White Culture

[webfact]

Moore, under fire, withdraws from bid for Fed post

By Ann Saphir and Koh Gui Qing

 

FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Board building on Constitution Avenue is pictured in Washington, U.S., March 19, 2019. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Economic commentator Stephen Moore has withdrawn from consideration for a seat on the U.S. Federal Reserve Board after weeks of criticism about his political partisanship, shifting views on interest rate policy, and sexist comments about women.

 

"Steve Moore, a great pro-growth economist and a truly fine person, has decided to withdraw from the Fed process," President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Steve won the battle of ideas including Tax Cuts ... and deregulation which have produced non-inflationary prosperity for all Americans. I’ve asked Steve to work with me toward future economic growth in our Country."

 

Earlier Thursday, Moore had told Bloomberg TV that he was "all in" and that he expected to be nominated within three weeks.

 

Moore, 59, was picked by Trump in March to fill one of two vacant positions at the Fed, but had not been formally nominated. Trump's other pick for the Fed, businessman Herman Cain, withdrew from consideration in mid-April after lawmakers expressed discomfort with the sexual harassment allegations that short-circuited Cain's presidential bid in 2012. Cain has denied those allegations.

 

Moore, for his part, has said his comments about women were meant as humor. On Thursday, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey agreed, and said he was "inclined to support" Moore's nomination.

 

But in a letter of resignation and in an interview on Fox Business Network, Moore said the toll the scrutiny was taking on his family made continuing the process untenable.

 

Moore's sister, Kathy Dodd, told Reuters that while she and his other siblings might not agree with him on everything, the barrage of criticism was searing. "We all feel bad for him ... personally I think he should drop out, I don't think it's worth it," she said in an interview on Wednesday.

 

At the Fed, Moore would have had a permanent vote on setting interest rates for at least five years and as many as 11 years, depending on which of two vacant posts he would have occupied.

 

Moore's loyalty to Trump worried some lawmakers, concerned that his partisanship could threaten the Fed's independence, seen as critical to the U.S. central bank's ability to conduct policy effectively. Moore has worked with Trump since early in his 2016 campaign for president, and in interviews in recent weeks has tied the U.S. economy's prospects directly to whether Trump is re-elected.

 

But it was Moore's history of sexist comments about women, both jokingly and not, that appeared to most hurt his prospects, with Republican senators including Joni Ernst citing those remarks for their opposition to, or at least hesitation over, Moore.

 

In one column that Moore has since apologized for, he joked that women should not referee men's basketball games and suggested they should not be in military combat. In another in 2014, Moore said that if women were paid more than men, society could be destabilized.

 

DEBATE TEAM, WHIFFLE BALL

Interviews in recent days by Reuters with more than a dozen friends and colleagues, as well as his sister, paint a picture of a strong-minded, ambitious but friendly person with an enduring belief in the power of tax cuts to fuel economic growth and seemingly bottomless energy to devote to promoting that belief.

 

He also has dramatic flair -- his second wedding, where National Economic Council director Larry Kudlow was his best man, took place at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington.

 

None of the interviews suggested that Moore's past comments about women translated into any bad behavior.

 

“He wouldn’t be a good friend of mine if he didn’t (respect women)," said Betsy Hart, who worked with Moore at the conservative Heritage Foundation and has socialized with him regularly since then.

 

Moore grew up in Winnetka, Illinois, the fourth child of an equipment parts exporter and a housewife. The family played a lot of sports together, including tennis, basketball and whiffle ball, and still do at their annual family gatherings at Christmas, his younger sister Dodd said.

 

In high school Moore was "kind of a geek," she said, spending his Fridays and Saturday nights with index cards to prepare for debate team meets.

 

At college he got turned on to economics by University of Illinois professor Julian Simon, who among other achievements came up with the idea for airlines to overbook flights and pay passengers they end up bumping.

 

Moore spent years writing editorials for the Wall Street Journal and policy pieces for the libertarian Cato Institute, and has a long track record of supporting Republican causes, chief among them tax cuts. In 1999 he founded the Club for Growth to raise money for like-minded politicians, and ran it until 2004.

 

RATES

Over the years, Moore said less about monetary policy than fiscal policy, and his views have been less consistent. As recently as September 2015 he called for eliminating the U.S. central bank and removing then-Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who he said was keeping money too easy.

 

More recently, Moore called for the firing of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell after the central bank raised interest rates in December and, like Trump, he has called for rate cuts this year.

 

Democrats hailed his withdrawal.

 

"The only thing less funny than some of Mr. Moore’s tasteless, offensive, sexist ‘jokes’ was the idea that President Trump would even consider him for a seat on the Federal Reserve," said Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in upper chamber.

 

(Reporting by Dan Burns in Washington and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Writing by Ann Saphir; Editing by Paul Simao and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-03

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[Tug]

But I thought Donald would get only the best people

[spidermike007]

Just another fabulously low quality pick, by a man who specializes in bottom of the barrel selections. 

[blazes]

Once again, mindless moronic comments (not just on here) in response to something Trump does.  (Did Trump fart today? Oh, what an evil man...)

 

But no, here is a candidate for the Fed whose comments on interest rates reveal the lack of a brain, or at least the lack of an ability to think consistently.

Why not attack him on this issue rather than with these knee-jerk comments which are really only yet another boring attempt to sound "clever" by showing how much you hate Trump!

Insanity.

[Berkshire]

5 hours ago, Tug said:

But I thought Donald would get only the best people

It seems like in his early days, Trump was at least "trying" to get some qualified people.  Like Mattis, Tillerson, Cohn, etc.  But he couldn't get them to do his dirty deeds.  So now, it's all about whether they'll be loyal.  Which is why he's getting some of the most unqualified, worst people.  Because to work for Trump, you have to leave your integrity and decency at the door.  

[Skeptic7]

Moore-On! Just like the guy who chose him. 

[Thakkar]

Ah-ha! I knew it! Luckily I traded in my Herman Cain and Stephen Moore cards from my Fantasy Federal Reserve Team. I’m rooting for Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders. Anyone want my Devin Nunes card for next AG? Anyone?

[zydeco]

Shameful pick. Moore was just a puppet for Trump's desperate bullying of the Fed to force down interest rates to zero and restart QE. Trump would have made him chairman of the Fed if he could. It's not enough we have a $22 trillion debt. Trump and his minions want to push it up another 4 trillion.  

[Srikcir]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Steve Moore, a great pro-growth economist and a truly fine person

... who is in favor of a gold standard shared as well by Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/trump-fed-nominee-surprised-by-own-support-of-gold-standard.html

Unqualified and ill-suited to be on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

[Skeptic7]

4 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

... who is in favor of a gold standard shared as well by Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/trump-fed-nominee-surprised-by-own-support-of-gold-standard.html

Unqualified and ill-suited to be on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

He's a hypocritical "tool". He'd fit right in the Trump camp! 

[Kasane]

Well, Americans have started to reject low life for important civilian positions. Maybe there is hope for 2020.

[Dumbastheycome]

who is, what is  this  crap  article  about????

[Tug]

13 hours ago, blazes said:

Once again, mindless moronic comments (not just on here) in response to something Trump does.  (Did Trump fart today? Oh, what an evil man...)

 

But no, here is a candidate for the Fed whose comments on interest rates reveal the lack of a brain, or at least the lack of an ability to think consistently.

Why not attack him on this issue rather than with these knee-jerk comments which are really only yet another boring attempt to sound "clever" by showing how much you hate Trump!

Insanity.

He earned it

[Thakkar]

 

[blazes]

19 hours ago, Srikcir said:

... who is in favor of a gold standard shared as well by Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/04/trump-fed-nominee-surprised-by-own-support-of-gold-standard.html

Unqualified and ill-suited to be on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

 

He's unqualified to sit on the Fed because he supports a gold standard?????

 

And that is your argument??? 

Weird....

Edited May 4, 2019 by blazes

[thaibeachlovers]

It's going to end up with no one remotely qualified to accept a nomination to any government post if this fiasco keeps on.

Who in their right mind would put themselves and their family through the <deleted> storm just to be in a position till the next change of government sees them out anyway.

The Dems have opened Pandora's box on the attacks and it will come from the GOP side next Dem government.

[losworld]

On 5/3/2019 at 2:59 PM, spidermike007 said:

Just another fabulously low quality pick, by a man who specializes in bottom of the barrel selections. 

Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display.  Paint everything with a broad brush... 

[spidermike007]

54 minutes ago, losworld said:

Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display.  Paint everything with a broad brush... 

Yes, TDS. Trump deceives his sympathizers. 

[Opl]

1 hour ago, losworld said:

Trump Derangement Syndrome on full display.  Paint everything with a broad brush... 

not everyone has the capacity to appreciate headlines such as " Taxpayers Pay Trump For White House Staffers To Get Drunk At His Private Club"

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Opl

[SheungWan]

11 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It's going to end up with no one remotely qualified to accept a nomination to any government post if this fiasco keeps on.

Who in their right mind would put themselves and their family through the <deleted> storm just to be in a position till the next change of government sees them out anyway.

The Dems have opened Pandora's box on the attacks and it will come from the GOP side next Dem government.

'Remotely' qualified just about sums him up.

[SheungWan]

On 5/4/2019 at 7:28 AM, blazes said:

He's unqualified to sit on the Fed because he supports a gold standard?????

And that is your argument??? 

Weird....

Of course the loopy gold bugs would get upset about that.