Posted by Joseph Y. Calhoun, III

Ben Bernanke has opposed the efforts to audit the Fed allegedly because he values the independence of the Fed. Really? (Via WSJ):

The White House said yesterday it has damped down a political revolt against Ben Bernanke and now has the votes to secure the Federal Reserve Chairman’s second four-year term. Whether or not Mr. Bernanke is confirmed, the lesson we draw is that overly political central bankers will eventually be undone by politics.

There’s no doubt that some of this reconfirmation panic is nothing but political opportunism. When we opposed Mr. Bernanke’s reconfirmation on December 3, the facile consensus was that the Fed chief was a master of the universe who had saved the world from depression. But after Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last week, Senate Democrats are suddenly looking for a financial political sacrifice. President Obama doesn’t look ready to throw over Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, so Mr. Bernanke is the designated spear catcher.

The Democrats’ loudest complaint, moreover, is that Mr. Bernanke and the Fed haven’t been easy enough in printing money. Majority Leader Harry Reid declared his support for Mr. Bernanke on Friday, but not before extracting what he said were concessions about future Fed policy.

The Fed chief promised, said Mr. Reid, that he would “redouble his efforts” to make credit available and that Mr. Bernanke “has assured me that he will soon outline plans for making that happen, and I eagerly await them.”

Redouble? The Fed has already kept interest rates at near zero for more than a year, and it is buying $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities to refloat the housing bubble, among other interventions into fiscal policy and credit allocation. Is the Fed going to buy another $1.25 trillion, or promise to keep rates at zero for another 14 months?

Mr. Reid’s declaration of a confirmation quid pro quo will not reassure global investors who already fear that the Fed lacks the political will to withdraw its historic post-crisis liquidity binge soon enough to avoid new asset bubbles.

Fed independence? Apparently not. The Fed under Ben Bernanke is a failure at its primary goals as stated on its website. Price stability? Nope. Maximum employment? Nope. Moderate long term interest rates? Nope. Bank supervision? Nope. Consumer protection? Nope. Why is there even a discussion as to Bernanke’s reconfirmation? He’s a failure. Next!