Is the timing an attempt to split progressives over health care?

Obama to Reappoint Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke‏

President Barack Obama will announce the nomination of Ben Bernanke to a second term as Federal Reserve chairman on Tuesday, opting for continuity in U.S. economic policy despite criticism in Congress of the low-key central banker’s frantic efforts to rescue the financial system.

Mr. Obama’s decision had become a subject of growing speculation and uncertainty in financial markets and in Washington policy circles.

The president called the Fed chairman to the Oval Office Wednesday evening to offer him another term. Mr. Bernanke then flew off to Wyoming where he gave a spirited defense of his controversial policies at the Fed’s annual meetings in Jackson Hole. Mr. Obama left for Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where he will deliver the news Tuesday with Mr. Bernanke at his side.

Mr. Bernanke is seen by supporters inside the administration and in markets as a creative and steady hand who helped to keep the financial chaos of the past year from leading to a second Depression.[...]