Some Obstructionism that I Can Believe In

Bernie Sanders, the Independent Senator from Vermont, has placed a hold on the Ben Bernanke renomination as Federal Reserve Chair:

Mr. Sanders, an independent, is not a member of the Senate banking committee, but he has frequently accused the Federal Reserve of bailing out Wall Street firms and the banking industry at the expense of ordinary citizens.

“In this country, there is profound disgust at what happened on Wall Street,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview. “People want a new direction and people are asking, where was the Fed? How did the Fed allow this to happen, when one of their mandates is to oversee the safety and soundness of the banking system?”

Mr. Sanders said he would place a hold on Mr. Bernanke’s nomination when it reached the Senate floor. Under Senate rules, lawmakers would need 60 votes to override Mr. Sanders and proceed with a vote.

They will get the 60 votes anyway, because there are at least 20 'Phants who will move to support him, because if someone new comes in, they will have to be more hostile to Wall Street than Bernanke, because the rage over the banker bailouts is so great.

Personally, I think that, in order to create real independence for the central bank, we should go the FBI route: One term for the Fed Chair in their lifetime.