meetings comes with a couple of fairly powerful responsibilities: setting the meeting agendas and subcommittee appointments. Yes, the board’s agenda can be modified by the membership, but that’s pretty cumbersome.
With Powell on the Board of Governors, he could act as a shadow chair and prepare a substitute agenda to replace whatever sycophant Drumpf appoints. Subcommittee appointments are subject to the approval of the other members and so that’s blockable, too. I don’t know if the Fed operates under Roberts’ Rules, but if they do the chair only votes to break ties. Being Chairman of the Federal Reserve would not be much fun under those conditions.
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That the thing: if the rest of the group is with you, or not strongly opposed, then the chair is a powerful position. If a majority opposes the chair, not so much. Then the chair can just make things harder for the majority. AFAIK the chair has a vote in Fed deliberations. (although that’s also complicated because when one says deliberations/meetings it’s not always clear whether the reference is to the Board of Governors, which is based only in DC, or to the FOMC, which includes a rotating cast of regional bank presidents. It’s quite probably they operate under different rules.)
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Practically, though, opposing the chair requires a leader. That’s especially true in an organization that is itself made up of leaders: it is a lot like herding cats.
I can see Powell as a successful cat-herder. Based on Drumpf’s history and priorities I think his Chair-designate is unlikely to be a successful cat-herder.
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