Note: What I've posted below is just an extended excerpt from Cenk's new Huffington Post piece (I have his permission). Here is the
with Stiglitz. This is also available if you go straight to
. For more interviews on the economy, fed, Obama, debates with right wingers and much more, check out our new YouTube channel, .
By Cenk Uygur
Republicans appear to have . They are very specific about which documents show this and they want them made public. If they are made public before the confirmation vote, Bernanke is obviously in a lot of trouble. But there's a much worse scenario.
If the Democrat leadership and the White House strong arm the Democratic senators into confirming Bernanke with most Republicans voting no - and then the documents are revealed, you have a political disaster on your hands. Then the Democrats will appear to have been on the side of funneling taxpayer money to the banks in a way that was unconscionable and inexplicable (given that some of them and everyone agrees that they didn't need and ).
You know why they will appear to be on the side of protecting the bankers and screwing over the taxpayers? Because they will be on that side. Bernanke is not the only sign of that, but he will be the perfect symbol of it. The Democrats would have to be nuts to walk into this trap. Unless of course they are so thoroughly bought by the banks that they will do anything they ask of them, no matter what the political consequences are.
And this is only the latest possible scandal involving Bernanke. Some of the politicians (ironically, ) have belatedly woken up to what I () (and as well):
Why are we rehiring the guy who steered the Titanic into the iceberg in the first place? ... His knowledge in handling depressions might not be so handy if he hadn't gotten us into one ... Picking the same guy as Bush, and the same exact guy who was at the helm when the economy crashed, is definitely not change we can believe in. Ben Bernanke is the definition of the status quo. He is part and parcel of the Washington and Wall Street establishment that caused our economic problems in the first place. Why the hell would we put this guy back in charge?
If the Democrats make this mistake, there's no helping them and there is no hope in them. But if they realize soon that this is a political time bomb in the making, then they need to pick a new person for the position that we know is undeniably on the side of the people and also has undeniable expertise.
Some great names are possible candidates that fit that description...
...But there is one name that still stands above the rest as clearly the best candidate for the Fed opening - Joseph Stiglitz. Nobel prize winner, former Chief Economist for the World Bank, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors and perhaps the most respected economist in the world.
...If Obama is playing yet another political game, he will either push Bernanke through and have it blow up in his face (and have the Republicans steal the mantle of populism) or he will pick another Wall Street stooge in his place (the excuse will be that they don't want to spook the markets and that person has the "confidence" of the business community). But if he wants to get serious about fixing the mess we're in and picking the most qualified and most trusted person to do it, he would obviously pick...
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