Far Right, Left Rage Against Bernanke

They're mad as hell at Ben Bernanke, and willing to work together—even if they don't agree on anything else—to block the Fed chairman's renomination. Populist anger at Wall Street bailouts and lack of transparency at the Fed has created a surprising coalition of right- and left-wingers that's gaining momentum. The surge started when Ron Paul and liberal Rep. Alan Grayson agreed on a measure to audit the Fed, and continues with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ move to block Bernanke’s nomination. “It’s very scary,” GOP Sen. Jim DeMint tells Politico of finding himself in such an unholy alliance.

The coalition has seen the likes of Grover Norquist and a US PIRG exec signing a letter together to support an audit of the Fed. And the chiefs of FreedomWorks and MoveOn recently sat down for a meal, shocking even FreedomWorks exec Max Pappas. “The thing that unites both left and right with regard to the Fed is populist anger,” one left-of-center blogger says. “It doesn’t seem to matter who is in the White House.” And Bernanke, appointed by Bush and renominated by Obama, is a perfect target. (More Ben Bernanke stories.)