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Obama to nominate Fed Vice Chair Yellen to succeed Bernanke as chairman of central bank
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Capping a lengthy and politically charged search, President Barack Obama will nominate Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve's vice chair, to be chairman of the nation's powerful central bank, succeeding Ben Bernanke at a pivotal time for the economy and the Fed's monetary policies.
• If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would be the first woman to head a major central bank anywhere in the world. She also would be the first Democrat chosen to lead the Fed since Paul Volcker was picked by President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
• Obama was scheduled to make the announcement Wednesday with Yellen and Bernanke at his side in the White House's ornate East Room.
• Bernanke, 59, will serve until his term ends Jan. 31, completing a remarkable eight-year tenure in which he helped pull the U.S. economy out of the worst financial crisis and recession since the 1930s.
• Under Bernanke's leadership, the Fed created extraordinary programs that are credited with helping save the U.S. banking system after the financial crisis erupted in 2008. The Fed lent money to banks after credit markets froze, cut its key short-term interest rate to near zero and bought trillions in bonds to lower long-term borrowing rates.
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AP-GfK Poll: Republicans get most blame for shutdown, tea party is potent and divisive factor
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans are holding Republicans primarily responsible for the partial government shutdown as public esteem sinks for all players in the impasse, President Barack Obama among them, according to a new poll. It's a struggle with no heroes.
• The Associated Press-GfK survey, out Wednesday, affirms expectations by many in Washington -- Republicans among them -- that the GOP may end up taking the biggest hit in public opinion from the fiscal paralysis, just as that party did when much of the government closed 17 years ago. But the situation is fluid nine days into the shutdown and there's plenty of disdain to go around.
• Overall, 62 percent mainly blamed Republicans for the shutdown. About half said Obama or the Democrats in Congress bear much responsibility.
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