Wednesday
Dec162009
Bernie Sanders Calls On Obama, Senate To Pick Another Fed Chair
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 6:23PM
by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on President Barack Obama and the U.S. Senate Wednesday, to nominate and vote for a new Federal Reserve chairman, saying the current chair, Ben Bernanke, is unfit for another term in the position.
"I believe that when the people voted for change in 2008, to move our economy in a different direction, they did not vote to have one of the key architects in the Bush economy being reappointed as chair of the Fed," Sanders said.
Sanders said his call for a new Federal Reserve chair was not seated in "animosity," rather, he believes Bernanke isn't fulfilling his job requirements.
"Perhaps more than any other person in the entire world, Chairman Bernanke was in the position to diagnose and correct the impending financial disaster that was taking place right in front of him," Sanders said. "One of the key functions as you all know, of the Fed, is to oversee the safety and soundness of our financial system. He was chairman of the Fed, and all around him... wild speculation, illegal behavior, gambling casino-type activities, were taking place. Where was Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, when all of this was happening?"
Of Bernanke's recent Time magazine "person of the year" award released today, Sanders said, "what I find most interesting is that Time Magazine acknowledges... quote 'Bernanke was as clueless as [Alan] Greenspan about the coming storm. He dismissed warnings of a housing bubble, he insisted that economic fundamentals remain strong... in March 2007, he [Bernanke] assured Congress that 'quote the problems of the problems of the sub-prime market seems likely to remain strong.'
Sanders asked, "does anyone seriously believe that with a record like that, that this should be a man that's reappointed as chairman of the Fed?"
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on President Barack Obama and the U.S. Senate Wednesday, to nominate and vote for a new Federal Reserve chairman, saying the current chair, Ben Bernanke, is unfit for another term in the position.
"I believe that when the people voted for change in 2008, to move our economy in a different direction, they did not vote to have one of the key architects in the Bush economy being reappointed as chair of the Fed," Sanders said.
Sanders said his call for a new Federal Reserve chair was not seated in "animosity," rather, he believes Bernanke isn't fulfilling his job requirements.
"Perhaps more than any other person in the entire world, Chairman Bernanke was in the position to diagnose and correct the impending financial disaster that was taking place right in front of him," Sanders said. "One of the key functions as you all know, of the Fed, is to oversee the safety and soundness of our financial system. He was chairman of the Fed, and all around him... wild speculation, illegal behavior, gambling casino-type activities, were taking place. Where was Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Fed, when all of this was happening?"
Of Bernanke's recent Time magazine "person of the year" award released today, Sanders said, "what I find most interesting is that Time Magazine acknowledges... quote 'Bernanke was as clueless as [Alan] Greenspan about the coming storm. He dismissed warnings of a housing bubble, he insisted that economic fundamentals remain strong... in March 2007, he [Bernanke] assured Congress that 'quote the problems of the problems of the sub-prime market seems likely to remain strong.'
Sanders asked, "does anyone seriously believe that with a record like that, that this should be a man that's reappointed as chairman of the Fed?"
Reader Comments (1)
Wow. I agree w/ an avowed socialist. How upside down are we?