The Done Deal Done Gone Wrong

Time's Man of the Year, and the Man Who Saved Capitalism, not to mention AIG, is running into some surprisingly strong headwinds in his quest for another term as Fed Chairman. This was probably a bad week for Obama to quit smoking: Senate Dems Not Sure They Can Get Enough Votes to Reconfirm Bernanke

Amidst the voter anger at Wall Street and Washington, D.C., ABC News has learned that the Senate Democratic leadership isn't sure there are enough votes to re-confirm Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Bernanke's term expires on Jan. 31.

The White House did not respond to many requests for comment.

"The American people are disgusted with the greed and recklessness of Wall Street," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in an interview with The Associated Press last month. "People are asking, 'Why didn't the Fed intervene at the appropriate time to stop the casino-type activities of large financial companies?'"

Sanders, Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., have all put holds on Bernanke's nomination, requiring 60 votes to proceed to a vote.

The best part is that the people objecting the most loudly to Bernanke's reappointment are his fellow Republicans. It's the members of The Party of the Common Man that are eager to reinstall someone who is practically the public face for TARP and the subsequent Age of Bailouts. Maybe it's a good idea, continuity and all that, but Bernanke's stewardship of the central bank has been less than inspiring. Even if he did save capitalism, he had to spend a lot of money to clean up a mess that arose at least partially due to his own disastrous policies. Like it or not, the Fed has lost a lot of public credibility under Bernanke's leadership, and that credibility won't be restored by returning him to office in the name of continuity.

Of course, ABC can't be bothered to ask why Sens. DeMint and Vitter might object to Bernanke. They'd rather talk to "socialist" (try living under a real socialist system, stud) Bernie Sanders, who can be counted on for some over heated faux-populism. But, it's the mythical Party of Big Business that has been leading the charge against the Fed, not the Democrats who cry crocodile tears for the struggles of the middle class, even as they seek new burdens to impose on it.