“Worse than that, I fear it could be dangerous.”
It is dangerous.
Alot of arrows are being slung around, but no one is addressing the main issue as to why Bernanke is freaking in the first place.
And anyone who takes the time to do a quick readup of Bernanke’s opinions concerning the Great Depression will see why he is freaking.
Bernanke wants to keep the banks from failing, and he wants to get the bottlenecked credit flowing.
The republicans are offering good ideas that may have worked a little while ago - and it is a shame it has come to this hotpoint.
I haven’t seen republicans explain why Bernanke is wrong.
There’s a good reason he wound up getting that job in the first place.
In wartime there can only be one general.
I haven’t seen republicans explain why Bernanke is wrong.
In wartime there can only be one general.
You have a way with words. Straight to the very heart of the matter once again.
I think the key that the balkers are missing is what President Bush said: "These are not normal times." IOW, the balkers seem to be approaching this like it's some kind of "normal" spending bill, rather than coalescing around the principles of action demanded by a particular, huge crisis. Jack Welch was on H&C the other night. He said if a plan isn't in place by Monday or Tuesday, it's possible the fourth quarter could completely tank. If the country goes into rapid and steep deflation, wow, that is very, very difficult to pull out of. Look at Japan. After it's "lost decade," home prices there have still not regained their levels of 20 years ago. The number one home appliance is the safe! Decades later, the Japanese still keep their money stashed at home because they don't trust the banks. If we lose our position as an economic superpower (as Germany and France have both said would happen; there was a run on banks in Hong Kong yesterday because the bailout plan was stalling), not only might we face a long and harsh period of deflation, but our military might also would be compromised. Throughout history, economic issues correlate highly with war. IOW, this possibly is jeopardizing not only our economic security, but our national security, as well as the extent of peaceful coexistence in the world today.