There probably couldn’t be a worse time for a Federal Reserve chairman to come up for renomination.
Public trust in the once-revered central bank is so low, it now ranks below the Internal Revenue Service in opinion polls. An audit-the-Fed proposal has a full head of steam despite the bank’s opposition. Investors are worried about the dollar and fretting about inflation.
So when Ben Bernanke sits before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, it’ll be far from the lovefest that greeted every Alan Greenspan renomination during the good old days. In fact, longtime Fed observers say this may be the most contentious chairmanship nomination in recent memory.
Even Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, who’s fighting to remake his too-cozy-with-Wall Street image, still stops short of saying he’ll vote yes.
“This will be political theater around the Fed nomination like you have never seen,” said Doug Elliott, a former JPMorgan investment banker and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It is political theater in the sense that the game is going to be to really beat up Bernanke and then approve him.”
So outrage over what’s happening will be fake so they can appear tough, but nothing will change. Business as usual.
Americans know their banking and investments systems are fundamentally flawed. Neither party has the balls to make the hard decisions and carry them through since they go to the polls every two years.
Bernanke belongs in jail. He is a part of the racketeering that is bringing the USA to its knees. Only a very uninformed person would think otherwise. Or perhaps one of his cronies.
#2, I’ll be shocked if the Fed lets him nominate anybody else.
Absolutely not!
We need reformers, not the same insiders who profited royally from this meltdown caused by thoroughly discredited “Reaganomics” and their blind faith in deregulation.
If we want reform the best person for the job is Ron Paul. I would also like to see Noam Chomsky named National Security Adviser. Check out his solution for reducing Terrorism some time, it is remarkable.
Get rid of the Federal Reserve. Problem solved.
Since nothing has really changed that causes most of the disasters I say Obama should resign, Bush come back in, declare more wars, have banks do what they want, CEO’s get more pay, GM makes more crappy cars while their union workers get lazier and takes more moeny…
I don’t see how this can’t happen…unless we all pray together and ….oh wait, forgot the Catholic church has a thing because of the gay issues. Oh well…forget praying then, lets just pillage and burn!!!
Who’s with me!!!!!!
“Should Ben Bernanke Be Renominated As Fed Chairman?”
The question ought to read: Should Ben Bernanke Ever Have Been Nominated As Fed Chairman?
I’m undecided on Bernanke.
It’s easy to point to errors: AIG counterparties receiving 100% of dodgy agreements. No restrictions on using gov’t money as bonuses. Not nationalizing the big banks and stripping out the bad assets. Not forcing more writedowns of debts. A strong odor of Goldman Sachs favoritism.
But the entire world economy didn’t completely fall apart. It is currently held together with salesmanship, duct tape and crossed fingers… but there it is.
Bernanke isn’t the one who’s job it is to go craft some new rules to prevent it happening again. He was the guy with a plunger and mop sent to clean up the big smelly mess.
Not perfect, but not a demon or idiot.
Obama ought to replace him only for political reasons. There are smart people on the Dem’s bench, and it says nothing good that GOP appointees are left on because Dem presidents feel wobbly on economic matters.
DeMint Blocks Bernanke for Vote on Audit the Fed
http://tinyurl.com/yg2xraa
no no no no… this guys is tool.