Second Term as Federal Reserve Chief

The vote on whether Ben S. Bernanke would be head of the Federal Reserve for a second term occured today. It was 70 to 30 vote which is apparently the thinnest approval rating in 96 years. Although the article writer states that this may be a victory for President Obama who supports Bernanke, this "architect of recovery" has been blamed for high unemployment and Wall Street bailouts. Evidently he allowed banks to keep "dangerously" low capital reserves and make "reckless" lending decisions that ended up ruining consumers. Supporters of Bernanke argue that sure he has made some bad decisions but had overall helped the economy from falling into worse recession than it already is. The vote to end the debate ( I presume the pros and cons of his last term) ended in the Senate as a 77 to 23 vote. The second vote to confirm the debate ( to make sure?) had 30 who voted against his second term. This group included 18 Republicans, 11 Democrats and 1 independent from Vermont.

"The vote also made clear Congress's insistence on transparency from a historically secretive institution that has made extrodinary interventions in the market since 2008."

One Republican, Richard C Shelby asked, "If we don't hold Chairman Bernanke accountable, what precedent are we setting for future regulators? "

Another Senator stated, "We shouldn't be paying the Fed chairman to learn on the job."

Chairman Bernanke has recieved more disapproval votes than any nominee for chairman since 1983. He begun as the Cheif of the Council of of Economic Advisors appointed by George W Bush. In 2006, he became the Federal Reserve Chief.

Any thoughts? Personally, I do not know why President Obama backs Chairman Bernanke and I would like to know the specifics as what he has done is contradictory to what President Obama proposed in his State of Union Address. Sadly the article does not touch on the subject. I like how one senator said that they shouldn't be paying Chairman Bernanke to learn on the job as isn't that the same as the president's role? I would also like to know more about how he helped the economy from falling even deeper as his supporters have mentioned. It seems that a diverse group made up of Republicans, Democrats and a Independent all disapprove of Bernanke. I wonder how different the number of votes would be if the country weren't in a recession right now or hadn't fallen to this state.