Fed May Delay Tightening Next Year as Congress Debates Powers

(Bloomberg) -- Proposals in Congress to trim the Federal Reserve’s powers and subject it to greater scrutiny mean Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may have to think twice about raising rates in 2010 as long as unemployment stays high. Bernanke and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee meet for the last time this year under the shadow of proposals to audit the Fed’s monetary policy decisions, strip it of bank-supervision authority and give politicians a role in choosing regional Fed bank presidents.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_.PPhXquoVI&pos=6