ben bernanke. let me supercede and give everyone a chance to be heard on this and some i know, will want more time than others to talk about this and i appreciate that. in a way that accommodates our members in these matters. obviously to vote out we need a quorum present and majority have to vote in the affirmative. can't have a majority by approximatey so i would like to get to the nam nations but get people a full opportunity to discuss the nomination in full. what i'll try and do is put a five minute time limit but not sustain anyone to exactly that. i know some have more time than others to be heard on the matter and we come to a point where i'll lose a quorum or senate will come back and then i'll stay around however long people would like after we have a vote to listen to why people voted for or against the nominee. i'll not do that now but at some point today i have to move this nomination and i want to not have a jam through on this thing without people having to be heard having a chance t

bernanke. my intention is to pass this nomination out of this committee to the full senate. some of the criticisms of the fed chairman, have been voiced during this confirmation process. have merit. and i'd be remiss if i didn't acknowledge that. as i said in our last meeting on this topic, the fed failed in my view in its oversight in consumer protection responsibilities, allowing some of the largest holding companies to engage in dangerous risk-taking and to allow the damage to fall on ordinary americans. reflected in lost jobs, lost homes, lost retirement and lost sense of hope that many have felt. that you can't put a dollar sign on. it obviously affects this country and affects our citizenry very profoundly. however, i believe that chairman bernanke must receive credit for the critical role he played in the events of last fall. while the judgment of many is still out on that, i happen to believe that he had and others not acted, some of whom sit on this committee, at a time of critical imp

where was ben bernanke when this was happening?> reporter: the nation's top banker has taken extraordinary actions-- using the fed's power in novel ways to pump trillions of dollars into the financial system. last year, amid debate over the wall street bailout, he answered critics who said the government should let the crisis take its course. >> why don't we allow free market system to correct itself? >> my response is that the pain would be very significant, it would be very difficult for main street, if this credit system broke down, it would be very costly to average people. here's a better solution. the better solution is to recognize that things went wrong, we've got a problem that we can solve if we address it with enough force. >> reporter: bernanke defended his use of that force again at his senate confirmation hearing two weeks ago. >> taken together, the federal reserve's actions have contributed substantially to the significant improvement in financial conditions and to what now appear to be the beginnings of a turnaroun

bernanke.i've spoken with chairman bernanke, made clear in no uncertain terms that my continued support is contingent on his fulfilling the commitments he made to me that he will, one, implement a plan to pull government support back from the private sector and allow companies to fail or succeed on their own, two, fight inflation aggressively and protect the value of the dollar through monetary policy decisions and, three, work with the congress in a meaningful way to enhance the transparency of the fed. given the large size of the fed's balance sheet, i think taxpayers should expect nothing less. he's made those commitments to me. in anticipation of what might happen if we defeated his nomination, i have told him i will support him in this committee and on the floor. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator, very much. senator tester. >> thanks, but this is one of those days where i'll forego my opening statement. >> this is a corker, the corker rule here. >> fine. let me then turn to se

bernanke. i have every reason to try to justify that support by trying to find good that he has accomplished. he is from my home state of south carolina and i like him personally. there is no reason for me to oppose his nomination except the failure to achieve the goals at the federal reserve and his own personal goals for his time in office. we can't overlook the fact that he has presided over one of the biggest economic ka tast if is that we have had as a country. certainly we cannot blame everything that has happened in our country on mr. bernanke. perhaps it has something to do with three years of democratic control of both houses of congress, but we will discuss that at another time. it has to be about performance. to promote employment in our country. there is nowhere we can look to find that he has achieved the goals that we have delegated to him or his stated goals when he took office. we have expressed many concerns on this committee. many who are supporting him, including the chairman

chairman bernanke refusing to give them th information.nd it seems to mehat the federal reserve real does not ha the authority or the right toake a decision about what information itay give or not give to congress. so ixpect that -- assuming that he is cfirmed, that that issue is goi to cause him a great deal otrouble in the nths ahead. >> lrer: do you agree with that, ice rivlin? a great deal of trble for this man still to come? >> i think the will be trouble, but the chairman's in thru will be to protect the independence of monetaryolicy, as he should. >> lehr: that's the federal reserve. >> butt's the monetary policy function of the federal serve, setting interest ratesif you will, and acting as a lenderf last resort,hat's not somethg you want politicians muing around in. that's why whave an independent federareserve. now, sharing infortion about at their -- opening their books, theirooks are mostly open alrdy, and i don't think that's going to be a controversy. but allowing the congre or another agency to cond guess themn monetary poli

can mannings family had warm feelings toward the bernanke family because bernanke's drugstore gave credit to black people. and not all the other people and the vendors in that town would. in manning threw another american miracle found himself going from a segregated high school in doland south carolina to harvard. he was taken -- since you asked. [laughter] >> he was recruited into a program run by the national presbyterian church. i think it was, which took out the black kids in the south and sent them to private high schools to finish their high school. he didn't want to go to a private school, so he went to north haven connecticut where he lived with a family of pediatricians, a jewish pediatrician which becomes relevant and what do north haven high school and they went to harvard. he came and told ben bernanke's parents that his son was too good to go to unc, or usc. despite what people in the south carolina think in north carolina. and convinced them to let him go to harvard. ben bernanke's parents were somewhat reluctant to let them go. and one thing they told caymanian who later b

bernanke said he would not tell us. and we have introduced legislation that would make him reveal that and bring transparency to the fed. the reason that the congress, against my vote, approved $700 billion to bail out wall street, because we had institutions that were too big to fail, causing systemic risk to the entire economy if they fail. today under bernanke's watch, three out of four of the largest financial institutions are bigger today than they were before the collapse. that may make sense to somebody. it does not make sense to me. mr. bernanke, after the bailout, could have done a number of things to suggest that he was standing up for working americans and the middle class. he could have insisted that bail out banks ending the injury is practice of charging use your as rates of 30% or higher on credit cards. he could have made sure that they were not investing in risky derivatives. he could have required too big to fail banks to become smaller, as is going on in the u.k. and as many economists are calling for

so he and bernanke, no sign of the president, go to capitol hill and meet with the leaders and bernanke does scare the hell out of him. bernanke invokes the great depression and says it is up to them to stop it and he says he's known for some time it is likely they would meet tax payer money and every other banking crisis eventually taxpayers come and how profound. i think he makes the judgment the only way to get congress to act is to tell them that the world will end if they don't act and that is a high risk thing because as you know conagra's initially says no the house rejects the bill and it's kind of like he told us the world would end if we don't do this and then they don't do it. so i think there was a great deal of damage done. and even worse, they tell congress they are going to use the money for one thing and use it for something else and i think the her to their own credibility with the public and market and hurt us in the months to follow. >> host: they went up if i remember with an incomplete plan that said we need to buy these troubled assets. but they couldn't figure out

chairman bernanke is a distinguished scholar.arkets. under his leadership the fed engineer some innovative ways to inject liquidity into stressed markets during the recent financial crisis. and while there may be some agreement on his handling of the crisis, we must also take into account his role leading up to the crisis. many have said that changing horses in the middle of the stream will introduce an unacceptable level of uncertainty into the markets. on the other hand, i would argue that it can be equally damaging to our economy and our form of government if we, the united states senate, fail to use our constitutional authority to disapprove a nomination when a particular nominee has not executed his responsibilities in a manner consistent with his own plans and our expectation. we talk a good game when it comes to accountability but we rarely match our own rhetoric with action. in this instance i believe we must not only express our disapproval of this particular nominee, but we should also signal future nominees that we hav

pos could you describe that as an bernanke weeks up. >> guest: and then i think dan bernanke brings a sigh of relief and thinks we are ahead of this and then they are kind of surprised by the bear stearns episode. i think it's significant for two respects. one is it happened and institutions that had collateral which had some problems but had collateral couldn't borrow short-term. >> host: let's be clear it wasn't a commercial bank with deposits. it wasn't really an institution for which the fed felt responsibility. >> guest: the first thing is it happened. bear stearns was in trouble and that was a surprise. bernanke judged it was a surprise for which the markets were not ready and hank paulson at the treasury and tim geithner at the fed agreed and then secondly the fed decided as you point out quite rightly to help a bank for which it had not been responsible it was not supervising, didn't know a whole lot about it and it uses extraordinary power that had been given to the san in the 1930's but not used since to land to almost anybody in circumstances that in the fed opinion without

bernanke are not. number one, today bailed-out financial institutions are charging consumers 25% or 30% interest rates on their credit card. the fed has the power to stop that, to put a cap on interest rates. that's what they should be doing. the fed has the power to demand that bailed-out institutions provide loans at low-interest rates to small and medium-sized businesses so that we can begin to create the kinds of jobs that are desperately needed in this country. that is not what mr. bernanke has done. mr. president, the fed has the power now to do what is taking place in the united kingdom, something that many economists are demanding, and that is to start breaking up these large financial institutions which are too big to fail. in my view, if an institution is too big to fail, it's too big to exist. we have to start breaking them up. not to allow them to get even larger. the fed has chosen not to do that. mr. president, we need transparency at the fed. i am the author of a g.a.o. audit of the fed

bernanke represents a sin of omission.d on as if a fed put was insured. the notion was that in adverse market conditions, the fed would absorb faltering assets and flood markets with liquidity. governor bernanke at that time assured markets that the fed stood ready to use the discount window and other tools to protect the financial system. an indication that the fed put was indeed in place. promoting the existence of a fed put was i believe, an invitation for unreasonable risk-taking and moral hazard. in 2004 and 2005, chairman bernanke and other members of the board of governors spoke of the emergence of a great moderation, a potential permanent reduction in macroeconomic volatility, and risk which they argued were a result of vigilant and adept monetary policy. in retrospect, this misperception left market participants believing that large risks had been mitigated, opening the door for even greater risk-taking. dr. schwartz argues that chairman bernanke committed a sin of omission by neglecting the growing risk. accordin

bernanke. mr. president, the chairman of the federal reserve and the federal reserve itself has four main responseants. i want the american people to determine whether they believe the fed has in fact succeeded in fulfilling these obligations. here they are. four main responsibilities. number one, to conduct monetary policy in a way that heaves the maximum employment and stable prices. and maximum employment. when you got 17% of your people unemployed or underemployed. i do not think the fed or all of us or any of us have succeeded in that area. number two, to maintain the safety and soundness of financial institutions. and obviously that has not been the case either. and to contain systematic risk in financial markets and four, to protect consumers against the deceptive and unfair financial products. and mr. president, not since the great depression has the financial system been as unsafe and unsound and unstable as it has been during mr. bernanke's tenure, more than 120 banks have failed. sin

welcome, chairman bernanke. i'm not going to go down the same road as many of my colleagues because i think that ground is going to be pretty well plowed, to mix two metaphors here. so i'm going to discuss something i think somewhat different. and let me set the stage for it. we all talk about the great depression. i was born during the great depression, but i have no memory of it. by i was running a business during the great inflation, and i have a very clear memory of it. the speed with which the great inflation disappeared from our economy somewhat removed the pain. but my memory is still very strong. in the carter years, one of your predecessors had to deal with that, mr. vol kerr. i remember going to a bank and begging, and that is the operative word, for a loan to allow me to meet payroll after having maxed out my credit card because i was the ceo of that company and being absolutely delitted when the banker gave it to me at 21% interest. mr. vol kerr with some assistance let the historians work out who ge

bernanke are not. number one, today bailed-out financial institutions are charging consumers 25% or 30% interest rates on their credit card. the fed has the power to stop that, to put a cap on interest rates. that's what they should be doing. the fed has the power to demand that bailed-out institutions provide loans at low-interest rates to small and medium-sized businesses so that we can begin to create the kinds of jobs that are desperately needed in this country. that is not what mr. bernanke has done. mr. president, the fed has the power now to do what is taking place in the united kingdom, something that many economists are demanding, and that is to start breaking up these large financial institutions which are too big to fail. in my view, if an institution is too big to fail, it's too big to exist. we have to start breaking them up. not to allow them to get even larger. the fed has chosen not to do that. mr. president, we need transparency at the fed. i am the author of a g.a.o. audit of the fed

something that ben bernanke is going to be battling with for some time.hourly his actions, but his predecessors actions as well. something similar happened in japan when they had their lost decade. there was a breakdown on major economic policy. host: and the to the point about alan greenspan haunting the room? >> absolutely. his comments were as much if not more about greenspan than ben bernanke. one of the reasons ben bernanke is getting a second chance right now is because a lot of people feel that maybe many of the big mistakes being made before this crisis were made by ben bernanke's predecessor. interest rates were held low in the later stages of the greenspan era. more importantly, they took their eyes off ocpáhe regulatory ball. they were not aggressively regulating financial institutions. greenspan had a lazy fair -- was a fair -- lasse fair attitude about institutions looking after themselves. that it would be i am and institutes self-interest not to drive itself off of a bitch, but it did not work. -- off of aÑi ditch, çóbut it dd not work. cal

bernanke? i mean, i assume you at the s.e.c. are looking at -- that has to -- in my mind factor into this whole picture this whole scenario that we have been looking at now for several months. any response you have on that? >> congressman, as we look at these events, we look at the roles of all the participants that are relevant and all of the facts. so i guess that would be my response. >> yes or no? would potential arguments by bank of america that the bank and its management were not necessarily completely liable because they were acting at the government's directions. >> well, the events that you're talking about, i believe, occurred after the proxy and so after the merge her been approved and so the question is whether or not with respect to the t.a.r.p. money, whether or not that understanding had become a material contract that had to be disclosed under the 8-k rules and regulations. so that -- that is certainly an issue. >> does the whole -- i mean, let me -- when did you guys first become aware of what was taking place

bernanke that it's too early to brag. bernanke decries any effort to gain transparency of the fed's actions to find out just who gets bailed out and who is left to fail. instead he proposes giving even more power to the fed to regulate the entire financial system. what he does not recognize nor does want to admit is that he is talking about symptoms while ignoring the source of the crisis. the federal reserve itself. more regulations will never compensate for all the distortion and excesses caused by monetary inflation and article physically low interest rates. regulation distracts from the real cause while further interfering with the market forces thus guaranteeing that the recession will become much deeper and prolonged. chairman bernanke's argument for fed secrecy is a red herring. it serves to distract so the special interests that benefit from the fed policy never become known to the public. who can possibly buy this argument that the secrecy is required to protect the people from political influence? my bill, h.r.

the headline on this piece is "be fair to the bernanke." of the lenders should have been responsive to the irresponsible lending practices. a different view from the lead editorial in the wall "wall open phones, atlanta, democrats line. caller: i wanted to talk to the last guess you had on. host: you will have to do it rhetorically, because he is gone now. caller: i know, but what troubles me is that we have people like him that come on -- i do not fault him for what he was saying, but it is not true. the statements that he made were true, but for the wrong reasons. i will recommend to the boat people. one, a talk-show host by the name off tom hartman. i have an mba in -- i have a law degree and an mba. the second is kevin phillips. his conservative, but he has been writing about these economic issues for years. i read his book and i literally paid my house of an update on my deck off, my cars and everything and that is why i am not hurting right now. when you have conservative talk- show hosts the come on like bill bennett, you need someon

. >> lehrer: then, a performance review for federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. economist james galbraith and former fed vice chair alice rivlin debate his record. >> brown: and the relevance in our time of john maynard keynes: "newshour" economics correspondent paul solman has a somewhat off-beat explanation. ♪ my general theory made quite an impression i transformed the econ profession, you know me, modesty say it loud and say it clear, we're all keynesians now. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs newshour."

the senate banking committee has endorsed the nomination of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke for a second term. the vote was 16 to 7. supporters said bernanke helped stave off financial ruin, while opponents argued he should have seen the crisis coming. >> had he and others not acted, some of whom sit on this committee at a time of critical importance to our country, we'd be looking at a very, very different, and far more dire situation in our nation than is otherwise the case. i believe ben bernanke deserves substantial credit as chairman of the federal reserve for helping us navigate those waters, certainly without not with perfection, but certainly i think stepping up at a critical time in our nation's history with some very wise leadership that benefited our nation. >> many have said that changing horses in middle of stream will introduce an unacceptable level of uncertainty into the markets. on the other hand, i would argue that it could be equally damaging to our economy and our form of government if we, the u.s. senate, fail to use our constitutional authority to disapprov

bernanke for coming to be with us in what has been a long hearing. i appreciate that you are here. during your awe peerns before the committee in july, we spoke of the effect of the proposed health care reform that it would have on our fiscal policy and the economy as a whole. at that time, you said that when considering health care reform cost must be an issue. it must be the issue. the democrats proposal has come to the floor and we see that it has a $2.5 trillion price tag over the ten years when it starts to where it ends. yet, the huge government takeover of health care is not going to lower health care costs and, in fact, insurance premium for every individual and family will go up. and i think if we're going to look at how we can change that cost curve, we need to have the ability to determine not only how to do it but what is going to be the long-term effect of the $2.5 trillion price tag that is going to be on it on our long-term economic situation. i would like to ask what you think it will be? >> as i said last time, i think the real issue is health care costs per -- not

said chief bernanke -- the fed chief bernanke faces critics in his bid for a second term. it says we cannot overlook the fact that he has presided over one of the biggest economic catastrophes we have had as a country. that is what demint said at december 8, 1917 meeting of the senate banking committee. they are placed calls on his nomination. it did clear the committee. it awaits a final vote in that u.s. senate. "the wall street journal" says the banking panel backed him for a new term. does the federal reserve have too much power? caller: this is tom sheets. the federal reserve does have to much power. we need to get back to the system that we do not have regulators regulating and giving money to every bank in the country at a reduced rate. i was listening to your guests a little bit ago. they are both professors. they were talking about how the politicians are being bought and how everything is correct in washington during it is also correct in our colleges. they get money from big corporations. the last vestige in this society that is correct is -- corrupt is farmers.

axelrod, ds the president still maintain his supportor ben bernanke thave a second term as chrman of the federal reserve? >>bsolutely, jim. wh you consider where we were a year ago, on thdoorstep of nancial collapse that could have uered in a second great depressionnd you consider the indefatigable effos of chairman bernank he deserves a cond term. that's why the predent nominated him and he conties to sport him. >> lehrer: all rig. david axelro thank you very ch. >> okay, good to be wi you. >> woodruff: now, anotr take on clima change, a look at reducinglobal warming-- one stove at a time. ecial correspondent fred de sam laza reports from a viage in nor india. >> reporr: it is sunny most mornings in khairatp, but you can hardly tel at least not until some time after everne's had breakfast. that's becau here and in millns of villages in the developing world, od is cooked with wood or cow dung. the sootr black carbon from incompleteombustion causes not only lung diase but global warming,ays climatologist v. ramanathan, whis with the scripps institutioat the universityf california, san

ben bernanke was a high ranking george bush appointee. first on the council of economic advisers, then the chairman of the federal reserve. he's the one that initiated the whole intervention. it was his decision, not congress or the bush administration to give the money to aig. the whole question of the intervention or what was called bailouts began in september. so the description of his impact, yes. i think he made a mistake in the way he did the aig thing. on the whole, what he has done has been constructive. i guess i would say this. he gets partial blame for the fact that the crisis arose, although more went to alan greenspan. but he gets a lot of credit for the way he coped with it. >> larry: ron, what do you make of the selection? >> i think it's pretty neat. he is the most important guy in the world. and anybody who can create trillion of dollars behind the scenes and spend it with no oversight, i mean, that's pretty important. and he is a counterfeiter. he's the chief counterfeiter of all history. and i would say that's very good

host: caller touching on - ben ben bernanke. he be in washington today and we plan live coverage on c-span three. one of our companion networks at 12:45 eastern. he'll talk about some of the most frequently asked questions of the federal reserve. said chair. 12:45 and from georgia, steve, democrat, hi. there. caller: yes, i'm calling about the news about the tarp funds coming in. and there is nothing this president does that is a good thing for this country. i am so glad to hear the good news. this country wants them to fail. they do not care what good comes out of it. the only objective is that this country fails under this president. i'm so happy to see the news coming out of these studies that is actually good news. we would have been in the worst economic situation if this president has not taken the steps that he did. now they are saying that it is a hoax, which is not the case. this country was at the brink of economic ruin and this president has succeeded in pulling out of that. but these republicans have failed to realiz

ben bernanke is "time's" person of the year. should he be? that's next. "s" stands for straightforward. as in up-front, honest... total transparency. straightforward is the way td ameritrade does business. simple, fair pricing. no hidden account fees. no shenanigans. just gptd value. real help. smart people who are easy to work with. that's what td ameritrade stands for. what does your investment firm stand for? it's time for fresh thinking. it's time for td ameritrade. wlk barney frank and ron paul remain. joining us, a political analyst for the huffington post, and ben stein, a speech writer and columnist. what are your thoughts, ben and tan yarks about the role joe lieberman is playing in the health care question. tan tanya, you first. >> i am shocked and appalled. i am not shocked. but i find his behavior appalling. he said in an interview last night that dana bash he had to take a principled stance against this bill. but he seems he is takes a stance against himself. he used to support the provisions because he doesn't like them now. he is really a b

ben bernanke said in a speech the economy is still struggling with a weak job market and tight credit. >> though we have begun to see improvement in economic activity we still have some way to go before we can be assured that the recovery will be self-sustaining. also at issue is whether the recovery will be strong enough to create the large numbers of jobs that will be needed to materially bring down the unemployment rate. economic forecasters subject to great uncertainty, but my best guess at this point is that we will continue to see modest growth next year, sufficient to bring down the unemployment rate but at a pace slower than we would like. >> on wall street bernanke's words helped dampen enthusiasm for another rally. the dow jones industrial average gained just one point to close at 10,390. the nasdaq fell more than 4 points to close at 2189. >> president oa confirmed president obama confirmed the government's bank rescue program, the tarp, will cost much less than expected. it was widely reported the obama administration plans to slash the $700 billion price tag by $200 billi

bernanke are not. number one, today bailed-out financial institutions are charging consumers 25% or 30% interest rates on their credit card. the fed has the power to stop that, to put a cap on interest rates. that's what they should be doing. the fed has the power to demand that bailed-out institutions provide loans at low-interest rates to small and medium-sized businesses so that we can begin to create the kinds of jobs that are desperately needed in this country. that is not what mr. bernanke has done. mr. president, the fed has the power now to do what is taking place in the united kingdom, something that many economists are demanding, and that is to start breaking up these large financial institutions which are too big to fail. in my view, if an institution is too big to fail, it's too big to exist. we have to start breaking them up. not to allow them to get even larger. the fed has chosen not to do that. mr. president, we need transparency at the fed. i am the author of a g.a.o. audit of the fed

bernanke and geithner and ms. to treasury don't demanding they accept in exchange for money of the government's choosing. look forward to learning about mrs. bair's role in that meeting. meeting. this investigation occurred continued to reveal the unintended consequences and negative implications of the government's intervention in the private sector and hope the congress will apply these lessons as we debate the appropriate framework for our financial system as we move forward. with that, mr. chairman i thank you and yield back. >> thank you very much. we now move to our witness. we have with us today the chair of the federal deposit insurance corporation. madam chair, longstanding tradition with swear all of our witnesses in. if you would stand and raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth if so answer in affirmative. >> i do. >> letted record reflect, you may be seated. let the record reflect the witness answered in the affirmative. you may begin w

bernanke was named "time" magazine's person of the year. politics and prose book store in washington, d.c. hosted this event. >> thank you very much. i appreciate especially all the people who are standing. when this was first scheduled, my first reaction was, well, nobody will want to come here about a book about the fed in august, so i hope that that doesn't say as much about my ability to predetective the economy as it does my ability to predict the tastes of washington audiences. three years ago at this time of year, if you had suggested to anyone that we might be anything close to having another great depression, unless an asteroid hit the earth, you would have been dismissed as some kind of cook and about two years ago at this time in august of 2007, you would have still been dismissed as a kook, but at that time the u.s. economy began to shudder, but it seems every other episode we've had in recent history, we've had some big calamity and then they figure out -- that's probably me, we have some big calamity and then the economy manag

ben bernanke just announced that. it was in "the wall street journal." and i didn't realize how my client was going to react. she's about 75 years of age, and she actually got out of her chair, and with the finger right in the face of the investment officer, she said young men, don't tell me the recession is over. my son is married, has three kids, he has been out of work for nine months, and i am supporting them. and she said, when i come back and i can to you he is reemployed, then we can talk about whether it is over. thank you. and at this time, i think jim, why don't we take some questions. hopefully we will be able to answer them. . . >> his feeling was that there is no such thing as standard investment advice because it depends too much on age and circumstance and family need, but throughout my entire career i have been ultraconservative. and i certainly relate that to what i learned from my father. and yet my son has been on wall street for years. so the span from my father to me to my son, it's really a very, very fascinating contrast. >> what h

bernanke? i mean, i assume you at the s.e.c. are looking at -- that has to -- in my mind factor into this whole picture this whole scenario that we have been looking at now for several months. any response you have on that? >> congressman, as we look at these events, we look at the roles of all the participants that are relevant and all of the facts. so i guess that would be my response. >> yes or no? would potential arguments by bank of america that the bank and its management were not necessarily completely liable because they were acting at the government's directions. >> well, the events that you're talking about, i believe, occurred after the proxy and so after the merge her been approved and so the question is whether or not with respect to the t.a.r.p. money, whether or not that understanding had become a material contract that had to be disclosed under the 8-k rules and regulations. so that -- that is certainly an issue. >> does the whole -- i mean, let me -- when did you guys first become aware of what was taking place

lose an election or retire from politics they tend to go into lobbying and once they come bahe ben bernanke, and hank paulson are well known for this. can you talk about that and how it could be stopped through laws or a butcher action? >> i am glad you're reminded me of that. my friends do this. they just kind of like me with their work on capitol hill than two years later they have nice suits and offering to buy new lunch because they left the capitol hill job and a lobbying firm hired them because then they know when he calls his friend and says the want to talk to about the farm bill, that his old boss or their colleagues will take the call. that is the revolving door. obama's said he would stop the revolving door. his wife house chief of staff is rahm emanuel who there is almost not the right word because during on the clinton 1992 campaign as a chief fund-raiser he was being paid by goldman sachs at the same time as a consultant. he could be paid to work for clinton for all we know. then he goes to will work at a private equity ferber ferber -- firm. if you look at the books they were

jim benning lives for hearings with ben bernanke.after we did that 50 big welfare recipient of awards, i think we should give them to the 60 democratic senators for chewing up so much time. i do not think you will like what comes out of it because of the cost. they did not take on the big issues. how can you give them credit for that? host: let's get one more call from mississippi on the independent line. caller: i have a question about the great depression. it is called the grand illusion. in 1929, there began a great reckoning for the speculation that occurred in the years before. as wall street declined, the fed issued more liquidity to the market. that stopped it for awhile. it was only a stopgap measure as things begin to free fall. do you think we're in a new grand illusion? will there be a world wide crash? is the liquidity of long-term measure to try and stop something that is going to happen anywhere like the great depression? guest: rubini is the only person more consistently pessimistic than i am. i am concerned about how

ben bernanke has been nominated to a second term. next, some of his comments. >> i thank my colleagues for the stamina they have shown over the last few years under extremely trying conditions. they have never lost sight of the economic well-being of all americans. over the past few years our nation and the world has endured the most severe financial crisis since the great depression, today most indicators suggest that financial markets are stabilizing and that the financial market is emerging from the recession. yet our task is far from complete. to many americans are without jobs, unemployment could remain high for some time, even if we have the anticipated moderate economic growth that is expected. to restore prosperity and stimulate job creation, our attempt is to stimulate. i will work to the of most of liabilities in those objectives. as severe as the crisis has been, the outcomes would have been far worse without the strong actions taken by the congress, the federal deposit insurance agency, and other authorities here and abro

caller: i like bernanke, as a team they have rescued this country so well. earning equal pay for equal work. we have dennis joining us. caller: yes, it should be barack obama, i have seen him since eisenhower, and this is the best president i have seen in my lifetime. no one else has the skills or the talents he come on to this scene at this time. no question it should be barack obama. host: thank you for the call, next is gary from st. louis. caller: yeah, i think it definitely be glenn beck, he brought out the wrong people and shows from the president, and no one can dispute him. as far as i am concerned he's doing more for this country than the president or any other administration. host: thank you, next we have sam. caller: i don't agree with that gentleman with glenn beck, he's disinforming the country, and god help with someone with that echo chamber. i am a muslim and it should definitely be ron paul. i applaud your network because it has some gumption to stay true to the principles. for ron paul, he understands foreign policy and understands the natu

timothy geithner and ben bernanke has worked closely recently, but ben bernanke's relationship with congress is better than timothy geithner's. he reached out to the hill, had members over to his office, had breakfast and talk shop. he and a member of the senate famously talk about their love for the red sox. i think if he will be confirmed, no doubt about that, but there will be some grilling of him this week. host: bob cusack, thank you for your time this morning. guest: thank you, greta. host: next caller, good morning. caller: you are beautiful today. obama wants to change things? start teaching medicine in high school. host: we are listening, arnold. caller: we have a free education system, why not make medicine free and to make a nation of doctors and start healing the world? host: dean, republican line. caller: good morning, america. i do not want $500 billion taken away from the medical coverage of seniors. i do not want my tax dollars to pay for abortions. sunday c-span had a lady on from alternet, but i would call what altered minds -- call it aletered minds. if you listen to what

guest: people have slung a lot of arrows at ben bernanke. if he weren't there, economic crisis could have become a melt down. that's why he tops our list. host: it talks about ow how one fifth of the people on this list are economists. why is that? guest: we tried to highlight the people that made the call right and warned in advance of the problems we are having now. host: was there a specific list or things that had to be checked off before somebody could get you on this list? we were trying to see who really had an impact. positive or negative. give us a call. for comments. coming in at number two is president obama for reimagining american's role in the world. guest: that's right. he's come into office with some high minded ideas of how america should conduct itself abroad. if you look at the numbers, he's already changed public opinions of america. we talked to one brand expert who said obama alone added $2 trillion to the u.s. global brand name. that is something worth recognizing. host: number six, beth the clintons former president a

host: caller touching on - ben ben bernanke. he be in washington today and we plan live coverage on c-span three. one of our companion networks at 12:45 eastern. he'll talk about some of the most frequently asked questions of the federal reserve. said chair. 12:45 and from georgia, steve, democrat, hi. there. caller: yes, i'm calling about the news about the tarp funds coming in. and first of all i just want to say the republicans, they will cut off their noses to spite they're face. there's nothing it does that's good thing for this country and it's kind of a shame to see this. there's nothing he tries to do to help the american people that will be seen by the (202) 737-0001s as something fiv73 republicans. these people want the government to fail. they don't care what good comes out of it. the only objective is that this government fails and i'm so happy to see good news coming out of this and i mean, we would have been in a worse economic situation if this president had not take ten steps he did to fix this. now they think it

bernanke is under consideration by the senate.e -- nonetheless, you can see from the head nine it is expected in the end he will keep his job at a pet reserve. pennsylvania, good morning to lou. caller: a quick comment on health care. my thought is i think both sides really need to take a timeout, go home, get refreshed over the holidays, and come back next year and start again. that is my comments. host: carlton calling us on the republican line from wilmington, delaware. caller: good morning, susan. thank you for c-span. host: do you mind hitting the mute button on your tv? caller: ok. i'm a union sheet metal worker who has been unemployed for a little while. i was just wondering, when it is the president and congress are really going to focus on job creation? not saying the government is a good start of paying jobs, but we need tax breaks so we can get the economy moving. that is what i believe. thank you. host: another new jersey caller. lil -- that all is lost. louisville, kentucky, sid. caller: thank you. i would like to say

ben bernanke says the economic recovery still has a long way to go. adding that the fed will keep interest rates a record low levels. this is about that minutes. >> it is very nice to be here. thank you for the invitation. having faced the most serious financial crisis and the worst recession, since the great depression, our economy has made important progress during the past year. although the economic stress faced by many families and businesses remains intense the job openings -- is hard to come by. economic growth has returned and the science -- signs of recovery have become more widespread. people have many questions about the current situation and the way forward. accordingly, taking information from the f.a.q.'s on internet websites in my remarks today i would like to address four important f.a.q.'s. they are first, where is the economy headed? second, what is the federal reserve doing to support the economy and the financial system? third, will the federal reserve's activities leads to higher inflation down the road? and fourth, what can we do

treasury secretary henry paulson, and federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, had many conversations withlegislators on both end of the capitol on both sides of the aisle. they said on their public on september 23, secretary paulson said that congress must act -- quote -- "in order to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures an frozen credit markets that threaten the very health of our economy." in private the diagnosis was even more dire. we were told that we're literally days away from a complete financial meltdown in the united states unless congress act to authorize the troubled asset relief program. now, madam president, many of us, including myself, voted for tarp because we were told by the -- the smartest people on the planet that unless we did this, our economy would suffer an economic meltdown. but i must tell you that i'm extremely disappointed when the very nature of the program was changed after congress authorized it. for example, we were told by secretary paulson, and others, that the money would be used for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is t

treasury secretary henry paulson, and federal reserve chairman ben bernanke, had many conversations with legislators on both end of the capitol on both sides of the aisle. they said on their public on september 23, secretary paulson said that congress must act -- quote -- "in order to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures an frozen credit markets that threaten the very health of our economy." in private the diagnosis was even more dire. we were told that we're literally days away from a complete financial meltdown in the united states unless congress act to authorize the troubled asset relief program. now, madam president, many of us, including myself, voted for tarp because we were told by the -- the smartest people on the planet that unless we did this, our economy would suffer an economic meltdown. but i must tell you that i'm extremely disappointed when the very nature of the program was changed after congress authorized it. for example, we were told by secretary paulson, and others, that the money would be used for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is

ben bernanke. last year's winner was then president-elect barack obama. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on this screen now dale robinson, founder and president of tea party.org. and the rally that was held at the capitol yesterday which we covered live on the c-span networks, what do you think was accomplished with that rally yesterday? >> well, we're really upset with the fact that congress continues to pass bills creating a tax burden on the taxpayers. our biggest focus should be jobs. coming into office i wish the obama administration had focused on the jobs. the idea is that you need to increase your tax base and we're focusing more on these entitlement programs. so we're concerned about that. >> mr. robert says the prospect for a health bill improving. we may see a vote and possible passage within a week. if that happens what will your strategy be that the point? >> well, right now the tea party's depathered and we c5u8d for a national day of prayer. today is also our birthday, the bost

. >> federal reserve chairman ben bernanke has been nominated for a second four-year term. on thursday, his nomination comes before the senate banking committee. you can watch the hearing live on c-span 3 and seic-span.org. >> the senate has started debate on the health care bill. harry reid has warned senators to expect weekend and evening sessions. ceo all live on our companion network, c-span 2, the only network commercial freight. -- commercial-free. >> last night, president obama went the u.s. military academy at west point, n.y., to announce plans to send 30,000 more troops to afghanistan early next year. the president also discussed his support for neighboring pakistan. this is 40 minutes. ou, please be seated. good evening. to the united states corps of cadets, to the men and women of our armed services and to my fellow americans, i want to speak to you tonight about our effort in afghanistan. the nature of our commitment there, the scope of our interests, and a strategy that my administration will pursue to bring the war to a successful conclusion. it is an extraor

bernanke, president bush's appointee as chairman of the federal reserve, said that we were at risk of going into a depression if we did not vote for that bill. nobody wanted to vote for that bill on either side of the aisle. but it was a bill that we openly concluded on that friday, approximately half of the republican side of the aisle, a little more than half on our side of the aisle was a bill we needed to pass to avoid the risk of depression. since that time over the last four months we saw an erosion in the economy, not a depression, but the worst recession we have seen in eight years. now, i have a speech here that we prepared. i'm not going to give it because it to some degree points the finger at one another. and i agree with mr. boehner. there's blame to go around. we have been concerned about cutting revenues and increasing spending during the first part of this decade. you have been concerned about the spending that we believed was necessary to make to try to create jobs and bring our economy back. now, mr. boehner and i disagree on the impact of the recovery and reinvestme

guest: people have slung a lot of arrows at ben bernanke. if he weren't there, economic crisis could have become a melt down. that's why he tops our list. host: it talks about ow how one fifth of the people on this list are economists. why is that? guest: we tried to highlight the people that made the call right and warned in advance of the problems we are having now. host: was there a specific list or things that had to be checked off before somebody could get you on this list? we were trying to see who really had an impact. positive or negative. give us a call. for comments. coming in at number two is president obama for reimagining american's role in the world. guest: that's right. he's come into office with some high minded ideas of how america should conduct itself abroad. if you look at the numbers, he's already changed public opinions of america. we talked to one brand expert who said obama alone added $2 trillion to the u.s. global brand name. that is something worth recognizing. host: number six, beth the clintons former president a