In mid-December Jeff Merkley, Oregon's freshman senator, who had pushed for and somehow finessed a seat on the Banking Committee, used that seat to oppose the nomination of Ben Bernanke for Federal Reserve Chairman on the committee vote, and with a straightforward, always high minded, yet plain admonition of Bernanke and the crazy stuff people did with other peoples' money to bring us to near ruin.
Now, post-Mass, he's with a growing Senate opposition to Bernanke's confirmation.
Mr. Bernanke's current term as Fed chairman expires at the end of the month, and a Senate confirmation vote has been pushed off until next week at the earliest. Mr. Bernanke met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Thursday as Democratic and Republican leaders surveyed senators to tally votes on the nomination. Mr. Bernanke needs 60 supporters to win approval for another four-year term.
"A few Democrats have publicly said they won't vote for Mr. Bernanke's appointment, so you need Republican support," said Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D., Ill.).
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.
Merkley speaks up at the December Banking Committee meeting like Frank Capra channeling Ken Kesey.
Notice Chairman Dodd, in carefully veneered pique, wasting not a second in throwing the floor to a southern Republican. Did. Not. Want. To. Go. There.
It's instructive now, in late January, to look back and see where the votes in that committee fell. David Dayen at Firedoglake covered it.
Ben Bernanke has been recommended for confirmation by the Senate Banking Committee this morning by a vote of 16-7. In the end, all Democrats on the committee but Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) voted for confirmation. On the Republican side, six Republicans voted against Bernanke and only four voted for him. The final tally can be found below.
Some Republicans have successfully cast themselves as opposed to Bernanke on principle, despite the fact that he was initially a nominee of a conservative President and has basically followed the same conservative principles that he espoused when heading George Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers. Democrats, who for the most part defended Bernanke’s performance today, despite double-digit unemployment and a lackadaisical attitude from the Fed chair to do anything about that, mostly come off as the protectors of Wall Street with this vote. Only Merkley demurred from approving Bernanke, specifically because he missed the boat leading up to the financial crisis and has done little for "Main Street" in its aftermath.
Here’s the vote tally:
Aye: Dodd, Johnson, Reed, Schumer, Bayh, Menendez, Akaka, Brown, Tester, Kohl, Warner, Bennet (CO), Bennett (UT), Corker, Johanns, Gregg
No: Merkley, Shelby, Bunning, Crapo, DeMint, Vitter, Hutchison
Again, Jeff Merkley was the only Democrat to vote against it.
Some of these "No" names on the right are infamous obstructionists (some, like Shelby, may have some genuine concerns), but maybe this is the bipartisanship that's needed, an unholy alliance for a greater cause, that of stopping economic tyranny. I know, I sound like the love child of Idaho and Waco in '95. Weird, huh.
UPDATE: Feingold will vote against it.
"A chief responsibility of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is to ensure a sound financial system. Under the watch of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve permitted grossly irresponsible financial activities that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression," Feingold said Friday in a statement.
"Under Chairman Bernanke’s watch predatory mortgage lending flourished, and ‘too big to fail’ financial giants were permitted to engage in activities that put our nation’s economy at risk," the senator continued. "And as it responds to the crisis it helped to usher in, the Federal Reserve under Chairman Bernanke’s leadership continues to resist appropriate efforts to review that response, how taxpayers’ money was being used, and whether it acted appropriately."
"When the full Senate considers his nomination, I will vote against another term for Chairman Bernanke." Feingold concluded.
Who will be the next Democratic Senator to pledge to try something new?
Answer: Barbara Boxer by way of Tom P's diary.
UPDATE: 1/25 By a 70 to 30 vote Bernanki was confirmed, showing perhaps the first visible fissure of the uprising, yes, the uprising. Seriously, these populist surges seem to follow, but in a way lead.