Last Sunday, I wrote about Senator Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) plan to block all of the President's nominees while he continues to chew on the meatless bone called Benghazi. http://whateyethynk-politics.blogspot.com/2013/11/not-so-quick-fact-its-benghazi.html
Today, I'd like to point out how another Republican Senator is planning his own personal nomination blockade. This one involves Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Janet Yellen, the President's choice to succeed Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Earlier this year, Republican opposition to U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers caused Mr. Summers to remove himself from contention for the head Fed job. Soon after, the President nominated Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors Janet Yellen.
what eye thynk: Ms. Yellen brings more Fed experience than previous chairs. She first worked for the Fed in 1977 as a staff economist. She left to teach economics at the London School of Economics and at Berkeley and then rejoined the Fed as a governor in 1994 staying on through the Clinton years. In 2004, following another stint at Berkeley, she became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco where she remained until 2010 when she moved to Washington to serve as Bernanke's second in command.
As Vice Chair, she has proven to be remarkably prescient. In 2007, when the Fed was predicting that we would avoid a recession, Ms. Yellen was a dissenting voice. During the same period, she pushed for more focus on employment--another subject the Fed thought unimportant at the time. She is seen as the driving force behind the Fed's increasing transparency, encouraging clearer communication with the public in general.
So what are Mr. Paul's objections? None, really. Mr. Paul acknowledges that she has the experience to qualify for the job. His sole purpose in holding up her nomination is to force a vote on the Federal Transparency Act, a bill originally championed by his father, then U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul, in 2009 and revived by Rand Paul in 2011. (Rand's version passed the House in July 2012 with a vote of 327-98.)
Mr. Paul's bill would eliminate current audit restrictions and name a specific deadline for the Government Accountability Office to complete an audit on the Fed, an audit that would include scrutinizing how the central bank carries out monetary policy. Opponents of the bill argue that it threatens the Fed's independence and would impose political pressure on its monetary policy decisions.
In a recent letter to fellow Senators, Mr. Rand wrote: "There's no time to waste. Right now, the U.S. Senate is preparing to debate and confirm the new Obama nominee to chair the Federal Reserve. I say not so fast. I say vote no on a new Fed chairman without a vote on my Audit the Fed bill."
Bloomberg TV asked Mr. Paul if he thought Ms. Yellen would be confirmed, despite his delaying tactic. He responded: "In all likelihood, yes...In the old days, you could place a hold on and keep it forever. Even if I stand on the floor and filibuster in a personal fashion, I can only hold it there for two days."
So Mr. Paul admits he can only waste two days of the Senate's time on his lost cause. That makes me feel a lot better. After all, Lindsey Graham's Benghazi Conspiracy Biscuit is waiting for its place on the Senate's menu.
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