Bernanke Almost There…
According to CNBC:
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke won a key procedural vote in the Senate, clearing the way for his confirmation for a second term running the world’s most powerful central bank.
The Senate is now moving to final confirming vote.
Bernanke was expected to win the Senate’s backing despite the stiffest opposition to any nominee for Fed chairman in the nearly 32 years the Senate has voted on the position.
So it’s not quite official yet, but it looks like it will go through. They needed 60 votes to end debate (or whatever) and now they just need 51 to confirm him.
I think some senators are voting to end debate but then will vote against confirmation, so they can say, “I voted against Bernanke!” in the fall.
As Robert Wenzel points out, the Senate’s vote occurs after the markets closed, perhaps to avoid embarrassing the Printer in Chief.
