Ben Bernanke’s acting like a republican!

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s getting a lot of heat from liberal economists for apparently caring more about inflation than unemployment.  You’d expect a republican to have such priorities, but certainly not a democrat!  Bernanke’s acting like a republican!  Wait a minute, he is one – he was first appointed by George W. Bush and Barack Obama saw fit to re-appoint him in 2009.

That Obama made this appointment is not only a clear statement of where he sits on the ideological spectrum but also a continuing reminder of the right wing nature of the democratic party.   Democrats feel very comfortable appointing conservatives to head the Fed.  Bill Clinton did it with Alan Greenspan in 1996 and Jimmy Carter before him with Paul Volcker in 1979.  Wall Street and the moneyed crowd are thereby assured that, despite public rhetoric, there’s little space between the parties when it comes to monetary policy; the democrats are as safe as republicans.

I’ve written too much already on Obama’s hypocrisy in claiming to be an instrument of progressive change and there’s no sense repeating it here.  He’s got a problem with the left and his political operatives obviously know it.  In a recent video message to potential supporters, he says:

I know that a lot of you who were involved in the campaign earlier, over the last two years, you’ve probably felt some frustration.  There’s been some times where you wanted Washington to change a lot more quickly than it has, and it keeps on slipping into those same old bad habits.

If you’ve been feeling impatient — and I understand that — if you’re feeling frustrated sometimes, that shouldn’t be a reason to pull back.  That’s a reason for us to get even more involved.

I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission.

(Disclosure: the last paragraph was spoken by the Hal 9000 computer as he was being disconnected by astronaut Dave.)