Feingold to oppose Bernanke reappointment

Sen. Russ Feingold. Photo: WDCpix

Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., says he’ll vote against granting Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a second term when it comes up for a full Senate vote next week. Under Bernanke’s leadership, a statement from Feingold’s office says, the Fed “permitted grossly irresponsible financial activities that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

Sens. Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar haven’t yet responded to the Minnesota Independent’s request for comment on the upcoming vote.

Feingold’s statement:

A chief responsibility of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is to ensure a sound financial system. Under the watch of Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve permitted grossly irresponsible financial activities that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Under Chairman Bernanke’s watch predatory mortgage lending flourished, and ‘too big to fail’ financial giants were permitted to engage in activities that put our nation’s economy at risk.

And as it responds to the crisis it helped to usher in, the Federal Reserve under Chairman Bernanke’s leadership continues to resist appropriate efforts to review that response, how taxpayers’ money was being used, and whether it acted appropriately. When the full Senate considers his nomination, I will vote against another term for Chairman Bernanke.

Last month, the Senate Banking Committee voted 16-7 in favor of a second term. The first one ends at the end of the month.