Mint

House Republicans Want To Replace $1 Bill With Gold-Plated Coins

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2011, 3:08PM

Some House Republicans have proposed a bill which would kill the 1-dollar bill and replace it with a mandated dollar coin, The Hill's Peter Kasperowicz reports.

Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and two other House Republicans introduced the Currency Optimization, Innovation and National Savings (COINS) Act last week, saying the U.S. would save $184 million a year by moving to the dollar coin.

Read more »

Federal Reserve

House Republicans Join Fed-Bashing Counterparts On Campaign Trail

Brian Beutler | September 22, 2011, 6:20AM

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)

Politicians hectoring the Federal Reserve is nothing new. Members of both parties have done it based on disagreements over myriad financial and economic issue over the years. In that way Tuesday's letter from GOP leadership to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, warning him against pursuing more monetary stimulus, was part of a storied American tradition.

In other ways it was extraordinary. This came from leaders speaking for an entire party, and more-than-plausibly represents an effort to prevent the Fed from improving the economy for political reasons.

In the end, the effort proved ineffective -- the Fed announced a new round of monetary stimulus as expected. But it exposed a widening rift between the GOP and the Fed, which until now had been limited to posturing GOP primary candidates and fringe members of the GOP caucus.

Read more »

Ben Bernanke

Federal Reserve To GOP: Take A Hike!

Brian Beutler | September 21, 2011, 2:40PM

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

Responding to the bleak economic outlook, and the weak prospects for reduced unemployment in the months ahead, the Federal Reserve has announced a new round of monetary stimulus, disregarding a Republican political push to dissuade them from tinkering with the economy.

In a new iteration of Quantitative Easing -- that Fed watchers are calling "Operation Twist" -- the Federal Reserve will swap $400 billion worth of medium term bonds for longer term bonds over the next nine months,to drive down long-term interest rates to encourage immediate investment. Separately, it will take steps to drive down mortgage interest rates.

It's the first significant action the Fed has taken to juice the economy since a modest second round of monetary stimulus ended several months ago. However, the Fed says it continues to expect unemployment to drop slowly and for inflation to remain below the target rate -- meaning it isn't attempting to spur immediate spending and investment by raising the expectation that prices will soon rise. Though the hope is that the new easing will accomplish that on its own.

Politically, the action is sure to rankle Republicans, both in the presidential primary, where chairman Ben Bernanke has become a whipping boy, and on Capitol Hill, where leaders have more cautiously criticized Fed policy.

Read the full Fed statement below the fold.

Read more »

Ben Bernanke

GOP Leaders To Bernanke: Don't Try And Improve The Economy Again

Brian Beutler | September 21, 2011, 8:59AM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

House and Senate GOP leadership are taking fire from all sides for publicly pressuring Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke not to further loosen monetary policy, even if he thinks it will help the economy.

In a Tuesday letter to Bernanke, leaked to the press, Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), ostentatiously cautioned Bernanke against providing the economy any further monetary stimulus.

"[W]e submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy, particularly without a clear articulation of the goals of such a policy, direction for success, ample data proving a case for economic action and quantifiable benefits to the American people," the Republicans write.

Read more »