(I apologize for the copy and paste, but I thought this was interesting and couldn't help myself :0)
My personal opinion is that if Democrats want better electoral prospects- they would be better suited to listen to populists like Bernie Sanders...
Sanders on the election results from Massachusetts and the need to get rid of Bernanke as Fed Chairman.
I sense that many Democrats see the Massachusetts election as a wake-up call," Sanders said. "There is a growing understanding that our economy is in severe distress, a greater appreciation that people are disgusted with the never-ending greed on Wall Street, and a better recognition that we need a new direction at the Fed.
"People do not want another term for the man whose major job as Fed chairman was to protect the safety and soundness of our financial system but instead was asleep at the switch," he added. "I am confident that more and more senators understand that we need a new Fed and a new Wall Street and will oppose Bernanke’s confirmation."
Sanders put a hold on Bernanke's nomination December 5 and his term expires January 31. Sanders points out less than stellar aspects of Bernake's record.
Since Bernanke took over as Fed chairman in 2006, unemployment has more than doubled and, today, 17.3 percent of the American workforce is either unemployed or underemployed.
Not since the Great Depression has the financial system been as unsafe, unsound, and unstable as it has been during Mr. Bernanke's tenure. More than 140 banks have failed since he became chairman.
Under Bernanke's watch, the value of risky derivatives held at our nation's top commercial banks grew from $110 trillion to more than $290 trillion, 95 percent of which are concentrated in just five financial institutions.
Bernanke failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. Under his leadership, mortgage lenders were allowed to issue predatory loans they knew consumers could not afford to repay. This risky practice was allowed to continue long after the FBI warned in 2004 of an "epidemic" in mortgage fraud.
After the financial crisis hit, Bernanke's response was to provide trillions of dollars in virtually zero-interest loans and other taxpayer assistance to some of the largest financial institutions in the world. Adding insult to injury, Bernanke refused to tell the American people the names of the institutions that received this handout or the terms involved.
The question is who would replace Bernanke as Fed chairman?
Someone who will do things differently I hope....
according to Sanders,
Bernanke "could have broken up too-big-to-fail financial institutions that took Federal Reserve assistance, but he did not."
Bernanke "could have revealed which banks took more than $2 trillion in taxpayer-backed secret loans, but he did not."