Sanders says Summers’ nomination to the Federal Reserve would be a 'tragic mistake'

by Hilary Niles September 10, 2013 vtdigger.org There’s no telling who President Barack Obama will nominate as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, but Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., knows who he doesn’t want to get the job: Larry Summers.
The current man at the helm of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, will step down from his second four-year term in January. Obama may announce his preferred successor to Bernanke any day. The torch will be passed amid a chronically sluggish economic recovery and growing income disparities, at a time when even rumors of swelling interest rates are followed quickly by market declines.
Summers, a former White House economic adviser and previous president of Harvard University, reportedly is considered Obama’s favorite for the post. Fed vice chair Janet Yellen has emerged as the flip side of the coin. Yellen would be first woman nominated to head the board, whose membership remains predominantly male.
Sanders didn’t offer up Yellen’s name in a July 28 letter to Obama urging him to strike Summers from the running. Drawing a connection between Summers, Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and the deregulation that led to the 2008 financial collapse, he instead mentioned that economist Joseph Stiglitz and former labor secretary Robert Reich ‘come to mind’ as qualified alternatives.
‘I urge you to consider someone who will put the needs of the disappearing middle class ahead of the interests of Wall Street and the wealthy few,’ Sanders wrote. He said he felt a Summers nomination would be a ‘tragic mistake.’
Sanders’ letter was one of 20 sent by Senate Democrats to Obama expressing similar sentiments in July. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., for the time being, is staying out of it.
His spokesman David Carle said, ‘Senator Leahy believes that the President should nominate the most qualified candidate who can meet the dual challenges of lowering unemployment and managing an increasingly complex and global economy.’
Rep. Peter Welch, as a member of the House, will not have a role in the confirmation hearings. But he’s observing the run-up to the nomination with interest. Spokesman Ryan Nickel said Welch ‘hopes that whomever gets that job will focus like a laser on strengthening the middle class, creating jobs, and addressing the growing problem of income inequality in America.’
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