GOP Hopefuls Do Not Like Ben Bernanke

Poor Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was the subject of intense criticism by GOP Presidential candidates during last night’s debate, though Texas Governor Rick Perry, who started all the Fed bashing about a month ago when he warned the Fed Chief to stay away from Texas, was noticeably silent on the subject. Details are in this report at Reuters.

Newt Gingrich led the charge. Asked if the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement had a valid grievance about income inequality and the out-sized influence of big banks, the former House speaker pivoted:

“If they want to really change things, the first person to fire is Bernanke, who is a disastrous chairman of the Federal Reserve,” said Gingrich.

“Bernanke has in secret spent hundreds of billions of dollars bailing out one group and not bailing out another group. I think it is corrupt and it is wrong for one man to have that kind of secret power.”
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“I wouldn’t keep Bernanke in office. I would choose someone of my own,” said Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, who did not include Bernanke when doling out praise to Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson for pulling the financial system back from the precipice in late 2008.
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(Ron) Paul termed Bernanke’s predecessor, Alan Greenspan “a disaster” because of policies that fueled investment bubbles such as the early 2000s Internet stock boom and bust.

“Bernanke compounds the problem,” Paul said. “He’s inflating twice as fast as Greenspan.”

Bernanke’s term ends in early-2014, so, should any of these GOP hopefuls occupy the White House beginning in early-2013, it should make for an interesting and awkward period leading up to the nomination process in the fall.