Ben Bernanke is on the HOT SEAT - Which politicians are holding the Federal Reserve Chairman accountable?

Posted on January 26, 2010 by admin

Did relationship with Richard Paulson do him in?

Here are some of the news reports about Ben Bernanke’s reappointment:

“I encouraged Chairman Bernanke to meet with as many members as possible,” Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat and supporter, said after they met. “He has an Open Market Committee meeting this week that he said he can’t miss and I said, ‘Well, I sure don’t want the economy to come down, that’s not good for either one of us.’ So he’s going to try to balance that but spend as much time on the Hill as he can.”

“The impulse to use Mr. Bernanke as a political punching bag raises the specter that, instead of doing the right thing, Congress may seek to pressure the Fed to print its way out of this crisis,” Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in an opinion piece posted on the Wall Street Journal’s Web site.

“While I appreciate the service that Chairman Bernanke has performed as Federal Reserve Chairman, I believe that he must be held accountable for many of the decisions that contributed to our financial meltdown,” John McCain said yesterday in a statement.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner , in a recent interview with Mike Allen of Politico warned that the financial markets could react negatively if Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke isn’t confirmed for a second term. Geithner suggested that the market would see a failed Bernanke confirmation as “very troubling,” but claimed that he was “very confident” Bernanke would receive enough Senate votes to win a second term. “The markets would view this as a very troubling thing for the economy as the whole,” Geithner said. “I don’t think they should be uncertain.

Most of the above quotes are supportive of Ben Bernanke, listen to these blurbs and snorts that cut him half:

“The Federal Reserve is a government-sanctioned banking cartel that has held far too much power for far too long and is in the end stages of running the dollar into the ground, and our economy along with it.” - Congressman Ron Paul votes no.

“I will do everything I can to stop your nomination and drag out the process as long as possible. We must put an end to yours and the Fed’s failures, and there is no better time than now.” - Jim Bunning Senator.

The voting lines are drawn and Chairman Bernanke faces tough opposition…

I think Ben Bernanke should be kicked to the curb. What do you think?