Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I would like to explain why I will vote against the confirmation of Ben Bernanke for a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Ben Bernanke is a brilliant and honorable man. He deserves our Nation's thanks for his years of public service-- especially during the greatest financial crisis in decades. I agree with Chairman Bernanke's supporters that some of his actions mitigated that crisis--and that we might be in a much worse place today if not for his leadership. Nevertheless, I believe the Federal Reserve needs a fresh start--with a new Chairman--for several important reasons. First, Chairman Bernanke was a member of the Fed's Board of Governors where he strongly supported Chairman Greenspan's monetary policy that kept interest rates very low. In fact, the Federal funds target rate reached a low of 1 percent by mid-2003. Most economists agree that these low interest rates were one of the factors--certainly not the only factor--that contributed to the housing price bubble that expanded for much of the previous decade. And when the housing bubble burst, our global financial crisis began. This isn't ancient history. Earlier this month, Chairman Bernanke delivered a remarkable speech to the American Economic Association in Atlanta. In that speech he defended the Fed's actions before the crisis--and largely absolved himself of any responsibility for it.…”