In an interview with Huffington Post, Senator Boxer announced her opposition to Ben Bernanke for Chairman of the Fed:
"I have a lot of respect for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. When the financial crisis hit in late 2008, he took some important steps to prevent what many economists believe could have been an even greater economic catastrophe," said Boxer.
"However, it is time for a change -- it is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed. Dr. Bernanke played a lead role in crafting the Bush administration's economic policies, which led to the current economic crisis. Our next Federal Reserve Chairman must represent a clean break from the failed policies of the past."
I wrote about Bernanke's nomination in August:
Not Good News. Obama to Re-Appoint Bernanke
Yes, another Republican will receive appointment by a Democratic President. The last Democrat appointed to lead the Fed was Volcker in 1979. When he came up for reappointment, although he was considered to have done a good job by most in ending inflation by creating a deep recession in the early 80s (a great Republican policy), Reagan instead appointed Greenspan, the right wing ideologue and promter of no regulation, a policy that eventually led us into the Great Recession. Greenspan, of course, was appointed by Clinton. Yes, there were no Democrat economists like the future Nobel Prize winners Krugman or Stiglitz, or just a good economist like Alice Rivlin who served on the Fed. And then Bush appointed Greenspan and Bernanke. Bernanke missed the bubbles that led to the recession, although he did an okay job cleaning up the mess. And that's good enough to pass over all Democrats.
[there is an error in that. Reagan reappointed Volker in 1983, then appointed Greenspan in 1987]
It's time we had a Democrat leading the Fed. As Senator Boxer says, "it is time for Main Street to have a champion at the Fed"
Senator Boxer's opposition is good news and it means a filibuster against this nomination likely will succeed. I look for Bernanke to ask that his nomination be withdrawn soon.
Update I: From my diary in August 2009, a quote by economist Dean Baker regarding Bernanke's role in getting us into this mess of a Great Recession:
Give the Washington Post credit, in its article on Ben Bernanke's reappointment as Fed chair, it did point out that Mr. Bernanke bears considerably blame for getting us into this economic crisis in the first place. While all the other reporting emphasized his efforts to prevent a financial collapse over the last year, only the Post noted that Bernanke consistently ignored the risks building up as a result of the growth of the housing bubble.
While Bernanke bears less responsibility than Greenspan, he was a Fed governor from 2002 to 2006, and then head of President Bush' Council of Economic Advisors, until he took over as Fed chairman in January of 2006. There were few people better positioned than Bernanke to head off the growth of the housing bubble.
Not Good News. Obama to Re-Appoint Bernanke
Update II:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he wants more information from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on how to pressure banks into helping the economy.
Bernanke’s current term is up on Jan. 31, and Reid has yet to schedule a vote or invoke cloture on a nomination that has drawn strong criticism from some Republicans and Democrats.
The Hill
Update III: Bob Zimway in the comments links to his diary earlier today: Sens Merkley, Sanders, Feingold lead opposition to Bernanke
Two Democrats, Sens. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, say they plan to vote against the nomination. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who votes with Democrats, has led the charge from the left against Mr. Bernanke and also plans a "no" vote.
snip
UPDATE: Feingold will vote against it
It's a good diary. Check it out.
Update IV: From New York Senate candidate and long time kossak, Jonathan Tasini in the comments:
Saw this and was going to post... (8+ / 0-)
Recommended by: SallyCat, TexDem, david mizner, TomP, Involuntary Exile, Guadalupe59, NY brit expat, Colorado is the Shiznit
but, Tom is the man! Good for Boxer.
This was from my friend Dean Baker (Center for Economic and Policy Research) yesterday and is relevant:
President Obama's proposal to limit the size and scope of the banks to rein in financial risk-taking is a positive step. It is encouraging to hear that the President recognizes how outrageous it is that banks have been allowed to speculate with taxpayer-insured funds.
However, it is difficult to understand why the President would support the reappointment Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke at this time, given that the administration's proposal is directly at odds with the position pursued by Bernanke on this issue. As Fed Chairman, Bernanke allowed Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to become financial holding companies during the financial crisis in October 2008, and then to continue to engage in massive amounts of proprietary trading, just as they had done previously.
President Obama's proposal today is an important part of common-sense financial reform to protect average taxpayers from the risky behavior of big banks. At this pivotal point in time, the President needs to have an economics team that fully supports the policy he proposed today and comprehensive financial reform. Unfortunately Mr. Bernanke does not seem to share the President's reform agenda.
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by Jonathan Tasini on Fri Jan 22, 2010 at 10:34:53 AM PST
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