More on Reappointment of Bernanke

I received the e-mail below from the Campaign for Liberty. As I previously blogged, although I have been concerned about the Fed for many years (blogging on this issue as long as six years ago) I am not convinced that the Democrats are able to produce a responsible chairman. I may be wrong. It is true that it was Carter (not Reagan, as many people mistakenly think) who appointed Paul Volcker. The shift to conservative monetarist Fed policy was under Carter, not Reagan. I remember very this clearly. I was an MBA student at UCLA then and I had somehow gotten an informal position at the UCLA Business Forecasting Project. I think I was the TA of one of the economics professors. Larry Kimball ran the project and a guy named David Shulman who later became the chief equity strategist at Salomon Brothers from 1992 to 1997 and is now director of the UCLA forecasting project was an advisor. I recall very clearly Shulman's exclaiming that the St. Louis Fed was breaking out champaigne because of the shift in monetary policy in 1979, which was my first semester there.

My point is that the Democrats can potentially come up with a decent Fed chairman but given the current crop of maniacs in the Senate (witness the recent health care bill) I remain dubious. I sent this note to John Tate:

>Dear John--I'm with you in spirit, but I'm not convinced that the Dems will come up with a better chairman. I can imagine Harry Reid's pick for Fed chairman will not be Paul Volcker. Do you have any evidence on this? I'll be glad to blog it.


>January 25, 2010


Dear Mitchell,

After a full year of rope-a-done and refusing to have his Federal Reserve audited, Ben Bernanke is on the ropes and could be knocked out for re-nomination.

Campaign for Liberty activists are in the lead insisting "No Audit, No Bernanke." Please immediately call Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Chuck Schumer at the numbers below and tell them (again, if you've already called) "No Audit, No Bernanke."

Here's what's going on:

Campaign for Liberty launced a nationwide fight against a bailout for Bernanke last week. Now we are following it up with phones, email and banner ads targeting over a dozen swing-vote senators.

The Senate is boiling over with outrage about the Fed's abuse of the TARP program, bailouts, and money supply, as well as its refusal to submit to a full and complete audit.

Now is the time to deal the knockout blow!

Please call your senators at the numbers below and join in the fight:

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: 202-224-4451
Senator Chuck Schumer: 202-224-6542

Tell them that Ben Bernanke must not be confirmed without an up or down roll call vote for Audit the Fed on the Senate floor.

This fight is really coming to a head, and the decision could will likely come in the next few days. Please call now.

In liberty,

John Tate

P.S. Thanks to the efforts of patriots like you, Ben Bernanke's days of secrecy at the Federal Reserve may be numbered!

That's because his confirmation is being held up until the Senate votes on Audit the Fed. Please call your senators at the numbers above and tell them plain and simple: "No Audit, No Bernanke."