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Many of Powells harshest critics have stopped short of calling for his outright removal from the job the countrys most powerful economic position even as President Joe Biden is expected to decide on the appointment as early as September.

The divisions among progressives the one group that could make the most trouble for his reappointment provide an opening for Powell to win nomination to a second term and confirmation by the Senate, where he'd likely get support from most Republicans and moderate Democrats.

There is a lot of fear about being on the wrong side of the nomination fight if he is reappointed, said Jeff Hauser, director of Revolving Door Project, a leading voice against Powell, explaining why progressives haven't been more vocal in opposition. He argued that some groups arent joining the fight because theyre afraid they might lose influence with the Fed if Powell stays, an outcome that some see as inevitable because no firm challenger has emerged.

Hauser is part of a coalition of financial regulation advocates and climate activists who warn of the dangers of giving Powell a second term. But organizations more focused on the Feds interest rate policy and its full employment mandate are pretty sympathetic, said Skanda Amarnath, executive director of the group Employ America.

Its kinda like, Wow, this guy seems pretty aligned with what we want to do, Amarnath said.

Powell, who was first appointed to the Fed board by former President Barack Obama, won overwhelming bipartisan support for his confirmation in the Senate in 2018 after former President Donald Trump tapped him to become chair. Biden still might not opt to reappoint him, given the potential for angering key Democratic constituencies, including climate groups. But the pull could also be strong to keep an incumbent who has helped shepherd the economy through a pandemic and has the confidence of financial markets.

For now, many progressive lawmakers who will be key to Powells reappointment prospects, including Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have been critical of the Fed chief but have not explicitly called for him to be replaced.

Its an approach that stands in stark contrast to previous nomination fights, such as in 2013, when former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers was the favorite to be nominated as Fed chair under Obama. Brown and Warren led a successful effort to push for Janet Yellen instead, a campaign that started as early as July of that year.

Brown holds a powerful hand since his committee will vet any Fed nominees. Hes using that influence, in part, to try to guide the full slate of open positions on the central bank, which include vice chair of supervision, which oversees regulations; and vice chair, a key voice on monetary policy.

Senator Brown will work with the Biden Administration to ensure our financial regulators not only reflect our nations diversity but are also ready to stand up to Wall Street, address income inequality and systemic racism, and make our economy more just for workers, his office said in a statement.

Brown would back Lisa Cook, an African-American professor of economics at Michigan State University, for one of the open Fed seats, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Some on the left have explicitly targeted Powell. Ocasio-Cortez along with others like Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) issued a strong statement on Monday calling for him to be replaced.

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.

They acknowledged that the Fed under Powell has made positive changes by steering the central bank toward a greater emphasis on reaching full employment. But they said they want to see someone in charge who is more aggressive on financial regulation and climate change.

Yet the statement comes late in the process. It also underscores that few other lawmakers have publicly taken the same step. Warren in a recent interview with Bloomberg TV declined to formally call on Biden to dump Powell, though she said she wanted someone who was effective on both monetary policy and financial regulation.

My concern is that, over and over, he has weakened regulation, she said of Powell. We need someone who understands and uses both the monetary policy tools and the regulatory tools to keep our economy safe.

She also praised Fed board member Lael Brainards strong and powerful dissents against some of the Feds recent deregulation, though she didnt explicitly endorse her candidacy for chair.

Powell, pressed by Brown at a July hearing about some of the Feds deregulation, said banks still have a healthy amount of capital, pointing to the central banks moves during the pandemic to limit shareholder payouts by the biggest lenders. So, the financial system is strong, and the banks are strong, he said.

Allies of Brown and Warren say they have ways they can sway regulatory policy within and beyond the Fed, having helped install candidates such as Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who is seen as a strong check on Wall Street.

Warren has worked behind the scenes to place a small army of her former aides in key government roles, including Bharat Ramamurti as deputy director of the White House National Economic Council and Julie Siegel as Treasury deputy chief of staff. There are signs of Browns fingerprints as well in nominees like Graham Steele, a former aide to the senator who has been tapped for a key Treasury job.

Pressure from the left has largely focused on policies that progressives would like to see the Fed carry out, rather than campaigns for or against any particular candidate, though much of it is implicitly anti-Powell.

For us, the issue is less who is appointed than what their agenda is, said Benjamin Dulchin, director of the Fed Up Campaign, an influential coalition of labor and community groups.

Dulchin suggested the message was meant just as much for the president: push for a greater commitment from the Fed to help disadvantaged Americans and hold Wall Street accountable.

Whoever Biden appoints, whether its Powell or somebody else, its important that they come into that position with a clear understanding from Biden of what additional steps he as president would like to see the Fed take, he said.

Still, some of the progressive opposition to Powell has been public and vehement. Groups like Revolving Door Project and Action Center for Race and the Economy have joined with climate activists to push against a second term for the Fed chief.

Climate groups argue that the Fed should use its regulatory powers to slow the flow of money to the fossil fuel industry, while groups that support strong financial regulation like Americans for Financial Reform and Better Markets have put out extensive reports outlining where they think Powell has fallen short.

Deregulation under Powell needlessly and dangerously made the financial system significantly less safe, according to a report from Better Markets, which has been highly critical of Powell but has not formally come out against him.

Some others who have been quieter would also prefer someone other than Powell. The clearest option is Brainard; progressive groups across the spectrum of policy issues say they could accept the prospect of her being elevated to chair. But the campaign on her behalf has been muted.

There is a bunch of quiet support behind the scenes for Brainard that would become very vocal if she were chosen as chair, said Justin Guay, director of global climate strategy at the Sunrise Project.

But opposition is mounting against the prospect of Brainard being named as the Feds regulatory chief alongside Powell as chair, underscoring that their trust of her only goes so far. Thats not what were looking for, Fed Ups Dulchin said.

As for Powell, even within organizations, views of him might differ. Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, penned an enthusiastic defense of the Fed chair earlier this year. Revolving Door Project one of Powells most prominent detractors is part of the center.

And a sizable faction on the left argues that a push toward full employment, including for Black people who have historically seen unemployment at twice the rate of white people, is by far the most important job of the central bank.

"President Bidens litmus test for the next Fed Chair must be whether the nominee will commit to creating a high-pressure enough labor market to narrow racial gaps in wages and employment, said Lindsay Owens, executive director of progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative and a former senior adviser to Warren.

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Clash among progressives is boosting the Fed chiefs path to keeping his job - POLITICO

A San Francisco social justice warrior has very little in common with a New York City cop. Yet they are both voting Democrat. They both wrap themselves in the flag of 'liberalism' but the social authoritarians who dominate the fringe arm of liberalism - progressives - are actually ruining it, argues The Economist.

Whereas classic liberals want to give people a chance to compete - by eliminating monopolies or creating unions - progressives want to force everyone into economic misery, and the more you make the more you must suffer. 'Justice' must be imposed against whoever becomes the target of the moment. Liberals believe in separation of powers, a tenet of America, whereas progressives want power centralized with them. Anyone who is declared a cultural apostate must achieve their vision of ideological purity or be no-platformed and canceled, which includes allies who they have decided have transgressed. If that reads like The Inquisition, well, yeah.

The article rightly quotes Milton Friedman, who said society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither and rightly so. By crippling some in order to favor others, progressives are creating discrimination. Social justice just becomes bigotry and coercion under a fake name.

You should also read this because this critical thinking is a welcome switch from a few weeks ago when they tried to write about science and looked ridiculous declaring chewing gum is plastic - the kind of provocative claim progressives make in every area. Here is hoping the publication learns to see it in science as clearly as they do politics.

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Economist: Progressives Are Ruining Liberalism - Science 2.0

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

Progressives are firing warning shots right back at Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), who is demandingthat Democrats put a strategic pause on the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill.

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Manchin is trotting out the old centrist hobby horses inflation! runaway public debt! as his rationales for slowrolling the $3.5 trillion centerpiece of Democrats agenda.

The Houses Jan. 6 select committee included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in its request to telecommunication companies this week seeking to preserve lawmakers records, according to CNN and Politico.

Republicans in Florida, South Dakota, and Arkansas have already pounced on the conservative Supreme Courts greenlighting of Texas Draconian anti-abortion law.

Five Justices Did This Because They Could The Atlantic

More than 60 people have died in eight states from Hurricane Ida and her aftermath, including the flash flooding unleashed inNew York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

The Washington Post lays out how most of the supposedly neutral military experts who show up on cable news to complain about the withdrawal from Afghanistan are ex-defense officials who were responsible for the U.S.s disastrous operations in the first place or are otherwise just plain hungry for war.

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Progressives Tell Manchin To Stick It - TPM

Progressive groups are gearing up to promote President BidenJoe BidenHouse panel advances 8B defense bill Democrats defeat GOP effort to declare 'lost confidence' in Biden after Afghanistan withdrawal House committee moves to block private funds for National Guard deployments MORE's proposals on tax hikes for wealthy individuals and corporations as Democrats in Congress move forward with drafting a multitrillion-dollar social spending package.

Biden and congressional Democrats aim to pay for new spending in areas such as education, health care and climate through those tax increases. But business groups are funding a lobbying blitz against the proposals, targeting Democratic lawmakers who have raised concerns about the tax plans.

Progressive advocacy organizations and labor groups hope to counteract K Streets lobbying push and keep Democrats united. They're arguing that proposals to raise taxes on wealthy people and corporations are in line with public sentiment.

Taxing the rich is incredibly popular, and so I think we need to remind some Democrats about that, said Maura Quint, executive director of the progressive group Tax March. Ultimately, I do believe that Democrats in general support Bidens plans.

Congressional Democrats are in the process of crafting a massive bill that could include as much as $3.5 trillion in new spending and tax cuts and would advance much of Bidens economic agenda. The House is scheduled to start committee markups of portions of the package on Thursday.

Biden and Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiCawthorn to introduce resolution condemning political violence after warning of 'bloodshed' if elections are 'rigged' Pelosi's office rips McCarthy's silence over Cawthorn's 'bloodshed' comment Raskin writing memoir about Jan. 6, son's suicide MORE (D-Calif.) have expressed a desire to pay for the full cost of the bill, and the president has proposed a series of ways to offset costs by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations and by strengthening IRS enforcement efforts.

No Republicans are expected to vote for the bill, meaning nearly every Democratic House member and every Democratic senator will need to back the package in order for it to land on Bidens desk. To make that happen, Democratic leaders will need to incorporate tax increases that can garner support from moderate and progressive lawmakers alike.

Some Democrats have already taken issue with several of Bidens tax proposals, including those that would raise the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, increase taxes on U.S. multinational corporations foreign earnings and increase taxes on capital gains.

These proposals have drawn even greater criticism from business groups, who argue that they would hurt the economy. Business lobbyists haveexpressed confidence that they will be able to convince Democrats to water down their proposed tax increases.

Progressive groups are seeking to push back on criticisms of specific aspects of Bidens proposals.

For example, the Center for American Progress (CAP) released a report this week, which the White House highlighted, that makes the case for Bidens proposal to tax capital gains at death.

Those affected by the Biden proposal will not be family farmers or family business owners, but rather the heirs of stockholders, bondholders, and landlords, the report said. The working class will be protected, even as the passive rich will not.

CAPs report came after some congressional Democrats from agriculture-heavy areas raised concerns about the capital gains proposal and as lobbyists have signaled they want to dismantle it.

Last week, former Sen. Heidi HeitkampMary (Heidi) Kathryn HeitkampBusiness groups aim to divide Democrats on .5T spending bill On The Money: Powell signals Fed will soon cut stimulus Ex-Democratic senator launches effort to advocate against capital gains proposal MORE (D-N.D.)launched a new group that is advocating against taxing capital gains at death. She drew quick criticism from progressives, who pointed to comments shemade on ABC News earlier this year when she criticized the "stepped-up basis" tax break benefiting heirs. Bidens proposal would end that tax break.

When asked about the contrast Wednesday, Heitkamp said on CNBC that she supports capital gains reforms but doesnt like the idea of taxing unrealized capital gains.

Another of Bidens proposals that progressives are defending is his plan to raise taxes on corporations foreign earnings.

After a group of 11 Democrats, including several members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, raised concerns last month about dramatically increasing a U.S. minimum tax on foreign earnings, a group of labor organizations wrote to committee Chairman Richard NealRichard Edmund NealDemocrats brace for new spending fights over Biden agenda Pelosi sets up risky House vote to deem .5T budget approved On The Money: White House rules out extension of pandemic jobless aid | Treasury: Few small business owners will see tax hikes MORE (D-Mass.) advocating for raising taxes on multinationals.

We must not waste this historic opportunity to crack down on offshore corporate tax avoidance and align our tax rules with the interests of working people rather than the ultra-wealthy and multinational corporations, the labor groups, which included the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), wrote.

Labor unions and wealthy individuals who back Bidens proposed tax increases are publicizing their support for his plans.

"For too long, workers have shouldered too much of the burden," said AFSCME President Lee Saunders. "Now its time for the wealthy to step up and pay their fair share.

A group of more than 200 millionaires and corporate leaders sent a letter to congressional leaders on Wednesday highlighting their support for several of Bidens proposals, including capital gains and a 28 percent corporate tax rate.

It would defy common sense not to have those of us who make the most, have the most, and would suffer the least do marginally more to secure our nations future, the group wrote in their letter, which was organized by the advocacy organization Voices for Progress. Bidens tax plan does just that.

Another group of wealthy Americans, called the Patriotic Millionaires, is talking to congressional offices to highlight their support for tax increases.

The Patriotic Millionaires are telling lawmakers that we would prefer to not live in a country with a few rich people and lots of poor people, said Morris Pearl, the groups chair and a former BlackRock managing director.

Progressives acknowledged that they face challenges in uniting Democratic lawmakers around Bidens proposed tax increases, given the lobbying against the proposals from the business community.

Business groups and corporations spent nearly $1.5 billion on lobbying on all issues in the first half of this year, which greatly exceeds the roughly $22 million in spending by labor groups and $81 million in spending by liberal and conservative groups, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Clearly what is happening is that some lawmakers are responding to a lobbying campaign by corporations and very wealthy people, and that campaign is really kicking into gear now, said Steve Wamhoff, director of federal tax policy at the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Progressives hope that Democratic lawmakers will be convinced to stand behind tax increases on high earners and corporations in light of polls that show that the public supports higher taxes on those groups.

Raising taxes on the wealthy and big corporations is not just popular across the country, but also in battleground districts, said Bryan Bennett, senior director of polling analytics at the Hub Project and an adviser to the left-leaning polling firm Navigator Research.

Damon Silvers, senior strategic adviser and special counsel to the president at the AFL-CIO, said that proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations are easy to get union members to support.

Union members want to see their elected officials do this, he said.

Frank Clemente, executive director of the progressive group Americans for Tax Fairness, said his group is trying to convince lawmakers that the tax issue isnt vinegar. Instead, the public views higher taxes on the rich and corporations more like sugar, he said.

Karl Evers-Hillstrom contributed reporting.

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Progressives prepare to launch counterattack in tax fight | TheHill - The Hill

The Federal Reserve chair is liberal on employment and has cred on inflation. The left would be crazy to risk this quasi ally for the unlikely chance that theyd get someone more to their liking on banking regulation.

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives to speak at a news conference in Washington, Wednesday, December 19, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

On Monday, five progressive House members called on President Joe Biden not to reappoint Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve. Their concern is that Powell has taken very little action to mitigate the risk climate change poses to our financial system and has substantially weakened many of the reforms enacted in the wake of the Great Recession regulating the largest banks.

Even if these are fair criticisms, they are the wrong grounds on which to remove Powell from the helm of the central bank. With the already enacted American Rescue Plan and the forthcoming Build Back Better social spending bill, Biden is making a multi-trillion-dollar bet on progressivism. But if the enactment of the presidents agenda is followed by an extended period of inflation, the entire progressive project will be discredited for a generation. Last Friday, the Biden administration more than doubled its estimate for this years degree of inflation, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released data showing that a key inflation measure had risen to its highest level in 30 years.

What progressives need at the Fed is someone they can count on to make a tough call on interest rates if necessary, so inflation doesnt get out of handeven if a rate hike is hard for progressives to swallow.

Progressives are actually divided over Powell precisely because he has been an inflation dove while taking a moderate-to-conservative tack on other matters.

The progressive groups Americans for Financial Reform and the Revolving Door Project recently published harsh critiques of Powell, who was appointed Fed chair by Donald Trump after being selected as a Fed board member by Barack Obama. As the AFR put it, The Powell Fed contributed mightily to the overall assault by Trump-appointed regulators on bank regulations designed to prevent financial crises.

The progressive economist Dean Baker delivered an able defense of the Fed leader, crediting Powell for moving the Fed away from its obsession with inflation, which often meant raising rates and throwing people out of work. Instead, Baker continued, Powell wants the Fed to target full employment and only raise rates once we see the sort of unemployment rates we had before the pandemic. Baker further argued that the Fed chair position is not critical to the pursuit of stronger financial regulation: Firing Powell because he has not been good on regulation would be like dumping the great pitcher Bob Gibson from the team because he wasnt a good base runner. Mike Konczal of the progressive Roosevelt Institute praised Powell for executing a Revolution in Macroeconomic Policy and counseled activists that one of the crucial battles this year . . . is ensuring that the changes Powell put into motion over the past several years become embedded in the everyday policy and practices of the Federal Reserve.

Powell is no inflation hawk. Just last week, he maintained that recent price increases appear temporary and do not warrant monetary tightening. But he also laid out criteria for determining when inflation would require a policy shift. For example, Powell and his team at the Fed are now monitoring a range of measures meant to capture whether price increases for particular items are spilling over into broad-based inflation. They are watching whether wages move materially and persistently above the levels of productivity gains and inflation to the point where businesses would likely pass those increases on to customers, creating a wage-price spiral. And they are looking out for common patterns across [inflationary] measures, because measures of inflation expectations are individually noisy.

If sustained higher inflation were to become a serious concern, Powell concluded, the Fed would certainly respond and use our tools to assure that inflation runs at levels that are consistent with our goal.

Knowing exactly when it is time to pivot toward fighting inflation is hardly an exact science, as Powell is all too aware. He noted that central banks have always faced the problem of distinguishing transitory inflation spikes from more troublesome developments. Reappointing Powell doesnt guarantee inoculation from inflation. Inflation hawks, mostly conservative, would probably ditch him as fast, if not faster, than Powells progressive critics.

But progressives, to protect progressivism, should want someone leading the Fed who, unencumbered by ideological blinders, is willing to raise interest rates. Without someone minding the monetary store, robust social spending and an activist government risk being tagged as incongruous with economic stability, dooming any hope for aggressive action on climate change, bank regulation, and just about everything else progressives consider essential.

Powell isnt infallible. But there isnt anyone else out there who has a bipartisan background, is easily confirmable, holds a progressive view on full employment, and retains the capacity to take inflation seriously should the need arise.

Progressives are already on the verge of a major breakthrough with the likelihood that Biden signs into law a massive bill expanding government support of preschool education, community colleges, elder care, renewable energy, and health coveragealong with an extension of the poverty-busting expanded child tax credit. Making sure those reforms stick should be progressives number one priority. Biden has already made one very big bet. Theres no need to roll the dice on a new Fed chief.

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Why Progressives Should Want Powell to Stay at the Fed - Washington Monthly