Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has been an interesting elected official since entering public office. He has called for more government, more welfare spending and now he wants more money-printing from the Federal Reserve.
Sanders, who has been accused of being a diehard socialist, recently spoke with CNBC to demand the Fed and its European counterpart to bail out his socialist peers in Greece after the latest election and decision by the European Central Bank (ECB).
What’s hypocritical is that individuals like Sanders detest the Fed for bailing out financial institutions, but love it when they bail out everyone else around the world, including socialist/Marxist/communist governments and officials.
He made two distinctive points in his remarks to the business news outlet: the Fed provided trillions of dollars to the ECB at the height of the financial collapse and that the Nazis could come to power if austerity continues to engulf the troubled nation.
In other words, if the Fed doesn’t assist Greece then the Nazis could rise up from the ashes of obscurity.
The video is below and here is a transcription of his entire comments on the situation:
The party that came in third place in the recent elections is a Nazi party, and if the new government is unable to implement the anti-austerity policies that it campaigned on, it is going to make a sham of Greek democracy, and you’re going to have a Nazi party there, saying to the people Democracy doesn’t matter, certain powers…
In 2008, during the world financial crisis, did you know the Fed, in short term loans, made trillions of dollars available to the ECB — the European Central Bank. The Fed could have said hey guys you’re on your own, but the Fed correctly did not. It understood the significance of what a worldwide financial collapse would be about.
I think it is absolutely imperative that the ECB, the Troika in Europe, work with the Greek government, not in an austerity program which punishes people who are already suffering. But a pro-growth policy which enables them to create jobs, expand their economy, and pay off their debts…
I want [Federal Reserve Chair Janet] Yellen to make the European Central Bank aware that the Fed has provided significant, and continues to provide significant support to them. That President Obama was very strong saying last week that when a country is in the midst of a Depression like Greece, there is a limit to how far you can squeeze them. And I hope that she would make the ECB aware of that…
When they were in need during the Great Financial Crisis, the Fed was there for them. This for me is not just an economic issue., If you look at what happened in Germany after world war one, the allies imposed real austerity through the Versailles Treaty. The various Democratic governments that followed in the Weimar Republic were unable to deal with the horrendous economic conditions in Germany. Hitler came to power. I trust no one wants to see a Nazi Party to come to power in Greece…
What happens in Greece could be a prelude to what will happen in Italy and Spain. There is massive opposition to austerity programs being imposed all over Europe. To be honest I’m not a fan of his…
You’ve got a new government which won a new election on a new program, and to deny them the ability to implement the policies that people voted for is, I think an economic mistake, and even more importantly, a political mistake.
In the U.S. we have a 12.3% combined payroll tax that hurts jobs and workers. In Greece the rate is 44%. In the U.S. workers spend 13% of wages on food. In Greece they have to spend 31%.
It is foolish for a government to provide so many benefits when it should first be providing jobs. In Greece the unemployment rate is 28% (and for young people the rate is 60%). Greece needs to pull out of the EU, print its own money and prove to the world what socialism can accomplish.