Thursday, December 3, 2009

Congress Rips Bernanke a New One



Ben Bernanke, Fed Chief, is up for confirmation again. Most believe he will be reconfirmed, but members of Congress are taking this opportunity to verbally tear him apart before they give him a pass.

Members of the Senate Banking Committee signaled at a hearing that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is likely to be confirmed for a second term as head of the central bank. But that may come at a steep cost -- lawmakers said the Fed had "failed" or done a "horrible job" as a regulator and suggested they would push ahead with a proposal that would strip much of its regulatory authority.

...

Mr. Dodd's Republican counterpart, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, said he has traditionally held the Fed in "very high regard" but that the central bank's actions over the last year has eroded his view.

"I fear now, however, that our trust and confidence were misplaced," Mr. Shelby said.

...

"You are the definition of a moral hazard," said Sen. Jim Bunning (R, Ky.), a long-time Fed critic. "I will do everything I can to stop your nomination and drag out this process as long as I can."

Under Bernanke's watch we have not only seen the collapse of our entire banking and financial markets, taking us to the brink of full economic depression, but we have also seen the coffers of America pillaged to save greedy bankers from their own mistakes. And he is likely to keep his job.

I'm wondering exactly what it takes to get fired over at the Fed.

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