How did the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 pass and not get struck down by the Supreme Court?
Because it is long settled precedent that Congress has the power to charter a bank and to give that bank the power to issue circulating notes. See McCulloch v. Maryland 17 U.S. 316 (1819). Congress has the power and authority to do a lot of things. The Constitution also gives Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof." Congress has the power to create money and to regulate its value. To execute that power, Congress enacted the Federal Reserve Act (IOW, Congress made a law to carry out its power to regulate the value of money). BTW, it is the Federal Reserve SYSTEM. If you want to learn more about the Federal Reserve and its history, seek out RELIABLE sources of information. For example, peer-reviewed journal articles and college textbooks written by respected economists. Books, websites, Internet videos, etc. that are not written by economists are most probably not accurate. That includes, "The Creature from Jekyll Island", which was written by a conspiracy theorist whose education consists of a Bachelor's degree in Communications. Remember, any moron can make a video and post it on the Internet, that doesn't mean the moron knows WTF he is talking about.
Why do some people think Obama "ended the wars," when he didn't fully end the wars that Bush's government started, and he engaged in new ones?
I don’t know what the rigorous legal definition of “war” is, but I’ll suppose that if you engage in Acts of War such as firing missiles at another country or bombing them that you are engaging in war, whatever you might call it.Obama engaged in a war of regime change in Libya and he not only had no declaration of war, no authorization from Congress, he did not even inform Congress. Rep. Dennis Kucinich declared that Obama should be impeached, and then he saw his congressional district gerrymandered so his political career was ended.Republicans try to blame Obama for losing the war in Iraq, but in fact Obama tried to keep the Iraq war going after the Bush-negotiated withdrawal date, and the Iraqi government would not let him stay.
Why does it seems that people who complain about inequality and want more wealth redistribution are nearly all (from my experience) firmly and comfortably middle-class?
There have been plenty of poorer people who have complained over the years about inequality in the United States. Henry George and Eugene Debs were both men of rather modest backgrounds.George had no formal education and became the greatest popular writer of economics in all time even though he was roundly condemned by academic economists.Eugene V. Debs - WikipediaEugene V. Debs in his words:“Your Honor, years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”Eugene V. Debs - WikipediaIn the modern era, Congressman Dennis Kucinich - Wikipedia, in his youth spent time living in his families station wagon.Left movements need above all effective leaders. That means folks that can comfortably move in circles they must to be effective.Some such leaders like Huey Long, really came from rather middle class families( much more middle class than many of his constituents. Francis Townsend - Wikipedia (a huge influence on social security) was a doctor and failed businessman who had become pretty much unemployable in his old age and found himself penniless during the Great Depression.In recent decades, there has been a real change of just what it means to be middle class. about 40% of all families have zero or negative net asssets. That means the lower middle class in the US have a rather thin financial base. Median assets were around $80K in 2013 and 74K in 2014Here's the Average Net Worth in the United StatesI have seen more folks who have nothing be willing to be at least temporarily satisfied by any promises to make their suffering more bearable. A lot of folks in the middle class are nostalgic for days when running a small businesses seemed more clearly viable..Lower class folks in the US are more likely to be immersed in popular media, which is dominated by either corporate interests or doctrinaire religious groups. Both are largely tools of the wealthy in the US. Middle class folks are more likely to have some access to independent information and the education to use it.
War Powers Act of 1973, Do you think it's constitutional?
The Constitution says that Congress has the power to declare war. The Act was designed to prevent presidents committing troops for extended periods under false pretenses as JFK, LBJ, and Nixon did in Viet Nam. What some people are missing here is that the Constitution also states that duly ratified treaties have the full force of US law, and the treaties that bind us to the UN and NATO fall into that category. The UN Security Council signed off on the "no-fly zone" that Libya has become.
How would you react if Trump really does get impeached?
Incredibly surprised. Not as surprised as I would of been a week or a month ago, but shocked nonetheless.I find it highly unlikely Republicans will attempt to impeach Trump. They've waited 8 years for a president and thr ability to govern w/o a Democratic president. First time in slightly more than a decade they control all of Congress and the presidency. They don't want to disturb their base only 6-12 months after the election too. They would be losing seats at historical proportions if they did it as the Democrats would be fired up by this and Trump supporters feeling betrayed in many ways. It would not be smart from a political POV, the one almost always looked through. Also, seeing as impeachment (removal is the Senates vote, has never happened) is only a political act stating he has done something, it seems even less likely.Additionally, Republicans to thus point have been very hesistant to condemn Trump strongly or call for large scale movement. They are, of course, acknowledging there is an issue and something needs to be done. However, to the level of impeachment? Seems highly unlikely. If Republicans have only budged a little so far, it will be incredibly hard to knock them over at this point in time over the Trump-Russia investigation.
What do you think about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York?
During the heyday of Occupy Wall Street, I had many acquaintances demanding transparency from the Fed regarding policies and internal communications (for those uninitiated, the Fed is actually a private bank authorized to control US monetary policy and issue currency). There was a bill called the NEED act, which was an acronym for National Emergency Employment Defense Act, put forward by an odd partnership between Congressmen Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. Details of the act are here. The goal of the NEED act was to provide government-backed money to re-employ the millions who lost jobs or income as a result of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. As far as I know, the bill was stalled in committee and never moved to a vote. Here’s the bill:I am not well read on the work of the Federal Reserve. Issues around the fed are frequently dismissed by ‘serious’ people, and such dismissal makes me wonder what the issues really are. I do think that (with the Federal Reserve playing such an important part in the economy), it should be subjected to the kinds of rules and oversight that any government agency would be controlled by. In the meantime, there’s a petition to reintroduce the Need Act here.