Obama Wants Bernanke to Continue Work on Regulatory Reform

President Barrack Obama wants Ben Bernanke to remain at his post at the Federal Reserve Board and has re-nominated the Fed chairman to serve for four more years. "Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom; with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic freefall," the President said during a break from his vacation on Martha's Vineyard. The President said he wants Mr. Bernanke to "continue the work he's doing" to fix the financial system and engineer an economic recovery. And he stressed the need of financial regulatory reform to "ensure we never face another crisis like this again." Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said re-appointing chairman Bernanke is "probably the right choice." However, Sen. Dodd said he has serious concerns about the Fed's failure to use its regulatory powers to protect consumers from abusive subprime lending practices. "Chairman Bernanke was too slow to act during the early stages of the foreclosure crisis, but he ultimately demonstrated effective leadership and his reappointment sends the right signal to the markets," Sen. Dodd said.