In the end, it wasn’t even close. Big kudos to Bernie Sanders for trying his best (including voting against cloture, which has come to be the only vote that matters on anything in the Senate).
Putting aside the ethics and wisdom of reappointing the Bush appointed Fed Chief who helped wreck the economy and who has been the chief moneyman for massive, unaccountable payouts from the wallets of a taxpayer base hobbled by economic crisis, there’s also the political stupidity factor. Bernanke is rightfully described as a “Time Bomb” waiting to happen, as Republicans may have hard evidence that he covered up Fed staff recommendations against the bailout of AIG, all of which would dovetail disturbingly cleanly with Treasury Secretary Geithner’s AIG related troubles. Cenk Uygur even speculates that the GOP may well have planned to wait until after Democrats re-appointed Bernanke before pushing their evidence, in the process hanging the whole mess directly on Obama and the Senate Dems.
I guess we’ll see if anything does come out, or if it’s just hubbub. At any rate, it’s more profound stupidity from Washington Dems (or in the case of outgoing Senator Dodd, who seems to have started auditioning for a nice K Street job ever since announcing he would not seek re-election, possibly self-interest).
But what I’d really like to hear is our senior Senator – Patrick Leahy – come here and explain exactly why he foolishly and irresponsibly voted to reconfirm this guy when he should have stood with his fellow Vermont Senator.
and Leahy wants to get points for railing against the Supremes decision regarding political speech. Typical dishonest DC Democratic surrender monkey.
Sanders gets no kudos from me until he stops being a member of the Democratic Senatorial Club, because right now Sanders is doing a leahy: he’s saying the right words but supporting the wrong groups and people.
Where was this arm twisting when healthcare needed it?
They fought for Bernanke,otherwise its mostly a farewell to arm twisting for Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01…
the title of your post “Bernake confirmed for another term for wrecking the economy and handing out taxpayer billions” is as ludicrous a title as ” Bernanke confirmed for saving the world ecnomy”. I appreciate your Progressive Purism, but an Obama victory (somewhere,anywhere) was needed. And Bernie did not gain any points from here by standing shoulder to shoulder with Jim DeMint in expressing his populist outrage.