Fed head Bernanke all set for second term at helm

WASHINGTON: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke vowed before taking office to follow in the footsteps of his storied predecessor, Alan Greenspan, but he will likely distance himself from the past as he seeks a second term.

After a devastating financial crisis and deep recession that eliminated 7.3 million US jobs and cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out banks and financial firms, political friends of the Fed seem few and far between.

While his confirmation does not appear in doubt, that popular discontent is likely to translate into aggressive, even hostile questioning when Bernanke testifies before the Senate Banking Committee today in a bid to win confirmation to a fresh four-year stint as Fed chairman.