Rep. Alan Grayson Praises the Creation of 'Stealth Socialism' in America

"Government simply ends up owning more and more and more."

Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) -- who once said in an elaborate presentation that the Republican healthcare plan is for the sick to "die quickly" -- praised the creation of "stealth socialism" in America in a recent interview with David Dayen at Salon.

Speaking about the Federal Reserve's rapidly-growing balance sheet, Grayson remarked:

We’ve had a government takeover of the bond market. Stealth socialism’s been created. Government simply ends up owning more and more and more. If government had taken over the steel industry, maybe it would have been more noticeable. They’ve taken over the financing of housing industry as well, with a desired result.

Rep. Alan Grayson, R-Fla.,arrives to join lawmakers and national security officials at the Capitol for a closed-door briefing on the situation in Syria, in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (Photo: AP)

The "desired result" of said "stealth socialism," the congressman said, is "housing ticking up again" and "setting a foundation for recovery for the U.S. economy."

The Harvard-educated economist also spoke about the broader policies of the Federal Reserve and quantitative easing.

"Conceivably, we might be in a situation where the Fed has to buy $70 billion in assets in perpetuity," he said. "It’s puzzling why there’s been no market reaction to that. But it has had its apparent intended purpose. It leaves you scratching your head a bit about how it worked and why it worked. You would think more than tripling the balance sheet would have some effect on the value of money, but so far no. There’s been no effect on inflation; in fact, it appears to have prevented deflation, an economic spiral and rounds of bankruptcy."

Grayson concluded the interview with a story of how he negotiated a 50 percent increase for bilingual HUD housing counseling, saying he did so by telling the Republicans to "put up or shut up" if they really want to improve their image among Hispanics.

"When push came to shove, they accepted the amendment, they wouldn’t allow a roll call vote on it. They didn’t want to have their people vote against Spanish-language housing counseling," he said. "They didn’t do it because I made pals with them. I scared the crap out of them!"

Jorge Bonilla (R), a U.S. Navy veteran whose parents immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico, is running against Grayson in 2014. He ridiculed Grayson's remarks, noting that while Grayson claims to be able to "[scare] the crap" out of Republicans, he has so far refused Bonilla's offer to debate.

"Mr. Grayson touts current monetary policy as providing a baseline for recovery, yet fails to notice that current job creation does not keep up with population growth, and that labor participation continues to crater (312,000 alone dropped out of the labor force last month)," a statement on Bonilla's website reads. "The fact is that with his votes for Obamacare, the stimulus and anti-business Dodd-Frank legislation, Mr. Grayson is jointly responsible for this administration’s abysmal failure to create jobs or improve the economy."

Bonilla suggested Grayson explain the benefits of "stealth socialism" to all those whose hours have been cut, who have lost their jobs, or "who have been dropped from their health care coverage due to the onerous mandates that he voted for."

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