Incompetence Rewarded - Bernanke Confirmed

Oh great!

The MORON who was in charge of the Fed during the world economic collapse, the IDIOT who didn't see it coming despite all the warning signs has been confirmed for a 2nd 4 year term by the Senate.

The New American

Bernanke Confirmed Despite Track Record

If there were any lingering doubts that official Washington rewards incompetency and lack of foresight, Thursday’s Senate confirmation of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second four-year term as Fed Chairman should put them to rest.

True, the 70-30 vote featured more dissent than has ever been the case before for an appointment to the position of Fed Chairman, but the fact that the Senate would even contemplate renewing the appointment of a man who — his alleged financial acumen and economic scholarship notwithstanding — was blindsided by the worst financial and economic crisis in 70 years, bespeaks of the cronyism and tolerance for ineptitude that permeate Capitol Hill.

For Ben Bernanke, scholar of the Great Depression extraordinaire, was caught as flatfooted as everybody else when the real estate bubble burst and financial titans were brought to their knees overnight. Nor was this all; instead of allowing the long-overdue correction to run its course, Bernanke promptly applied all his creativity to expanding the money supply and reinflating the bubble. Commented Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky — the only senator to vote against Mr. Bernanke’s confirmation back in 2005, “I knew that he [Bernanke] would continue the legacy of Alan Greenspan, and I was right.” As Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon) scathingly put it, the Fed “helped set the fire that destroyed our economy.”

I don't know about you, but I need an antacid.



[edit on 29-1-2010 by FortAnthem]

They just put a convicted arsonist in charge of the fire department.

We have the ability to throw them all out....if we're up to it...

Why didnt congress appoint Ron Paul to be the Fed Chairman instead? HE saw it all coming for months and was telling everybody and people were telling him to shut up! Then when it all hit the fan, FOX news was asking him for a quick fix...oh well...

Now hang on gang, this is a boy who got handed a loaded gun that was pre-programmed to go off that was ten years in the making.

That said, has he been perfect? No, and who would have been.

The public debt implosion has just started.

reply to post by leo123


The warning signs were there, Bernanke continued to paint a rosy picture even as the house of cards was falling down:

Prior to being nominated to replace Alan Greenspan when his term ran out in 2006, Bernanke was chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisors. During hearings for his nomination, Bernanke pointed out that housing prices had risen by nearly 25 percent over the prior two years, saying these increases “largely reflect strong economic fundamentals” in jobs, incomes, and the formation of new households.

When it was pointed out that housing prices were rising too fast and were likely forming a bubble that could collapse and trigger an economic downturn, Bernanke responded, “House prices are unlikely to continue rising at current rates, [but] a moderate cooling in the housing market, should one occur, would not [inhibit] the economy [from] continuing to grow at or near its potential.”

Bernanke remained blind to the obvious as well. At a House of Representatives hearing in February 2006, he said, “The housing market has been very strong for the past few years. Housing prices have been up quite a bit. Residential investment has been very strong.” He continued, “There are some straws in the wind that housing markets are cooling a bit [but] the decline in activity … will be moderate. So we expect the housing market to cool but not to change very sharply.”

In that same month, Bernanke drafted the Economic Report of the President which said, “The economy has shifted from recovery to sustained expansion…. The U.S. economy continues to be well positioned for long term growth.”

In April 2006, Bernanke said, “The available data on the housing market … suggests that this sector will most likely experience a gradual cooling rather than a sharp slowdown.”

In July 2006, Representative Gary Miller (R–Calif.) took Bernanke to task: “You’ve also indicated that there’s been a gradual cooling in the housing market. And I think that might be an understatement.” Bernanke demurred, responding that “housing prices have risen at double-digit rates for about five years … and that obviously can’t go on forever.”

Later that month, at another hearing, Bernanke continued his denials that anything was amiss: “Sales [of homes] should ultimately be supported by growth in income and employment as well as by mortgage rates that … remain fairly low. The declines in residential construction will likely continue … although the magnitude of the drag on growth should diminish over time.”

By February 2007, the economy was clearly in trouble. But Bernanke remained in denial: “Overall economic prospects for households remains good. The labor market is expected to stay healthy. And real incomes should continue to rise. The business sector remains in excellent financial condition.”

In July 2007, Bernanke was doggedly defending his outlook: “Employment should continue to expand. The global economy continues to be strong…. Financial markets have remained supportive of economic growth.”

The recession was officially recognized as starting in November 2007, but in February 2008, Bernanke continued his economic platitudes: “The nonfinancial business sector remains in good financial condition with strong profits, liquid balance sheets, and corporate leverage near historic lows. [We are anticipating a] moderation of the contraction in housing and the strains in financial and credit markets.”

By June 2008, Bernanke finally acknowledged the collapsing economy, but said that “the risk that the economy has entered a substantial downturn appears to have diminished over the past month or so.”

In May 2009, Bernanke continued to deny reality: “Currently, we don’t think [the unemployment rate] will get to 10 percent.”

The New American

How do I get me one of those jobs like Bernanke or Geithner where you can always "fail up?"

I mean, I could understand it if the government were merely, say, not working hard to look for talented people to fill these positions. That could be chalked up to apathy or indifference -- very normal, if regrettable, human afflictions. But to ACTIVELY REWARD FALURE, year after year, decade after decade...that really does take effort. I stand in awe of how hard they are working...to screw things up even more.

After all, the unemployment rate has more than doubled since 2007...and that's according the understated "official" figures. Surely somewhere in those tens of millions must be somebody who is competent to replace the handful of clowns at the helm of the economy who have failed again and again and again and again and just keep on getting rewarded. I think throwing darts at a list of laid-off workers from any industry would get us a better team at this point.