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To: GraceZ who wrote (239363)	2/25/2010 11:01:34 AM
From: Think4Yourself	Respond to of 306849

The Fed is definitely more rational than Congress.

To: GraceZ who wrote (239363)	2/25/2010 11:08:35 AM
From: Joe S Pack	Respond to of 306849

I agree that what we see on Television is a show for public consumption. What they actually do after that is what matters. Asking these congress crooks to work on behalf of people is not easy as there is a constant high priced election cycle hanging in front of them from the moment they win the election. Moreover most of them are there to make a living (by any means possible) not for serving. The thing that does make the Fed subject to some level of control by Congress is that every Fed chairman lives in fear of having Congress take away their autonomy. This is what sets them apart from, say, an entity like the Supreme Court, which was set up by Constitution to be independent of both the Administrative and Legislative branches (although we've seen some egregious abuses of the separation of powers in the past 60 years). Created by Congress they can always be dismantled or taken over by the government, just like Frannie and Freddie. Aside from the show they put on for their constituents blaming the Fed for their own failures to maintain fiscal sanity, most in Congress realize that it would be a terrible mistake to make the Fed more subject to political pressure. Unlike what some here think, the primary political pressure would inevitably be more inflationary, not less. One can see that political pressure in the question answer session of the Humphrey Hawkins testimony. All while Greenspan was lowering rates or keeping rates low and then finally raising them, Congress was complaining bitterly to him that rates weren't low enough to relieve the pain in their districts and states. It reminded me of pleas at court, "Sire, my people have no bread."