The Democrats have a penchant for advancing their big government dreams through the insidious use of unelected members of government.  To that end, Obama has nominated radical ideologues to judgeships and executive agencies since the beginning of his presidency.

Another unelected body of the federal government that is rapidly becoming a fourth branch is the Federal Reserve.  Due to the vitality of their creeping economic interventions, Obama is seeking to pack the Board of Governors with radical Keynesian stimulus supporters.  His latest nominee, Peter Diamond, will be voted on by the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.

While our fiscal policy is formulated by 535 members of Congress, our monetary policy is set by 7 unelected members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  In recent years, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, with the support of Obama, has used the power of the Fed to implement destructive monetary stimulus policies that have benefited Obama’s Wall Street donors at the expense of the American consumer.  The Fed has weakened the dollar to the extent that import price inflation has spiked 11% since last year.  Obama might ramble about not raising taxes on the middle class, but he has used the unbridled power of the Fed to induce the most deleterious tax of all; inflation.

Last week, we advocated that Congress reign in the Fed’s rouge policies by repealing their mandate to intervene in economic policy.  The most immediate concern, however, is to ensure that radical Keynesian stimulus supporters like Peter Diamond are blocked from becoming Governors.

Diamond, an economics professor at MIT, has long advocated for the very big government fiscal and monetary interventionist policies that are so inimical to our economic recovery.  He has even called for a second stimulus.  If confirmed to the Fed, he would undoubtedly seek to accomplish that through monetary policy, even though he has little experience in that realm.  We don’t need a second fiscal stimulus to exacerbate our debt, and we certainly don’t need a third monetary stimulus (QEIII) to service that debt with printed money.

This is where Senate Republicans come into play.

The 7 members of the Board of Governors are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate for staggering 14-year terms.  Most Governors seldom serve out even half of their term, creating frequent vacancies at the Fed.  As such, Obama has thus far had the opportunity to appoint (or promote, in the case of Ben Bernanke) 5 of the 7 sitting members of the Board of Governors.  There are currently two vacancies, providing Obama with the chance to fully stack the Fed with like-minded Keynesian socialists.

Obama nominated Diamond to fill the vacancy last year, but Senate Republicans blocked a floor vote until the 111th Congress adjourned.  Now, Diamond must be approved again by the Banking Committee in this Congress.  Ranking member Richard Shelby has held the line on Diamond until now and should not let his guard down.  The Democrats have the votes to pass him out of committee, but Shelby can take the lead in coalescing opposition to Diamond on the Senate floor.  We have more than enough votes to block him and every Republican should oppose this nominee.  The Club for Growth has already announced that they will score this vote.

In addition to Diamond’s radical ideology, the Club for Growth is arguing that he is not eligible to for the position because he doesn’t live in the jurisdiction that he would represent.  He is being nominated to fill the seat representing the Chicago district, yet he lives in Boston.  This is unprecedented, and it should automatically disqualify him for the position.

As American consumers languish from the crushing costs of vital goods and services, Republicans should use their confirmation powers to highlight the irresponsible and anti-free market policies of the Fed and oppose all pro-stimulus nominees.  Let’s prevent Obama from stacking all of the unelected branches of government with radicals.  It’s time to shed light on the dark deeds of the Fed.  It’s not enough to merely fulminate about big government; we must root it out in every branch.  Vote no on Peter Diamond for Federal Reserve Governor.