Desperate Democratic Lawmakers Lambast “Aggressive” Fed’s “Apparent Disregard For Livelihoods Of Millions Of Americans”

The ranks of rebellious treasonous Democrats willing to meddle in the “independent” machinations of The Fed is growing as the countdown to the midterm meltdown continues to accelerate.

Who could have seen this coming?

In early September, we warned that The Fed’s actions mean millions of Americans are about to lose their jobs… and Democratic lawmakers will not just quietly sit by:

…due to the recency bias of Biden’s trillions in stimmies, and a world where workers – whether working form home or the office – have virtually all the leverage, few today can conceive of a world where inflation is zero or negative and is instead replaced with millions in unemployed workers, an outcome which one could (or rather should) say is even worse for the ruling democrats than roaring inflation. At least, with runaway prices, most people have a job and their wages are rising (at least nominally, if not in real terms).

However, the higher rates rise, the closer we get to that inevitable moment when the BLS – unable to kick the can any longer – admits what has been obvious to so many for months: the US is facing a labor crisis of epic proportions with millions and millions of mass layoffs.

In “Inflation and the Scariest Economics Paper of 2022“, Furman summarizes a paper written by Johns Hopkins macroeconomist Larry Ball with co-authors Daniel Leigh and Prachi Mishra of the International Monetary Fund released by the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, whose conclusion is as follows: “To bring price increases down to 2%, we may need to tolerate unemployment of 6.5% for two years.“

What does this mean in absolute numbers? 

Assuming a modest increase in the US labor force, a 6.5% unemployment rate in 2024 would translate into no less than 10.8 million unemployed workers, an 80% increase from the 6 million today!

Still think that politicians – and especially Democrats – will sit quietly and blindly ignore how high the Fed is hiking rates if it means that to normalize inflation back to 2% it means nearly doubling the number of unemployed Americans (and a crushing recession to boot). Spoiler alert: no, they won’t, and this may be one of the very rare occasions when Elizabeth Warren is actually right to worry about what the coming mass layoff wave means for Democrats… and the 2024 presidential election.

Well, surprise, surprise, here comes Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib and the rest of the progressive panderers to pressure The Fed to take its foot off the throat of the “strong as hell” economy.

Building on what Senate Baking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown recently warned last month:

“For working Americans who already feel the crush of inflation, job losses will make it much worse. We can’t risk the livelihoods of millions of Americans who can’t afford it. I ask that you don’t forget your responsibility to promote maximum employment and that the decisions you make at the next FOMC meeting reflect your commitment to the dual mandate.”

Warren et al. slam the implications of The Fed’s projected job losses from its official projections and its intention to continue raising interest rates at an “alarming pace”:

“You continue to double down on your commitment to ‘act aggressively’ with interest rate hikes and ‘keep at it until it’s done’…”

The lawmakers remind Powell that his tools are limp in the face of Putin’s price-hikes and corporate gouging…

Your “overarching focus” on “using [the Fed’s] tools to bring inflation back down to our 2 percent goal” no matter the cost is particularly troubling given the limits of interest rate hikes in addressing key drivers of today’s inflation, including lingering supply chain snarls, corporate price gouging, and the war in Ukraine.

Then they conclude with the same language that Brown used:

“These statements reflect an apparent disregard for the livelihoods of millions of working Americans, and we are deeply concerned that your interest rate hikes risk slowing the economy to a crawl while failing to slow rising prices”

They end with a series of questions that pointedly highlight the economic impact (and inequity) of The Fed’s actions, awkwardly bring up former Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida recent comments that “Until inflation comes down a lot, the Fed’s really a single-mandate central bank,” asking Powell “Do you agree with that assessment?”

“Failure is not an option for Jay Powell,” says Former Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida. “I think they’re going to 4% hell or high water. Until #inflation comes down a lot, the Fed is really a single mandate central bank.” pic.twitter.com/4hfLCVWZDP

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) September 9, 2022

Circling back to our initial thoughts, remember The Fed is apolitical and independent and anyone who tries to sway them is a treasonous traitor.

When President Trump publicly spoke about The Fed cutting rates, some former Fed officials were not happy:

“I am not pleased,” said Carl Tannenbaum, a former Chicago Fed official and chief economist at Northern Trust.

“The remarks certainly aren’t an immediate threat to Fed independence, but they break with the tradition of respectful distance.”

Randall Kroszner, a former Fed governor, said the central bank has withstood political pressure before and will continue to do so under Mr. Powell’s leadership.

“The Fed has often faced political pressures — from Congress, presidents, Treasury secretaries and innumerable outside groups,” said Mr. Kroszner, an economics professor at the University of Chicago.

“My experience at the Fed is consistent with what Jay Powell recently said — being non-political is deep in the Fed’s DNA — and I believe that Jay will keep it that way.”

But hey, it’s different this time… because “this economy is strong as hell”…

For now the market is reacting ‘with’ the politicians and shifting rate-trajectory expectations dovishly:

Read the full letter below: