Senator Reid to file cloture motion Wednesday: Bernanke could get full Senate vote Friday

The clock is ticking for the Senate to act on Ben Bernanke's re-nomination as Federal Reserve chairman before his term expires on January 31.

Majority Leader Harry Reid could file a cloture motion as early as Wednesday, when the Senate reconvenes for its first full session after the holiday, which would clear the way for a vote on Mr. Bernanke's second four-year term later this week or early next, Senate aides said.

A cloture vote, which requires the support of 60 senators, is required because at least four senators used their prerogative to block a vote. Some want the Senate to vote first on a bill to expand congressional audits of the Fed's monetary policy, a move that Mr. Bernanke and many senior lawmakers oppose. Other senators have suggested they would use the floor debate about Bernanke to raise questions about the Fed's September 2008 bailout of American International Group Inc. In a bid to quell the congressional anger about AIG, Mr. Bernanke on Tuesday invited a full audit by the Government Accountability Office on the Fed's role in rescuing and overseeing the insurer.

A cloture filing Wednesday would mean the earliest the Senate could vote on the nomination would be Friday. A spokeswoman for Sen. Reid said nothing has been set yet.

Mr. Bernanke is expected to receive the 60 votes his confirmation requires. But opposition among some senators, and other priorities in the Senate such as health care, could delay a vote.

---

Continue reading at the WSJ  >>

Comments

[Benny and the Talibanks]

An open letter to Democrats.

You did not win the elections in 2008, Republicans were voted out. Republicans were voted out because they destroyed the currency, allowed their friends to steal from the taxpayers and destroyed capitalism. Your response was Tim Geithner (an insider trading tax criminal), multi trillion dollar bailout scams to AIG and Goldman Sachs, Ben Bernanke, and scams like cash for clunkers, cash for golf carts and cash for appliances.

You have not won any election over the past year. Dodd has been ousted, two governors and now your most precious senatorial seat is gone. I can guarantee that Pelosi, Reid, Frank, Boxer, Feinstein will all be fighting for their political lives. There will be very few incumbents left when this is over. Maybe Ron Paul and Rep. Kaptur will withstand the onslaught because they were the only ones to stand up to the criminals.

After these criminals are ousted we need to appoint Elliot Spitzer as special prosecuter to prosecute Paulson, Geithner, Bernanke, Greenspan, Blankenfein, Kudlow, Christopher Cox, PIMCO, AIG, Goldman Sachs, Merril Lynch, Bank of AmericaCountrywide, CitiBank and JPMorganChaseWamuIndyBank, WellsFargoWachovia. During the plea deals I'm sure many of these criminals will be willing to pay restitution in exchange for 5 to 10 years off their sentences.

[S. Gompers]

Very good Benny, they would also start playing the old rat your buddy out for a lighter sentence game, which would be quite exciting to watch them of both parties start to feed on themselves instead of us...

Better watch it though, talk like that will have Gobias calling you a liberal like the rest of us, LOL, while he is out supporting gun banners.

[Sagebrush]

If the feeding frenzy begins, I wonder if some names from the House and the Senate might make that list for Elliot Spitzer to prosecute? It would save us having to vote them out in 2010 and 2012. Congress needs realize the American People are pissed off big time, and we ain't gona take it anymore.

[Sgt. Hulka]

Benny,

I think you must have inadvertently left out the Catholic Church, the Girl Scouts and the Harlem Globetrotters from your list of people and organizations to be prosecuted. Lighten up Francis.

Also, why are you so enamored of the Noted Hooker F*cker?

Finally, why not focus on the real timebomb? Talk to David Walker.

~Sgt. Hulka

[DailyBail]

not benny...but i'll respond about spitzer...i could give a flying fuck about his personal life...whether or not he runs again for office, we need someone like him to bust ass ...and spitzer clearly gets it...he understands everything that has gone down....i personally would trust him to go after paulson, rubin, friedman geithner and the rest...