GOP lawmaker: Bernanke re-appointment partially vindicates Bush

Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama’s decision to re-appoint Federal Reserve chairman Benjamin Bernanke shows that “all that criticism of the Bush administration last time around wasn’t all correct.”

It was reported on Monday night that Obama would recommend Bernanke for a second four-year term. The Senate must vote to confirm Bernanke for him to remain at his post.

But the Energy and Commerce Committee Republican said on CNBC’s Squawk Box that Bernanke has been “too interventionist” and recommended that Congress reduce Fed’s role in the economy.

Shadegg said that the Federal Reserve is simultaneously controlling monetary policy and directly bolstering the economy by advocating for such measures the economic stimulus. He preferred that the Fed stick to its traditional role regulating the money supply.

The Fed increased its presence in economic policy under Bernanke during last year’s credit crisis. The rapid tightening of credit was part of the reason the economy nearly plunged into a Depression-like state.

“[Bernanke is] seen as safe and as changing the topic quite frankly from what’s dominated the news lately which is healthcare, which is not going well for the president,” Shadegg added.

Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.), who sits on the Joint Economic Committee, praised Obama’s decision to re-appoint Bernanke as a display of bipartisanship.

“If he sees talent, he goes after it, even if they were former Bush administration appointees,” he said in the same interview.

Snyder agreed that the Fed should reduce its role in the economy.

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