I've had my disagreements with Paul Ryan's decisions in the past (namely, voting for TARP and voting for Medicare Part D), but today he issued some incredibly sensible analysis in his questioning of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The highlight, as I see it: "The Federal Reserve, whose primary goal is to manage our money, is involving itself in fiscal policy--is sort of bailing out fiscal policy, because the branch of government in charge of fiscal policy, this branch, is not doing its job. I mean, a budget hasn't passed Congress in two years."
That is correct. I vehemently disagree with Bernanke and his inflationary policies, as I've made clear here on several occasions. But as I pointed out in my post earlier this week, Bernanke is merely raising taxes (effectively, at least) where Congress has refused to do so. His constant purchases of U.S. debt have kept the federal government solvent where it otherwise would not be (by artificially depressing borrowing costs), and it is therefore disingenuous at best to see elected officials hurling barbs at Bernanke without also acknowledging their own shortcomings.
With his analysis today, Rep. Ryan showed that he at least seems to understand the dynamics at play--Bernanke may be the devil, but he's a devil of Congress' own creation. One cannot exist without the other.
(h/t The Mess That Greenspan Made)
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