Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was confirmed for a second term Thursday by the U.S. Senate.

The final confirmation vote was 70-30. Minutes earlier, more than enough senators, 77, voted to end a filibuster on the nomination in a procedural move that required 60 votes.

The vote, which occurred just three days before Bernanke's first term was scheduled to end, came after heavy lobbying by Democratic leaders and the Obama administration. President Obama, himself, made calls last weekend. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., lobbied Republicans to make sure he had enough votes.

Despite the strong showing, Bernanke won his confirmation by one of the smallest margins of all time for a Fed chairman. Often the confirmation of a Fed chairman is so overwhelming and uncontroversial, it's done by a voice vote.

In 1983, then-chairman Paul Volcker was confirmed for a second term by a vote of 84-16, considered one of the more controversial confirmation votes at the time. Bernanke's second-term vote was far slimmer.

The controversy came through in the debate, which grew impassioned on both sides.

"This is not some assistant undersecretary of some other agency, this is the central bank chairman of the most important central bank in the world," Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said in the last speech of the day on the issue. "It's a critically important component in continuing our path to economic recovery. We will bear the collective responsibility of failing to meet that obligation if we walk away. . . by continuing this filibuster or defeating this nominee."

But several Republicans and Democrats countered that Bernanke deserves much of the blame for the current economic situation.

"Our present economic problems are no accident," said Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., a key lawmaker who works with Dodd on financial legislation. "Dr. Bernanke's Federal Reserve played a key role in setting the stage for the financial crisis we're in now."

Several senators, including Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., voted to end the filibuster blocking the confirmation vote but then voted against Bernanke's second term.

"He sat there, and said everything was fine. Everything was fine and everything was wonderful. Everything was OK," said Boxer, who is up for re-election this fall. "If Mr. Bernanke is confirmed, and I expect he will be, I hope he will listen to what a lot of us are saying here, and turn his attention to Main Street."

The Bernanke vote was a particularly tough one for the Senate.

The Senate is sensitive to growing voter frustration that Washington did a better job getting Wall Street back on its feet than Main Street.

Bernanke is largely seen as a symbol of Wall Street, even though many credit him for saving the economy from falling into a second Great Depression.

At least a half dozen Democrats, including several up for re-election this November, voted no on Bernanke. But the vote garnered some Republican support.
0:00 /1:59Politics cloud Bernanke decision

"The past decade was the worst decade in modern times," Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who votes with the Democrats, said on the Senate floor. He is among a handful of senators from both parties who delayed Bernanke's confirmation.

"Why do you want to re-appoint somebody who not only failed at his job as chairman of the Fed, in terms of safety and soundness, but was the author the Bush economy?" Sanders asked.

Ohio State University is No. 1 again -- but instead of the gridiron or hardwoods, the school tops the list of U.S. public college presidents' pay for the second year in a row, according to a study published Monday.

The Chronicle of Higher Education said E. Gordon Gee, Ohio State's president, took home $1.6 million last year, up from $1.3 million in 2008.

Gee's office did not immediately respond to calls requesting comment.

Mark Emmert, president of the University of Washington, was the second highest paid executive in the survey, with total compensation of $905,004 last year. Patrick Harker, president of the University of Delaware, came in third with $810,603.

The Chronicle, a Washington-based publication focusing on education, said Gee is one of "a growing number" of presidents that have given money back to their institutions, saying he donated $320,850 to help endow a scholarship fund.

The Chronicle surveyed total compensation, including salary and benefits, for top executives at 185 public universities.

Gee is the only public university president earning more than $1 million. By contrast, The Chronicle reported in November that 23 presidents of the nation's top private universities took home more than $1 million in 2008, the most recent year surveyed.

The survey found that compensation for public university execs overall increased at a much smaller rate in 2009 than in recent years. The median total compensation for chief executives last year was $436,111, up 2.3% from 2008. After adjusting for inflation, however, compensation rose 1.1%.

The relatively small increase comes after total compensation rose between 7.6% and 18.9% each year since 2005.

But as the economy soured and many public universities were forced to hike tuition and eliminate courses, the issue of executive compensation became a sore spot for many schools, said Jeffrey Selingo, editor of The Chronicle.

"Steadily rising pay packages of public university chiefs riled parents, students and politicians, especially as tuition increases also had been hefty from year to year," Selingo said in a statement.

The survey also showed that base salaries stopped growing last year for more than one-third of the chief executives, while 10% of them experienced a decline in total compensation.

The Chronicle also surveyed compensation at 64 community colleges nationwide and identified Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College, as the highest paid.

Padrón's pay package totaled $548,459 last year. He was followed by Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community College and Technical College System, at $532,907.

Retail sales fell in December, the government reported Thursday, putting a damper on hopes that the holiday shopping season was strong.

The Commerce Department said total retail sales fell 0.3% to $353 billion last month, compared with November's upwardly revised 1.8% jump. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had anticipated that December sales would grow 0.5%.

Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, and related reports such as retail sales are closely watched to determine whether a recovery is underway.

Sales excluding autos and auto parts fell by 0.2% from November. Analysts expected sales ex-autos to jump 0.3%.

Given that the economy was so weak 12 months ago, the year-to-year increase was strong. December 2009 retail sales jumped 5.4% compared to the same month in 2008.

"[It's not] clear how much of this reflects a catch-up from the fantastically depressed post-Lehman period ... and how much represents a sustainable, if very modest, upturn," said Ian Shepherdson, economist at High-Frequency Economics, in a research note. "We suspect more of the latter."

The December data are not enough "to reach a definitive verdict" on the holiday sales season, Shepherdson said. The January report will be "hugely important" as well because it reflects holiday gift card spending and post-holiday sales.

Total sales for 2009 retreated 6.2%