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Herman Cain? Seriously?
In the wake of President Trump's appointment of Stephen Moore to the Federal Reserve's board of governors, the president stepped farther away from the fringe last week and named the former baron of the pizza to another position at the central bank. Maybe Sarah Palin was too busy?
Voters may remember that Cain made a splash in the 2012 Republican Presidential Primaries with his 9-9-9 tax plan. Unlike Moore, a long-time right-wing expert, Cain gained relevant job experience, having been a director of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank in the 1990s.
But Cain is also dragged by accusations of sexual harassment (he denies them) and, like Moore, seems likely to return to the gold standard, a really weird idea in 2019 and an immediate red flag.
In the end, neither Moore nor Cain should be close to the Fed, which needs serious policymakers and economists to make interest rate decisions that have significant economic repercussions.
The lack of appropriate qualifications would be bad enough. But for Trump, the two nominations are also obvious ploys to install political supporters who respond to his short-term electoral interests. Moore and Cain both want an immediate reduction in interest rates, echoing the president's demands. Setting them up on the seven-member Fed Board of Governors would politicize an agency that, over the last few decades, has stood out for its non-partiality. This tradition reflects, in part, the harsh lessons learned in the 1970s, when political considerations probably drove the Fed to avoid the difficult measures needed to avoid strong inflation.
The Senate must approve both appointments. This means that he also has his say on the more general question of whether the country still needs an independent and depoliticized federal reserve. Bravery has been rare among Senate Republicans during the Trump presidency, but the moment has truly come.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney felt he understood the issue last week when he questioned Cain's candidacy. "I would like to see candidates who are first and foremost economists and not supporters. I think it's important that the Fed be a non-partisan entity, "said the former Massachusetts governor. "The key is that someone is out of the political world and is an economic leader, not a partisan leader."
These are the right words. But the resistance of the GOP is already dissipated under pressure from the president. Romney and his colleagues must remain vigilant and vote against the nominees who would undermine the mission of the Fed.
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