Unemployment and the Callousness of Congress: The Bernanke Edition

A very quick, nearly Twitter-esque point. Reading this post by Mike Stark about the Bernanke confirmation, it is remarkable (and disturbing) how few senators seem to realize where Bernanke stands on unemployment. What's worse is how far off the radar screen the Fed is for so many of the senators interviewed. If I were a senator, making sure as many of my constituents were employed would be my top priority (not only is it good policy, but it's good politics). The Fed plays a large role in that. The divorce between what affects the political prospects of senators and the lives of their constituents is clear as day from their responses, and I don't know we change that without getting rid of most of them

Of course, it goes without saying that the callousness of the interviewed Republicans towards the problem of unemployment manifests itself in the denial that maximum employment is part of the statuary mandate of the Fed...