Fed chief Ben Bernanke may be able to dole out trillions in the blink of an eye, but on Tuesday he ran headlong into Congress’ only independent democratic socialist. Sen. Bernie Sanders demanded to know where all the Fed’s money was going. Bernanke said “no.” Sanders fired back by introducing a bill that would require such information to be posted to the Fed’s Web site.

Reuters:

When Sanders pressed on whether Bernanke would name the firms that borrowed from the Fed, the central bank chairman replied, “No,” and started to say that doing so risked stigmatizing banks and discouraging them from borrowing from the central bank.

“Isn’t that too bad,” Sanders interrupted, cutting him off. “They took the money but they don’t want to be public about the fact that they received it.”

According to the text of the proposed legislation, e-mailed by Sanders’ staff, he wants the central bank to identify any firm that has received financial assistance since March 24, 2008, including details on the type of borrowing, amount, date, terms and the Fed’s rationale for lending.

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#bailout#banking industry#ben bernanke#bernie sanders#congress#economy#fed#law#legislation#money#senate