THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

We have long known that about Mango Mussolini but it is holding true about his latest pick for the Fed, Stephen Moore. In addition to knowing nothing of value about economics and not paying his taxes, he had a big hand on Sam Brownback's tax disaster in Kansas.

President Trump’s likely nominee for the Federal Reserve’s board of governors helped shape the deep tax cuts that were blamed for years of budget shortfalls under former Gov. Sam Brownback.

Trump announced on Twitter last week that he plans to nominate Stephen Moore, his 2016 campaign’s economic adviser, to the seven-member board of governors for the Federal Reserve, the independent agency which oversees monetary policy and regulates the banking industry.

The prospect of a seat on the Fed for Moore, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who has called for board chairman Jerome Powell to be fired, rankles Democrats. They see the former Wall Street Journal editorial board member as unqualified for the position.

“I think Moore was selected because Trump read an article or he saw him on TV and he liked him and that was as far as it went. I don’t see him as a qualified person to be on the Fed,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which handles nominations to the board.

“This is essentially a lifetime… a years and years long appointment lasting through presidents. You don’t give these away lightly like Trump already has.”

Members of the board serve staggered 14-year terms. The most recent appointee, former Kansas Bank Commissioner Michelle Bowman, was confirmed by the Senate on a 64-34 vote last year.

Democrats will likely use Moore’s role in Brownback’s “real live experiment” against him even though the Fed does not directly deal with tax policy.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, pointed Tuesday to Moore’s role in shaping Trump’s 2017 tax cuts when he panned the likely nomination.

“Mr. Moore doesn’t have the background. He’s a politician. He’s political. He’s always wanted cut taxes, cut taxes, cut taxes. He’s one of the reasons we have such a big deficit now because of his advocacy,” Schumer said.

The White House declined to comment on Democratic criticism of Moore or say anything about the prospective nominee beyond the president’s initial tweet, which described Moore as a “very respected Economist.”

And there is another lie because there is no one capable of tying a shoelace who has any respect for Stephen Moore as an economist. And his efforts on behalf of the worst tax idea to ever come down the pike merely reinforces that well earned contempt.