Obama would not have a second term if it wasn't for the
financial dexterity of Ben Bernanke.
While I voted for Obama three times, I believe he would
never have been reelected without Bernanke's Fed policies.
When Obama entered office he turned over financial policy to
Larry Summers, who never met a banker's ass he didn't want to kiss. One of the
men responsible for killing Glass-Steagall, a New Deal law aimed at protecting
bankers from themselves and America from chaos, Summers was the wrong man. He
and Geithner made sure that bankers could walk away with all their ill-gotten
gains during the financial crisis, while the American people bailed out the
institutions they'd led down the garden path.
But lately, Obama has been dumping on Bernanke. He's
indicated on more than one occasion he would not reappoint him. A list in
the Wall Street Journal of potential appointees to run the Fed included the
repugnant Summers, and Timothy Geithner. There are not two other Americans as supportive
of the big banks then these two cronies. Either one of them would be a disaster
as they kowtowed to Wall Street.
Maybe Obama resents the fact that Bernanke understands
economics, while he clearly doesn't. He's good at running for office, just not
good at running an office. When it comes to our financial system, he's as far
from a progressive as one could imagine. We survived despite his lack of
preparation for the presidency. It seems like he wants to take away the credit
from the man who saved our financial system.
