Left and Right vs. The Center

"Sen. Bernie Sanders can seem like a character from another era with his rumpled suits and oratory about economic justice. But his anger at bankers and Wall Street runs high, Congress's only self-declared socialist is moving to center stage. ... Mr. Sander's amendment, which is likely to be voted on within days, is worrying White House officials, who say it would violate the central bank's independence and cripple its ability to protect the economy. ... The amendment has drawn an unusally broad alliance of backers. Mr. Sanders's 19 co-sponsors include such liberals as Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) and conservatives like Sen. Jim DeMint (R., SC). The measure is supported with equal fervor by the AFL-CIO labor union and the conservative lobby group Americans for Tax Reform. ... 'Nobody in America, or very few people, think that makes any sense at all,' he said. 'Putting trillions of dollars at risk, and you don't know who got it, who made the decisions, the possible conflicts of interests, what they did with it?' ... Critics say the auditors would be able to interview Fed policy makers and staffers and monetary-policy decisions, a scenario they say would weaken investors' confidence that decisions are free from politicial influence. ... 'One of the great strengths of our financial structure is that we keep monetary policy separate from the political winds of the day,' Sen. Judd Gregg (R., NH) said in an interview. 'That was the whole idea in setting up the Fed'," my emphasis, Naftali Bendavid at the WSJ, 5 May 2010, link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704866204575224591171078912.html.

Amazing. I agree with Sanders. Kill this monster. Is Gregg crazy? I now have 2012's winning ticket: Putin-Sanders!