Tell the Senate: Stop Ben Bernanke
Becky Bond, CREDO Action
Dear Friend,
It's hard to understand why President Obama would nominate George W. Bush's Federal Reserve Chair, Ben Bernanke, for another four years in office. But now that he has been nominated, the Senate needs to stop Bernanke and refuse to confirm him.
Bernanke's Senate confirmation hearings start today. Bernanke may be a fine academic economist but he got just about everything important wrong during the financial crisis. He has served on the Federal Reserve Bank board since 2002. During this time he advocated against taking steps to rein in predatory lending and the explosive growth in unregulated derivatives, even though it was within the power of the Federal Reserve to do so.
Faced with many difficult choices since the crisis erupted, he has led the Fed in providing massive financial support to a handful of giant banks and investment firms — literally trillions of dollars of loans, investments and guarantees — while doing literally nothing to help the millions of homeowners facing foreclosure.
Why would we want more of the same? Bernanke was appointed by President George W. Bush, and his choices reflect the choices of the Bush administration. There are plenty of fully-qualified economists who can pursue the Fed's mandate of price stability and full employment without such a shocking bias toward "too big to fail" banks or such manifest disregard for the "full employment" part of the equation.
At every opportunity, Bernanke has given preference to banks and investors over consumers and borrowers. His performance in his first term has been unacceptable. Granting him a second term ought to be unthinkable. Yet his reappointment is being supported by the Obama administration so it's up to the Senate to stop him.
Reconfirmation of this Bush appointee is not a done deal. Momentum is building to hold the Fed accountable. Two thirds of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored a bill calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve Board, Senator Bernie Sanders has drawn a line in the sand by placing a hold on Bernanke's nomination, and it's no longer clear that the votes are there to get his confirmation out of the Banking Committee.
Thank you for working to build a better world.
Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets
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It's up to the Senate to stop Bernanke. |
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Your message to your Senators: In this time of economic crisis it is not acceptable to have a George W. Bush appointee running the Federal Reserve Bank. We demand someone who will fight for us, not the banks. Vote against the confirmation of Ben Bernanke as Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank. |
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