And Bush bequeathed this country a face-shooting shadow president. rawr rawr rawr

11/20/2009 10:20:24 PM

news outlets starting to cover this a lot more closely

check out CNN's "FED FOCUS"

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/fed/

Quote :

"Bernanke, whose four-year term expires in January, is certain to face a contentious Senate banking panel at his confirmation hearing, set for Dec. 3. He is also defending against the sharpest attack on Federal Reserve powers ever. "

11/23/2009 9:40:47 AM

BWAHAHAHAHAHA

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/16/time.bernanke/index.html

Quote :

"Time names Bernanke Person of the Year"

12/17/2009 9:00:02 AM

There goes their credibility...

12/17/2009 11:31:01 AM

They named Hitler and Stalin as Person of the Year too. It isn't always a good thing.

12/17/2009 11:32:07 AM

They name it after the person who's had the most influence on our world (or just country) in a given year.

If anything, this is just showing how little effect Obama has actually had, thusfar.

12/17/2009 11:43:28 AM

^^,^ I didn't realize that,

I've only skimmed the article so far, seems like a lot of "ZOMG Bernanke saved teh economy"

12/17/2009 12:10:18 PM

i have no confidence in bernanke.

once this gets to the senate floor, we'll see some pretty clear divisions between three factions in the senate: conservative libertarians, progressives, and corporatists. i'd say there's like 10 in the first catagory, 10 in the second, and too many in the 3rd. guess who wins?

12/17/2009 5:56:25 PM

seems appropriate here:

Quote :

" Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve asked a U.S. appeals court to block a ruling that for the first time would force the central bank to reveal the identities of financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest government bailout in U.S. history. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan will decide whether the Fed must release records of lending programs that were instituted or expanded to help banks survive the longest recession since the Great Depression. In August, a federal judge ordered that the information be released, responding to a request by Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News. “This case is about the identity of the borrower,” said Matthew Collette, a lawyer for the government, in oral arguments yesterday. “This is the equivalent of saying ‘I want all the loan applications that were submitted.’” Bloomberg argued that the public has the right to know basic information about the “unprecedented and highly controversial use” of public money. Banks and the Fed warn that bailed-out lenders may be hurt if the documents are made public, causing a run or a sell-off by investors. Disclosure may hamstring the Fed’s ability to deal with another crisis, they also argued. The lower court agreed with Bloomberg. "

http://ow.ly/VCEG

1/13/2010 1:20:27 PM

if you get public loans the related information should be public knowledge

1/13/2010 1:22:29 PM

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=91719

Quote :

"FEDERAL Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has sought to defuse allegations that the central bank tried to conceal details about the 182,3bn bail-out of American International Group (AIG), calling for a review of the Fed’s actions. In a letter to the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday, Bernanke pledged “all records and personnel necessary” for a congressional audit. "

This is certainly a change in tune.

1/21/2010 12:38:55 PM

^ Translation "We've shredded, misplaced, lost or otherwise removed any incriminating evidence and we're ready for you now."

1/21/2010 1:00:41 PM

Yeah, Im still pretty skeptical.

It'll be one of those "audits" where you have more questions when finished than when you started

[Edited on January 21, 2010 at 1:04 PM. Reason : Still holding out hope that this or the bills in congress will eventually shed some light]

1/21/2010 1:02:41 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-tbclZmo0

Bernanke is either crazy, ignorant, or evil.

3/18/2010 3:12:13 PM

LOL at Ron Paul.

I can only imagine everytime Bernanke leaves one of those meetings hes like "Gawd I wish that guy would get off my nuts"


I also liked this exchange (made me lol for some reason)

Bernanke: Umm arent you a gold standard supporter?

Paul: Well, Im for the Constitution . . . . . . . .

Bernanke: uhhhhhhh . blah blah blah blah

3/18/2010 4:04:37 PM

Yeah, that was hilarious. I'm sure Bernanke wanted to say something along the lines of "Dude...no one gives a shit about the constitution anymore, we do whatever we want."

Central banking is an art, man. It's a delicate balancing act, and the best way to "balance" it is to keep interest rates at fucking zero. How does Bernanke seriously get away with saying something like we don't need to worry about having too many houses? Does he even know what the housing bubble was?

Also, when Bernanke himself admits that keeping interest rates too long too long results in inflation...what do you think is going to happen?

[Edited on March 18, 2010 at 4:21 PM. Reason : ]

3/18/2010 4:19:56 PM

Quote :

"Also, when Bernanke himself admits that keeping interest rates too long too long results in inflation...what do you think is going to happen?"

We will get inflation, and when we do, we should up the rate accordingly, but until we do, we should keep it low.

3/18/2010 5:34:09 PM

Double digit unemployment, double digit inflation...and a rate hike on top of that? Sounds rough.

3/19/2010 1:36:04 AM

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-19/federal-reserve-must-disclose-bank-bailout-records-update1-.html

Quote :

"March 19 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Board must disclose documents identifying financial firms that might have collapsed without the largest ever U.S. government bailout, a federal appeals court said. "

so can the FED appeal it again or is this the end of the line?

3/19/2010 12:34:00 PM

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-14/fed-shouldn-t-reveal-crisis-loans-banks-vow-to-tell-high-court.html


Banks are still worried that releasing these documents will cause a run on weak banks. It takes forever to accomplish anything in the court system. The only thing slower is congress, what happened to the Sunshine act?

Quote :

"The biggest U.S. commercial banks will take their fight against disclosure of Federal Reserve lending in 2008 to the Supreme Court if necessary, the top lawyer for an industry-owned group said. "

4/14/2010 8:54:56 AM

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/obama-administration-ramps-up-opposition-to-fed-audit-provision.php?ref=dcblt

Quote :

"It's likely, in fact, that the Obama administration will be under intense pressure to veto the entire financial reform bill if "audit the fed" survives. That's why, according to the Wall Street Journal they'll "fight to stop it at all costs." The White House is hoping to cut off "audit the Fed" in the Senate, so that they'll have a stronger hand when House and Senate negotiators meet to iron out the differences between their regulatory reform bills. If the Senate bill does not include Sanders' amendment, then the House will be in a weak position vis-a-vis the Senate and White House and the provision could be easily stripped. If Sanders prevails, then the White House will be all but out of options and President Obama will likely be left with the choice of vetoing the legislation, or signing it and raising the ire of very powerful people. Stay tuned. "

plz to not veto

5/5/2010 9:15:05 AM

I don't think Obama will defy his banking cartel overlords.

5/5/2010 12:36:56 PM

THE ZOG CONTROLS HIM!!!

5/5/2010 6:08:01 PM

The administration may pressure people to take it out of the bill before its passed but I don't think Obama can veto. You would look pretty dumb vetoing after pointing at Republicans for threatening filibusters.

I'm still hoping some form of legit audit legislation passes.

5/5/2010 6:35:47 PM