Obama joins White House effort to boost Bernanke

[January 26, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Bolstered by a White House lobbying effort that included the president, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's chances at a second four-year term improved Monday, calming a stock market that had grown anxious over the uncertainty of his support.

President Barack Obama championed Bernanke in an interview on Monday as his aides worked the phones to ensure the Fed chairman is confirmed by the Senate.

"He has my strongest support. I think he's done a good job," Obama told ABC News.

"What we need is somebody at the Federal Reserve who can make sure that the progress that we've made in stabilizing the economy continues. I think Bernanke is the best person for that job," the president said.

With Bernanke's term expiring Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., expects a confirmation vote by the end of the week, his spokesman said. David Axelrod, a top White House adviser, said Bernanke has the votes to keep his job.

Bernanke's brightening prospects provided the White House with a rare bit of good news amid political upheaval caused by simmering public anger over the economy, joblessness and bank bailouts.

The Federal Reserve, with its power to set interest rates that influence economic activity, employment and inflation, wields extraordinary influence over the lives of millions of Americans. It also plays a crucial role as the country's lender of last resort when banks can't get their money elsewhere.

Bernanke still can count on several "no" votes when the Senate takes up his confirmation. But after a surge of opposition late last week, and with many senators still undecided, the tide appeared to be turning in his favor. Amid the news, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 24 points after losing 552 points over the previous trading days.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader in the Senate and the party's top vote counter, conceded many Democrats are apprehensive. But after meeting with Bernanke Monday in the Capitol, Durbin said the Fed chairman should win a second term with help from Republican senators.

Complicating Bernanke's reappointment is his need for 60 votes to overcome a procedural hold on Bernanke's confirmation placed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who has been one of his leading critics.

But Durbin said even senators who might oppose the Fed chairman have said they would not attempt to block his confirmation from reaching the Senate floor. Among them are Democrats Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

"I don't like filibusters on nominations," Leahy said.

Durbin said Bernanke in their meeting acknowledged "mistakes were made" before the financial crisis. But Durbin said Bernanke also noted that problems that created the crisis predated his government service.

"Putting all this at his doorstep may be going too far," Durbin said.

A review of public statements and a survey of Senate offices Monday showed more than 30 senators supported Bernanke. Fifteen had announced their opposition.

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, was among several senators who began falling in line behind Bernanke's confirmation on Monday. "Facing circumstances not seen since the Great Depression, he made a number of critical decisions that brought us back from the brink of economic disaster," Baucus said.

For better or worse, Bernanke has come to embody both the run-up and the response to the financial crisis that peaked in the fall of 2008. Critics blame him for not recognizing trouble signs and for being part of a massive bank bailout; advocates credit him for launching aggressive countermeasures that prevented a financial collapse.

Even as momentum seemed to be shifting in Bernanke's favor, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., formally announced his opposition to the Fed chairman. The liberal MoveOn.org activist group called on senators to vote against Bernanke in an e-mail to its membership.

"He must be held accountable for many of the decisions that contributed to our financial meltdown," McCain said in a statement.

The market's reaction last week to news that senators were lining up against Bernanke was a strong indication that Bernanke's defeat would rattle Wall Street and financial markets around the world and add new risks to the fledgling recovery. Economists fear that prolonged political wrangling over a successor could increase the odds of the economy faltering and dipping back down into recession.

Bernanke's term expires Jan. 31, and turmoil over his reappointment comes as he and his Fed colleagues begin a two-day meeting Tuesday to gauge the strength of the economic recovery and weigh efforts to wean banks from emergency lending programs.

The Fed is all but certain to keep its key bank lending rate -- it affects a wide range of rates on consumer loans -- at a record low near zero when the meeting concludes on Wednesday.

It is also expected to renew a pledge to hold rates at record lows for an "extended period" to nurture the recovery. Economists think that means rates will stay where they are for at least six more months.

[Associated Press; By JIM KUHNHENN and JEANNINE AVERSA]

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