The LA Times reports on Ben Bernake’s confirmation hearings for a second term as Fed chairman:
Reflecting the antagonism Bernanke faces in Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont placed a hold on the Fed chief’s nomination late Wednesday.
The move by Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Senate’s Democrats, isn’t expected to derail Bernanke’s confirmation.
Aside from my general dislike of the whole hold process, this is a pretty good example of a big specific problem with it: namely that I don’t think Sanders has even the slightest hope that his hold is genuinely going to keep Bernanke from being confirmed. I mean, Paul Krugman and Dean Baker both favor his reappointment, for God’s sake. So all this does is gum up the gears and force the Senate to spend time on Bernanke instead of the million other things it should be spending time on.
Alternatively, I suppose maybe Sanders is just using this to get leverage for something he wants. I still think holds are a lousy way to do this, but I suppose some good could come out of it if it raises public awareness of the fact that the Fed is supposed to bear some responsibility for maintaining full employment, not just controlling inflation. Unfortunately, it’s more likely to raise public awareness of cranky Ron Paul-esque Fed bashing, which doesn’t do anyone any good. (Except for Ron Paul, of course.) All in all, just another day in the Senate, the world’s worst legislative body.
