Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama's decision to re-appoint Federal Reserve chairman Benjamin Bernanke shows that "all that criticism of the Bush administration last time around wasn't all correct."
It was reported on Monday night that Obama would recommend Bernanke for a second four-year term. The Senate must vote to confirm Bernanke for him to remain at his post.
But the Energy and Commerce Committee Republican said on CNBC's Squawk Box that Bernanke has been "too interventionist" and recommended that Congress reduce Fed's role in the economy.
Shadegg said that the Federal Reserve is simultaneously controlling monetary policy and directly bolstering the economy by advocating for such measures the economic stimulus. He preferred that the Fed stick to its traditional role regulating the money supply.
The Fed increased its presence in economic policy under Bernanke during last year's credit crisis. The rapid tightening of credit was part of the reason the economy nearly plunged into a Depression-like state.
"[Bernanke is] seen as safe and as changing the topic quite frankly from what's dominated the news lately which is healthcare, which is not going well for the president," Shadegg added.
Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.), who sits on the Joint Economic Committee, praised Obama's decision to re-appoint Bernanke as a display of bipartisanship.
"If he sees talent, he goes after it, even if they were former Bush administration appointees," he said in the same interview.
Snyder agreed that the Fed should reduce its role in the economy.
Remarks made Sunday by two of President Obama's top economic advisers saying that the middle class may face a tax increase were no gaffe said a Republican member of Congress.
"That notion that there may be a tax increase coming was planted," Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) told Fox News on Monday.
Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Larry Summers both left the door open for tax increases on middle class families in order to raise funds to close the federal deficit and pay for healthcare reform.
"Nothing happens in Washington by accident...that's the one thing I have learned over the short time that I have been there" the fourth-term congressman added.
Burgess is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which narrowly passed its version of healthcare reform legislation just before recess commenced on Friday.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) continued his assault on President Obama's stimulus package on Sunday, calling the economic legislation a "flop."
Cantor, appearing on Fox News Sunday, said the $787 billion legislation is not working. In particular, he said small businesses aren't hiring.
On Sunday, Cantor, who whipped the entire House GOP caucus to vote against the stimulus, said the package didn't focus enough on preserving and creating jobs. He suggested that the GOP alternative provided more incentives for businesses to hire people, such as giving businesses a tax break.
Cantor also said that the economic crisis is providing an opportunity for "the Republican Party to demonstrate that it can and will lead again."
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House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) leveled the GOP's most pointed criticism of President Obama's stimulus package on Saturday, saying the president has broken his promise to spur the economy.
Delivering the weekly Republican radio and internet address, Cantor said Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus package has failed.
"There is no doubt that our nation faces many challenges, but the plain truth is that President Obama's economic decisions have not produced jobs, have not produced prosperity, and have not worked," Cantor said. "President Obama has already asked you to borrow trillions, and so far nearly 3 million jobs have been lost this year alone."
"Simply put," he added, "this is now President Obama's economy and the American people are beginning to question whether his policies are working."
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President Obama on Saturday defended his $787 billion economic stimulus package as having ended an economic free fall after a week of criticism from both ends of the political spectrum.
Obama used his weekly address to the nation Saturday to say the stimulus in a little more than 100 days had worked as intended, and that without it there would have been tens of thousands of additional layoffs.
He added that the stimulus was not designed to work in four months but over two years, and seemed to ask those listening or viewing the address for patience.
"Crucially, this is a plan that will also accelerate greatly throughout the summer and the fall," said Obama, who added his administration always knew it would take some time for money to get out the door.
According to recovery.gov, the government web site tracking the stimulus, only $523 million of the $20 billion allocated to the Department of Transportation has been spent so far.
When he took office, he said he had warned that it would take many months to move the economy from recession to recovery and then prosperity. But he said the country is now moving in the right direction and was "cleaning up the wreckage" of an economic storm.
"We must let it work the way it's supposed to, with the understanding that in any recession, unemployment tends to recover more slowly than other measures of economic activity," he said.
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House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) continued his assault on President Obama's stimulus package on Thursday, saying the bill has "not had the desired effect."
Cantor, appearing on MSNBC, said something new needs to be done to address the sagging economy.
"I think the question is really where do we go from here," Cantor said.
There is "no way to defend this spending bill," he added.
Democrats fired back on Cantor Monday when the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee issued a statement saying that it was "hypocrisy" for Cantor to blast the legislation after supporting funding for light rail in Virginia that is included in the bill.
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