Republican presidential candidates accuse Fed of playing politics

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Several Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday accused the Federal Reserve of keeping U.S. interest rates low for political reasons, and one called for replacing Fed Chair Janet Yellen. "The Fed should be audited and the Fed should stop playing politics with our money supply," New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said in the "undercard" Republican debate hosted by Fox Business Network. The debate in Milwaukee featured four candidates for president who are at the bottom of opinion polls and did not qualify for the main debate occurring later on Tuesday. "It’s hurting American seniors who are seeing no Social Security increases, who are seeing no savings. They’re putting money aside and seeing nothing in the savings accounts," former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee echoed those sentiments. “The Fed has manipulated the dollar, so it doesn’t have a standard, tie the dollar to something fixed and if it’s not going to be gold, make it the commodity basket,” Huckabee said. He added he would "absolutely" replace Yellen. “We need to make sure they tie the monetary standard to something that makes sense instead of their own whims," Huckabee said. For more on the 2016 U.S. presidential race and to learn about the undecided voters who determine elections, visit the Reuters website. (http://www.reuters.com/election2016/the-undecided/). (Reporting by Ginger Gibson and Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler and Jonathan Oatis)