Sen. Sanders Remains a Backer in Auditing the Federal Reserve (UPDATE: Effort Fails)
Sanders and Paul on same side on oversight issue.
Not a few libertarians have noticed that when they're taking quizzes to see which presidential candidates that match their positions, Sen. Rand Paul typically comes in first, followed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, famously a socialist, famously running for the Democratic nomination, and most certainly not a libertarian in a number of important ways.
Nevertheless, both Rand and his father Ron Paul see eye to eye with Sanders in one important battle: All three support auditing the Federal Reserve.
Today, The Hill reports, Sanders will declare he is backing Rand Paul's "Audit the Fed" legislation. The Hill notes:
Sanders, a noted big bank critic, hopes to make it back to Washingon from the campaign trail for the Tuesday afternoon vote. Most Democrats are expected to vote against the measure, which is opposed by the Fed as well as the White House.
But while Sanders is a Wall Street scold, he also has plenty of scorn for regulators, like the Fed, that he views as treating Wall Street with too light a touch.
In December, Sanders wrote in the New York Times that the Fed is in need of fundamental reform, arguing the institution had been "hijacked" by Wall Street banks.
Among the policy prescriptions Sanders put forward was a "full and independent audit" of the Fed annually.
Matt Welch just interviewed Rand Paul Monday for an explanation of why the Federal Reserve needs auditing. Read more here.
Update: Sen. Paul was only able to get 53 votes in favor of his bill, so it won't move forward. He needed 60. Sanders and Sen. Marco Rubio voted for the audit. Sen. Ted Cruz missed the vote. Only one Republican voted against it.
