GOP Sen. Corker Urges Bernanke, Fed Not to Do Any More QE

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker, a senior Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, Tuesday issued another stern warning to Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, saying the Fed should not commence another round of quantitative easing when the FOMC meets later this week.

"I hope Chairman Bernanke will show humility and make clear that there are limits to what monetary policy can achieve," Corker said in a statement.

Corker said the solution to the nation's economic struggles is not more aggressive monetary policy.

"Artificially lowering interest rates and printing more money will not solve our country's structural fiscal issues," he said.

"To get the economy really moving, we need true fiscal reform that includes pro-growth tax reform, a long-term plan to restore the solvency of Social Security and Medicare and dramatically lowers the deficit," Corker said.

For months, Corker has joined a number of Republican lawmakers in pressing the Fed not to do any more to stimulate the economy. They argue that looser monetary policy takes the pressure off Congress to act on fiscal policy.

At a hearing this summer of the Senate Banking Committee with Bernanke, Democratic senator Chuck Schumer urged Bernanke to act as aggressively as possible because fiscal policy is certain to remain stalemated until at least the Nov. 6 election.

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