Bernanke warns Congress against deep spending cuts

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Tuesday, October 04, 2011, 10:28 AM

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is reiterating that Congress should not cut spending sharply while the economy is weak.

Bernanke tells the Joint Economic Committee that lawmakers face a delicate challenge: They must avoid making deep spending cuts that could impede the recovery. But he says they must also eventually cut spending more deeply than the $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts being sought by a special panel.

Bernanke says that the economy is growing more slowly than the Federal Reserve had expected and that the biggest factor depressing consumer confidence is poor job growth.

His warning to Congress not to pursue deep spending cuts in the short run comes at a time of sharp disagreement within the Fed and Congress about how to invigorate the economy.

Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/bernanke_warns_congress_agains.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, OhioChick.

[COLGATE4]

2. Bernanke, Schmernanke, so long as you've got the Teabaggers

cheering you on, who gives a flying fuck about the Economy?:grr:

[newspeak]

3. Obama was told by economists like roubini, stiglitz, krugman

that the country needed a massive stimulus bill, not one watered down. The objective is to get money moving and people working and everything else will take care of itself. That didn't happen. You've got bailed out banks (with our money) not giving loans to small businesses, you've got the one percenters sitting on the money or sending it overseas; so, the only viable course is have government create jobs and give tax incentives to businesses for hiring americans, and no tax loopholes to those corporations doing business and hiring abroad.

Also, I'd like the fees increased for corporations taking our resources.

[meow2u3]

5. You forgot one thing, newspeak

Increase the fees and call it a "corporate restitution fee." In addition, put a clause in the bill prohibiting corporations from passing their extra costs down the line, with severe civil and criminal penalties for those entities that (try to) jack up prices.

[banned from Kos]

8. Roubini, Stiglitz, Krugman never passed anything in Congress

$800 billion was a good sized Recovery Bill. Not enough to be sure but the most that could obtain a required GOP vote (actually got three votes)

[banned from Kos]

9. Teabaggers hate Bernanke - from Ron Paul to Rick Perry.

They blame him for "debasing" the Dollar - which is idiocy.

[avaistheone1]

4. kicked

k&r

[Kolesar]

6. This will totally freak out those with BDS

Bernanke derangement syndrome

"He's right, we need more federal spending, but, but, we can't agree with him, ..."

[banned from Kos]

10. Yes - I notice that the BDSers here fall into two camps

1- the Ron Paul "sound money" fans

2- the "I hate banks and the Fed is a private bank owned by the Rothschilds/Bilderberg/etc"

Both have no bearing in reality.

[No Elephants]

18. I guess Senator Sanders must have BDS.

He did not seem happy with Bernanke.

Then again, who wants Rethugs handling money?


BTW, why are Democrats using Bush Derangement Syndrome, which the RW used in pathetic attempts to make it seem that those who criticized Bush did so only because they were deranged?

[defendandprotect]

7. Bernanke seems shaky -- is he getting worried about his job -- or revolution?

[fascisthunter]

20. !

[alp227]

11. Bernanke says US economy is 'close to faltering'

Source: The Guardian

Federal reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that US economic recovery is "close to faltering", and that a "disorderly" default in the Greek debt would have a serious impact.

In testimony to Congress, Bernanke was repeatedly quizzed about the impact of the European crisis on America. He said the US was an "innocent bystander" in the eurozone debt standoff and that US banks were not heavily exposed to Europe's most troubled economies.

But he warned that Europe's economic woes were already having a negative impact on US stock markets. "Unless the European situation is brought under control, it could be a much more serious situation for the US economy," he said.

Bernanke also warned that political warfare in Washington was a threat to the US economy. He told the Joint Economic committee that the recent row over raising the debt ceiling had been very unhelpful at a time of increasing economic uncertainty. "It's no way to run a railroad," he said.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/oct/04/ben-bernanke-us-economy-faltering

[aquart]

12. "Innocent bystander"?

Did we or did we not sell them our phony worthless derivatives?

[banned from Kos]

16. Haven't seen any Euro-banks (or Greece) write down any derivatives

What's killing the PIGS is their own sovereign debt.

[ixion]

13. This isn't a railroad, Ben, and you aren't innocent.

despite a mild change of heart on your part.

[russspeakeasy]

14. Yes, Ben, you're a fuckin genius...

[Denninmi]

15. Close to faltering, eh?

Sort of like waking up in the ICU post-crash and saying "Look out for that car up ahead, it's coming right for us, we're going to get hit."

A little late, Ben. Of course, he's not one of the 99%, either. I doubt he freaks out when he goes to the grocery store and sees that food prices are steadily rising, or when a letter from the health insurance company shows up in the mailbox and you just know its going to be ANOTHER double digit rate hike on your premiums.

[fascisthunter]

21. and that seems to have been his goal

either way, he helped this happen.

[No Elephants]

17. I watched Sanders question him today. Good stuff. I wish we had

95 like Sanders.

I'd say 100, but I don't believe in a one party systerm.

[sarcasmo]

19. Military spending won't even be on the table.

[harvey007]

22. U.S. "close to faltering," Fed ready to act: Bernanke

Source: Reuters

The Federal Reserve is prepared to take further steps to help an economy that is "close to faltering," Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday in his bleakest assessment yet of the fragile U.S. recovery.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-usa-fed-bernanke-idUSTRE79337C20111005?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

[No Elephants]

23. Quick! Hang on to your wallets for dear life!

[glowing]

24. Ain't that the truth.

[MannyGoldstein]

25. Hmm... sounds like the bankers will need a huge cash infusion nt

[gordianot]

27. Along with a few bonuses more tax cuts are needed for the bankster job creators.

[MannyGoldstein]

26. Hmm... sounds like the bankers will need a huge cash infusion nt

[Owlet]

28. Of course..it's the only thing to do

Final paragraph from the Reuters story cited above:

"In response to the financial crisis and recession of 2008-2009, the Fed slashed interest rates to effectively zero and more than tripled the size of its balance sheet to a record $2.9 trillion, buying bonds off banks balance sheets. Bernanke said this was not bailing out Wall Street, but was part of its mandate to provide price and financial stability."

When you can say this with a straight face, you can do the same thing all over again.