Steve Benen notes that the increasingly shrill and hyperbolic Heritage Foundation has decided to make opposition to Janet Yellen a “key vote.” That is, they’ll count it on their end-of-the-year scorecard that tells everyone just how conservative you are:
Thanks to the “nuclear option” there’s very little chance Yellen’s nomination will fail — Joe Manchin appears to be her only Democratic opponent — but it now seems likely that most Senate Republicans will oppose the most qualified Fed nominee since the institution was founded.
That’s true, which means this has become sort of a litmus test for wingnuttery. There’s simply no serious reason to oppose Yellen, who is outstandingly qualified to be Fed chair by virtually any measure. So opposition to Yellen is now a pretty simple proposition: you oppose her if you’re some kind of hard money lunatic or if you feel like you have to pander to the hard money lunatics. That’s it. Everyone else votes to support her confirmation. Should be an interesting roll call.
POSTSCRIPT: For more on the Heritage Foundation’s descent from a think tank beloved of Republicans to a bullying ideological cop now loathed on Capitol Hill, check out Julia Ioffe’s report here. It’s a precautionary tale that’s well worth a read.