AOC and The Squad Want to Replace Fed Chair Because He Isn't Fighting Climate Change

Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, is printing money faster than any previous Fed chair in history. That’s not all his fault, of course. Congress dictates how much cash the Federal Reserve has to print to keep our debtors in foreign countries happy.

But Powell’s easy money policies have helped grow the economy — in the short term. Eventually, the game of fiscal musical chairs will end and the taxpayers are likely to end up with no place to sit.

Still, would you rather have a Fed chair who meets with Donald Trump’s approval or the approval of Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y)?

AOC and her radical gang of Squad members are calling on Joe Biden not to name Powell to another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The reasons are, as is typical, ludicrous. Powell may have presided over the economic disaster of the pandemic, but AOC thinks his greatest sin is that he is insufficiently enthusiastic about preparing the country for the day when the economy is destroyed by climate change.

Politico:

“As news of the possible reappointment of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell circulates, we urge President Biden to re-imagine a Federal Reserve focused on eliminating climate risk and advancing racial and economic justice,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement to POLITICO. “We urge the Biden Administration to use this opportunity to appoint a new Federal Reserve Chair.”

How, pray tell, can the chairman of the Federal Reserve “eliminate climate risk”? It will be hard enough for the next woke Fed chair to advance the cause of racial and economic justice. But eliminating the risk of climate change is a pretty tall order for anyone — even a Fed chair.

It’s like asking the CEO of GM or Ford to end world hunger. It’s a ridiculous standard that only radical ignoramuses like AOC and her squad buddies could imagine.

“Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve has taken very little action to mitigate the risk climate change poses to our financial system,” said Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Tlaib (Mich.) and Pressley (Mass.), all of whom sit on the House Financial Services Committee. Reps. Chuy García (D-Ill.), another committee member, and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) also signed on.

“At a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is warning of the potential catastrophic and irreversible damage inflicted by a changing climate, we need a leader at the helm that will take bold and decisive action to eliminate climate risk,” they said.

Question: What can a Fed chairman do to mitigate the risk of climate change? It’s like asking King Canute to command the tides not to come in. It’s insane.

Fortunately, most in Congress don’t feel the same way. Powell has gotten bipartisan support from Republicans and Democrats in the Senate and opposition to renaming him has suffered from a lack of viable alternatives.

Powell’s fate will depend on how badly Biden believes he needs the support of the radicals. If Biden is in political trouble because of the withdrawal from Afghanistan or the mess at the border, he would gladly throw Powell under the bus to secure radical support for his agenda.