As native Americans say, "Central banker speak with forked tongue." After following this mess for a couple of years, I can't help but notice how Greenspan and Bernanke's words are exactly opposite their actions. It is sad that Congress refuses to notice this fact.

To me, the larger issue is primarily philosophical: do we deserve our republic? For hundreds of years, the concept of self-government and the rule of law was taken extremely seriously. So important, in fact, that over 1m people have given their lives defending our freedoms.

And yet we were/are willing to mortgage our birthright for the illusion of safety. The promises of the central bank were to leverage advantages & dampen out extremes to create a smoother, balanced form of capitalism. Yet, as we can clearly see, once entrusted & enabled with this incredibly tremendous power, the Fed has abused its position for the enrichment of its private owners.

When will the people decide enough is enough? Is it not enough that our currency and debt mechanism is in the hands of a private cabal? Must we now commit the entire wealth & future prosperity of the country to backstop and guarantee the Fed to enable them to take on yet more, additional risks & then reap the rewards?

I've begun to think that anyone who allows this to happen to them deserves everything they are getting. We simply are no longer the people children read about in history books. We are the 3rd generation that loses it all.

Gen, just a heads up, 2nd link not there (Washington Post, but no article). Thanks.

Fixed it....

You know Karl, for a while I have viewed all this as simple regulatory capture - a subtle form of corruption. It has begun to dawn on me that what you are describing is well beyond subtle - the FED has served as a central bank for the U.S.A. while simultaneously serving as a forum for collusion among the nation's largest banks - a collusion that serves the interest of these banks and their managers, not the U.S.A. I am tangentially reminded of J.P. Morgan's famous ploy during a prior credit crisis in which he basically locked the big bankers in a room and forced them to bail out a failing holding company. Only now, the Fed is in the room. Some in this forum have advocated closing down the Fed - an idea born of anger - but they have a point. What is needed is a mechanism to ensure that the Fed acts in the U.S.'s interest. I suggest nationalization.

The Fed NEVER cared or cares about the people of the USA. They care about their money and how to maximize their profits, end of story. Benny sets no policy, only a talking head. The claws of the FED and goldamites are so deeply penetrated in our economic system, they will never leave. If they did, the system would collapse and perhaps that is their ultimate intent. Only accounting scams is in the way of across the board bankruptcies. Congress can not manage the treasury, they can't even control spending and manage the operations of the federal government, let alone an economy.
Good ticker and pickup of the 1998 policy of "Supporting" our country.

Did I hear Ben say he's sick of bailouts or did I misunderstand?

BERNANKE just admitted the DOLLAR is at risk if the BUDGET is not controlled.

Maybe all that faxing of tickers you have done is finally sinking into his thick head. Albeit.....quite a bit too late.

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What is needed is a mechanism to ensure that the Fed acts in the U.S.'s interest. I suggest nationalization.

Pardon me for my short term memory loss but I think Karl suggested chartering 10 new national banks a while ago capitalizing them with credit extended by the Treasury. Can't remember the ticker though...

Gen, great ticker. I really hope you are in regular communnication with congress.

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The Fed should not be given any additional supervisory authority until and unless we have 100% transparency in Fed operations and write into law criminal penalties for the FOMC members and Fed District bank directors and officers that refuse to enforce consumer protection laws.

Abso****inglutely! Great ticker.

The reform talk is nothing a diversionary tactic to keep the focus away from what's really needed, which is accountability. And it is being engaged in -- no surprise -- by the very people who are culpable, yet have been allowed to remain in power, in business, and in office.

Bernanke coming out for "consumer protection" is like a criminal, who has been mugging people and raping women, suddenly becoming an advocate for better lighting in city parks.

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Gen, great ticker. I really hope you are in regular communnication with congress.

I'm sure the ones who haven't blocked his fax number(s) still receive tickers regularly directly from him and daily from multiple other people.

Not read the whole ticker again because I am ****ed
Gen
There is no argue with points you are raising, despite your constant calls for no real recovery and here we are in oct seeing economic data for peak of the yr that is aug and sep gone down crapper.
What I want to say is
All these hearing are bull ****, and nothing contructive will come out of it.
Have you noticed that gay frank and that guy from tx going at each other like cat and mouse at the begining.
They are still at each other trying to blame one party or the other, like the ****ing country is really split and looking for one or the other
Lastly who are all these morons that come up and praising this guy ben.
These aholes must had their head in the sand and still stuck in it.
What the F* is this term as fire fighter b.s?
My understanding is the freaking federal reserve is there to foresee the coming economic fiasco and take steps to prevent it, not to be a f*cking fire fighter
These whole ****s are nothing less than a theater
And if these morons are debating to place the fed again in charge of coming regulatory, that means they know **** and learned nothing

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The Fed NEVER cared or cares about the people of the USA. They care about their money and how to maximize their profits, end of story.

Like all entities, what the Fed really cares about is its existence. The Fed was created by an act of congress, and an act of congress can diminish or even dismantle them. When they feel public sentiment growing angry and putting pressure on lawmakers to restrict their power, that is their biggest fear.

The Fed is effectively non-profit, so money is not their primary motivation. After all, they can literally create more out of thin air when they want to.

Since the commercial banks are the Fed's customers, and a significant source of their revenues, the Fed does care about their customers' profits.

Plocequ1 wrote..

Did I hear Ben say he's sick of bailouts or did I misunderstand?

I'm glad I'm not the only one that caught that.


I spit my coffee when he made that comment.

Shrpblnd, One of us is confused here. Yes, the Fed is a not-for-profit institution - but it is privately owned by several large banks and while the Fed has no interest in profits, its owner-banks certainly do. Thus, if the FOMC acts in a manner that benefits the member banks rather than the public, the Fed has been corrupted. Gen has made a pile of Tickers that suggest just that - that the Fed has been taking actions more in line with protecting its member banks than the U.S. public - and that it has attempted to hide that fact and as Jstanley suggest avoid accountability. Gen, I have no problem with prosecuting Ben Bernanke for fraud, but shouldn't we fire him first?

I like this idea of the states enacting legislation to force the banks to be expeditious about foreclosures. The grounds for this would be that it's not in the public interest to have properties sitting vacant for long periods of time.

That's the essential part of this idea. The property tax angle seems kind of separate. If legislation were enacted to force timely foreclosures, the property tax issue would take care of itself.

You gotta wonder how this would play out. There aren't enough people with enough cash--or enough people who can get a loan--for properties sold either privately or at auction to fetch much of a price, especially considering the volume of properties this would throw on the market. A lot of banks would close, but **** on 'em.

Yes, I like the idea of the states getting the job done so we can move forward - this is over 2 years in - enough.
Yes, fire Ben, end the Fed. It's a non-profit institution in name only.