Bernanke: A new used car

Bernanke: Too big to fail

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This link goes to a CNN Money article pointing out that Wall Street will "punish" the country by dropping market values should Ben Bernanke not be appointed to a second term. It goes on to give a coherent history explaining exactly why he must not be re-appointed.

Bernanke captained the ship that sailed full speed ahead onto the rocks where it remains. He then played a leading part in rewarding the bankers who steered it there. The fact that Wall Street now has the power to punish the US government ought to be a message: these banks are too big not to fail. This country, or any other, cannot afford business interests big enough to overpower the government. Bernanke has ably represented the bankers against the interests of the United States. This must stop.

Specifically, Bernanke's central offense, as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, has been to keep interest rates inappropriately low, leading to the credit bubble that collapsed and brought the entire economy down with it. Bernanke still insists that Federal policy did not cause the crash, thus clearly demonstrating that he has yet to learn from his mistake.

Bernanke's more current offense is the bailout. He did his best to pour over $700 billion into Wall Street, resulting primarily in obscene bonus payments to the bankers who are the agents of the disaster. Meanwhile, lending to small businesses, the best chance of reviving the economy, has dropped dramatically. Those specific decisions have been made by the people who are receiving bonuses for no reason that I can imagine.

Obviously, I disagree with the article's conclusion that Bernanke should be retained because he "has been at the helm for so long." The ship is on the rocks; the captain insists upon keeping it there. Get rid of him. Let's find somebody to patch up the holes and get afloat again.