McCarthy: Fed move buying $600 billion in government bonds is a risky move, could trigger inflation

 Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, gives us his weekly report from Capitol Hill, the first since the GOP sweep in the mid-term elections.

"This week, our community was saddened to hear of the loss of local BHS graduate and Army Corporal Brett Land, who died on Saturday after an IED attack in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province.  Corporal Land was a member of the elite 101st Airborne Division based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  Land gave his life to protect our freedom and way of life, and words cannot express our gratitude for his service.  My
thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this extremely difficult time.‬‪

  "Tuesday, November 2, the American people spoke and Congress heard.  I believe that on Tuesday, Americans rejected the policies of Pelosi and this Administration.  While Republicans have now been cautiously entrusted with the responsibility of re-charting the direction of our nation, we are humbled to be charged with fulfilling the Pledge to America.  Our conservative principles will be the foundation of a new
governing agenda that will focus on moving forward job-creating policies, cutting spending, and reforming the way Washington works. I’ll be outlining more specifics of this in next week’s column.

  "Wednesday, in another controversial move, the Federal Reserve announced that it will be buying $600 billion more government bonds by mid 2011 to, according to Fed Reserve officials, help shore up the
economy.  Some critics are calling this a risky move-basically the Fed is now printing money to finance federal deficit spending.  Why is this bad?  Potential sky-rocketing inflation as a result of a weakened dollar which could then lead to higher prices for everyday goods and services consumers buy. This move has even brought concern from other countries, and is yet another reason why we must get our deficit spending under control.‬‪‬‪

  "Saturday morning from 10-11am, I’ll be at the Kern County Board of Supervisors’ Chambers to meet with students who are interested in attending one of the U.S. Service Academies.  Saturday afternoon, I’ll
be in Atascadero and will hold another Academy Forum for those students from San Luis Obispo County from 3-4pm at the Atascadero Unified School District Board Chambers.‬‪‬‪

  "Local honors and milestones: Taft College President, Willy Duncan, was awarded Administrator of the Year by the California Association of Post Secondary Educators of the Disabled.  Aerospace Designer Burt
Rutan announced this week that he will retire from Scaled Composites next year.  Rutan is a legend, both locally and nationally, who has received numerous awards in his distinguished career, most recently
with his designs of SpaceShipOne and Two.  And our historic landmark the Fox Theatre turns 80 next week.  Thanks for reading, have a great weekend.