BACHMANN KEEPS PUSHING THE ENVELOPE…. For a while, it was fun to watch Republican lawmakers offer legislation to resist the non-existent push on the Fairness Doctrine. Maybe now we can shift to the Republicans’ fears of a non-existent push for a global currency.
The madness continues as Michelle Bachmann introduces legislation that “would bar the dollar from being replaced by any foreign currency.”
What the Chinese were proposing, of course, was to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. I would take the view that a move away from near-exclusive reliance on the dollar is probably inevitable irrespective of what we do. But whether or not you agree with me about that, this isn’t something congress can ban — it’s a decision by foreign countries about what they do with their reserves.
There’s no way Democratic leaders are going to let Bachmann’s proposal go forward, but the Minnesota Republican is apparently quite serious about this. She issued a press release this morning “demanding” that President Obama categorically rule out “abandoning” the U.S. dollar “for a multi-national currency.” (That the president already addressed this in his prime-time press conference this week was apparently insufficient.)
Given that the real policy discussion here is about a foreign reserve currency, Greg Sargent asked Bachmann’s press office whether Congress has the authority to legislate the financial decisions of foreign countries.
“She’s talking about the United States,” Bachmann’s spokesperson said. “This legislation would ensure that the U.S. dollar remain the currency of the United States.”
Since no one is suggesting anything to the contrary, it seems odd that the congresswoman would be raising such a fuss.
Honestly, if Michele Bachmann didn’t exist, we’d have to invent her.
