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Game Over Ben, Game Over?

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Maybe Senators had an advance look at Albert Edwards' report, or maybe the fog of Wall Street whispering sweet bribing nothings into their ears is finally lifting, but that vote we were supposed to have tomorrow to reconfirm Ben? Ain't happening.

From Dow Jones:

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Senate is "unlikely" to hold a confirmation vote on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's second term at the helm of the central bank, a senior Democratic leadership aide said Thursday.

Earlier this week, leadership aides said it was possible lawmakers would seek to vote on Bernanke's confirmation on Friday, but that now seems doubtful, the aide said.

The Fed chief's four year-term ends on Jan. 31. It is unclear what would happen if the Senate fails to approves him for a second term before then.

Bernanke is widely expected to be confirmed once a vote is held, but there are a handful of lawmakers preventing the Senate from moving directly to a vote. One of those, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont Independent who generally votes with the Democratic majority, is pressing for President Barack Obama to withdraw Bernanke's nomination and select another candidate to lead the Fed.

 

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Thu, 01/21/2010 - 12:22 | 200721 mule65
mule65's picture

Where's the PPT?

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:03 | 200780 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

They're there. Imagine what it could be like today if they weren't there...

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:34 | 201429 Rainman
Rainman's picture

PPT is off today.

Obama must be punished for suggesting banking reform as a coming reality. He must be punished even more if he keeps this up. Banksters will give it another lash tomorrow.

Tanking the equity markets is right out of the Banker's Stimulus I manipulation playbook. Works good with the elected employees.....or it used to.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 14:34 | 200925 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

11:45 a.m.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 12:30 | 200731 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

BS doesn't even want the job any more.  He is tired of answering all these questions about economic policy and regulations (which he understands better than anybody because HE went to Princeton) from such simplistic people as Senators and watchdogs.  His role as wizard was not to "tell us where the money went" it is to pull the rug out from the American people before they get to uppity about their country and their rights....or lack of them.

The Time man of the year is getting outta dodge right before (RIGHT BEFORE!!!!!) the shit hits the fan.  WOW!

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 16:10 | 201105 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

"Time man of the year".
I had forgotten about that. Kiss of death, no?

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 22:37 | 201704 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

The Luce smooch.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 23:52 | 201817 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

right before, right before ...they stopped reporting M3.

shit hit fan long ago go, shit is on the fan and is about to hit the wall of voodoo doo doo daddy.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:08 | 200737 anynonmous
anynonmous's picture

.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 12:38 | 200740 the.spear
the.spear's picture

"...Sen. Bernie Sanders...is pressing for President Barack Obama to withdraw Bernanke's nomination and select another candidate to lead the Fed."

I would bet my left nut that this won't happen, and that if it did that the new candidate would not bring change of any notable significance.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:08 | 200797 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Man... you only have 2 nuts to bet why bet them at all? It's not like you can double up on your nuts...

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 16:43 | 201170 Busy-Body
Busy-Body's picture

C'mon - this is America.  You can have only two nuts, but levered at 40:1, I say one can more than easily "double up" on one's nuts......

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:28 | 201418 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

You will need two Pricks to double your balls....

Oh I forgot you have Timmy and Ben

Although I'm not too sure Timmy's have dropped yet , poor Timmy

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:09 | 200798 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

nuts

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:13 | 200804 alexdg
alexdg's picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTifdoKXoxM

Obama and Volker kick out HFT?

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 13:54 | 200879 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

No no it's more like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUvjxyRVzl8

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 15:33 | 200936 carbonmutant
carbonmutant's picture

Without Ben to protect the FED against Ron Paul's raiders penetration of the inner sanctum seems likely.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 14:45 | 200943 RoastingBankers
RoastingBankers's picture

select me

 

im 1000000000000% certain i can do a better job and there isnt enough money in the world to "buy me"

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 14:58 | 200973 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

@RoastingBankers

Convince us that you can do a better job than BB. Please start by describing the Bernanke-Simms decomposition or a bank failure model. Until then, dont make such claims.

BB is the best and the brightest and was better qualified to guide the Fed through this period than anyone on earth. I am confident he has done the best possible job given the situation and politics he has to deal with.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 15:24 | 201023 greased up deaf guy
greased up deaf guy's picture

"I am confident he has done the best possible job given the situation and politics he has to deal with." you're kidding, right? the problem is he was an active and willing participant in creating "the situation" you claim "he has to deal with". capiche?

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 15:49 | 201072 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

thanks for that insight ben....

ben bernanke was and is a total quack who
needs time off to finish 1st grade...

besides being a criminal and a scoundrel
he is also a nincompoop who did not see
the financial crisis coming, claimed that
the sub-prime crisis would only cost
200b usd, and has accelerated the decapitalization
of america....he is a pretentious fraud
who claims expertise on the depression of
the 1930s but cannot see that we are in
one exasperated by orders of magnitude by
his ineptitude....

in addition, he has so corrupted the markets
with his politburo communistic interventions
that the usa economy is beyond repair....
coupled with debtmeister obama recovery
will not occur....

there are no credible candidates in view so
i would be happy to have gerbil sitting
in his vacant chair...

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 17:56 | 201280 Fed Supporter
Fed Supporter's picture

If it wasn't for the Fed's actions we would be in a Great Depression right now. 

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 18:09 | 201303 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

Hate to burst your bubble - but we are in a depression!

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:16 | 201397 Fed Supporter
Fed Supporter's picture

I agree 100% we are in a depression, but not a Great Depression.  Big difference.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:52 | 201466 lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

How do you define the difference between a mere Depression and a Great Depression?

 

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 18:58 | 201369 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

more pretentious arrogant straw man analysis from the
same bunch who told us that it was impossible
for the housing market to be in a bubble
and that the us economy was sound as late
as july 2008 - 6 months after the nber
declared the start of the depression...

your claim in its brevity is still prolix
fraud without a shred of substantiation....

a more credible claim would be that the
fed's monetary policy caused the problem
and that its emergency policies are
extending it...

we are in a depression today...unfortunately
the fed's extend and pretend is only
protracting the necessary corrections while
distorting in blackhole fashion all markets,
price signals, and information signals....

sorry, ben - but the fed is the problem....

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:50 | 201464 Rusty_Shackleford
Rusty_Shackleford's picture

And by "actions" you mean conjuring money out of nothing and buying stuff or guaranteeing his cronies debts

Right?

Please tell us some of the fantastic things he's done, because my 4 year old could have done that.

 

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 22:44 | 201715 Mr Lennon Hendrix
Mr Lennon Hendrix's picture

We are entering the Greatest Depression.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 16:58 | 201185 faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

lol...lemme guess. You're Benny's mom, aren't you.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 15:39 | 201053 trav7777
trav7777's picture

They will reconfirm on a Friday night like they do all the rest of this shit.

Listen, the Fed controls the currency.  They can takedown the dollar and cause a sovereign auction fail TOMORROW if they want.

The Fed was and IS the buying support for the Treasury; we cannot FUND without them.  If the Fed wants to make a show of force, it can.

Taking back control of the currency, as true patriots like Andrew Jackson did, is not going to occur without pain and a serious fight.

I mean, think about this rationally, the Fed controls the world reserve currency.  They could functionally destroy any nation infected with USD-debt for as long as the FRN has faith.

The origination of USDdebt in the past couple of years by various nations smacks of a quid pro quo for the swap lines the Fed extended their CBs to keep the local entities from FRN insolvency during 2008.  You come desperate to your dealer, you gotta buy more heroin.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 16:56 | 201183 swmnguy
swmnguy's picture

Unless there's a backstage palace revolt going on against Ben at the Fed?  Layers beneath layers...

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 17:11 | 201199 mtremus
mtremus's picture

Everyone on this website s/b e-mailing their SENATORS in DC and telling them not to vote for Bernanke confirmation.  It's easy to do.

http://www.senate.gov/

Then click on Senators

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 20:28 | 201528 Pondmaster
Pondmaster's picture

The Senate has not learned their lesson yet , that is to listen to the public. Mama Banks apron strings are around their necks .For but a few faithful, the rest will continue to betray us . They read and hear the news , they saw Brown become Sen elect of Mass. Though one would rise from the dead , they WILL NOT LISTEN . Not yet.   

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 17:13 | 201202 Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

It would have been much much worse with someone else. If you can convince me that you have worked your way through "The Microeconomics of Banking' I will gladly listen to your opinion. Until then it will be discounted accordingly.

Point being. One can not just make policy without a rigorous foundation for decision making. That includeds training in bank failure modeling and econometrics. None of the models in those books is correct but it installs the necessary theory with which to approach the problem.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 19:04 | 201382 faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

The necessary theory is sound money, coupled with the fact that nobody can predict the future, much less centrally control a nation's economy.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 20:03 | 201489 Rusty_Shackleford
Rusty_Shackleford's picture

Yes, only a mensa super-genius could figure out how to buy stuff and guarantee debt when they have the power to conjure into existence infinite amounts of the world's current reserve currency.

 

Does this book of which you speak have a detailed diagram of how to hit the "zero" key?


LESSONS IN CENTRAL BANKING:

You're going under?  - Here's money at 0% interest!
Assets crashing in value? - I'll buy them!
Can't access credit? - I'll guarantee your debts!

It's f-ing beautiful.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 18:19 | 201317 THE DORK OF CORK
THE DORK OF CORK's picture

I can think of 2 Gentlemen who could run the Treasury and FED better then the previous bunch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJNxj1FdKuo

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 21:18 | 201619 Seal
Seal's picture

Dear Sen. Kaufman

Bernanke is one of the most destructive influences to have ever held public office – surpassed only by Greenspan.

Your comments on Zero Hedge are inane

Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) predicted that Members will reach their decisions on how to vote in the coming days. “It’s incredible how difficult it is for people to focus on something before it comes into view,” said Kaufman, who has not determined how he will vote. “I think Members are back and they’re doing their due diligence.”

 

Congress is LARGELY responsible for the financial crisis in passing the Graham/Leahy/Bliley Act of 2000. Clearly, I am in CA and U are in DE so you do not GAS but let me tell you that my Senators have so far refused to tell me how much in contributions they received from FNM/FRE in the past 10 years.

My own rep has so far refused to tell me how he voted on Graham - refers me to Lib of Congress which so far has obscured the info

ANYONE would be better than Berkanke.

The US citizenry is never safer than when Congress is out of session. We lost our democracy when air conditioning was installed in the Capitol.

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 23:45 | 201808 vainamoinen
vainamoinen's picture

Of course Bernanke is a nitwit - So was (is) Greenspan. But they are clever mimics who have mastered the act of sounding like they know what they are doing. (these kinds of people are all over our society - I am sure you know some - or are one) In contrast W was a nitwit but he never could perform at B and G's level. That's why he was president while they "ran"/"run" the Federal Reserve.

Do you really think those in charge of the deep power structure would put someone at the head of the Fed who was intelligent enough to figure out the deep game? They might start thinking for themselves and really f**k things up. Bad Idea - - -

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