mr. bernanke's tenure. more than 120 banks have failed since he has been chairman, and the list of troubled banks has grown from 50 to over 416. mr. president, mr. bernanke has failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. under his leadership mortgage lenders were allowed to issue predatory loans that they knew consumers would be unable to repay. this risky practice was allowed to continue long after the f.b.i. warned in 2004 of an epidemic in mortgage fraud. here's what the bottom line is: the bottom line is that there are -- the key responsibility of the fed is to maintain the safety and soundness of our financial institutions and they failed. they failed. and as a result of the greed and speculation on wall street, which the fed should have been observing, which the fed should have acted against, which the fed should have warned the american people and the congress about, they did nothing, and our financial system went over the edge. and then, mr. president, a

mr. 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

mr. bernanke, mr. paulson had that on those days in december. had you been in the room when this was delivered, in other words, you, the sec, would you have then been aware of the failure of the proxy in time to at least begin action at that point in december? >> well, you would would have to know exactly what was said in the proxy and then compare that to the information that was then available. >> but you knew that? you have compliance people. you are hand and hand and you get paid to make sure that the public is protected throughout the process of a merger. so let me ask you the real question, we're the government oversight committee and it is a double entaund ra because we oversee the government, we're also the government entity that oversees things that are outside of the government. in this case, the federal reserve, the treasury and the s.e.c., as i understand it through testimony again and again, the s.e.c. was locked out of this process during that time and did not get into the process until january, isn't that correct? you were not --

mr. ben bernanke is greatly been related for this post. i will support mr. bernanke's renomination as chairman of the board of governors of the federal reserve today. i'm confident he can assist our nation in finding solutions to be a stronger and more physically civil nation. >> thank you very much. senator bennett. >> thank you, mr. chairman. um... we deal in alternatives around here. and initial reports of whom president barack obama might have nominated to be the chairman of the fed had me quite concerned so by comparison, i was relieved when he decided to stay with ben bernanke. spoken with chairman person bern, made clear on no uncertain terms my continued support is con tin gent 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 a 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 transparencies. gi

mr. 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

mr. bernanke.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 have expresse

mr. bernanke's tenure. more than 120 banks have failed since he has been chairman, and the list of troubled banks has grown from 50 to over 416. mr. president, mr. bernanke has failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. under his leadership mortgage lenders were allowed to issue predatory loans that they knew consumers would be unable to repay. this risky practice was allowed to continue long after the f.b.i. warned in 2004 of an epidemic in mortgage fraud. here's what the bottom line is: the bottom line is that there are -- the key responsibility of the fed is to maintain the safety and soundness of our financial institutions and they failed. they failed. and as a result of the greed and speculation on wall street, which the fed should have been observing, which the fed should have acted against, which the fed should have warned the american people and the congress about, they did nothing, and our financial system went over the edge. and then, mr. president, a

mr. bernanke's tenure, more than 120 banks have failed. since he has been chairman and the list of troubled banks has grown from 50 to over 416. and mr. president, mr. bernanke has failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. under his leadership, mortgage lenders were allowed for issue predatory loans that they knew consumers would be unible to repay and this risky practice was allowed to continue long after the f.b.i. warned in 2004, of an epidemic in mortgage fraud. and here's what the bottom line is, the bottom line is -- is that -- that -- there are key responsibility of the fed is to maintain the safety and soundness of our financial institutions, and -- they failed. and they failed. and as a result of the greed and speculation on wall street, which the fed should have been observing, which the fed should have acted against, which the fed should have warned the american people and the congress about, they did nothing and our financial system went over the edge. then, mr. president, after n

mr. 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

mr. bernanke is rightly been nominated for this post. i will support mr. federal reserve today. i'm confident he can assist our nation in finding solutions to be a strong and more fiscally civil nation. >> thank you very much, senator. senator bennett. >> thank you, mr. chairman. we deal in alternatives around here. and initial reports of whom president obama might have nominated to be the chairman of the fed had me quite concerned. so by comparison, i was relieved when he decided to stay with ben bernanke. i have spoke within 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

mr. bernanke will be approved tomorrow at the committee level? >> i do not know. we will find out soon enough. >> can you walk us through procedurally what has to be done to put a hold on bernanke on the floor? >> we have to sit down with the leadership and work out process. at the end of the day, on sunday, not yet clear when, there will be a long debate on this issue. they will need 60 votes to prevail. other questions on bernanke and then we can go to health care. >> i am wondering whether you had the opportunity to raise this directly but president obama and what response you had. >> i had been raising a lot of concerns with president obama. this is not one. but i can tell you that as many of you know, a number of months ago, six are seven of us from the senate, byron dorgan, jim webb, and some others, went to the white house, and what we said reflects the feelings of many people in our country who very much respect as president. i think he is doing a lot of good things in many areas, but have felt from day one that he is not been as strong as he might have bee

mr. bernanke's tenure. more than 120 banks have failed since he has been chairman, and the list of troubled banks has grown from 50 to over 416. mr. president, mr. bernanke has failed to prevent banks from issuing deceptive and unfair financial products to consumers. under his leadership mortgage lenders were allowed to issue predatory loans that they knew consumers would be unable to repay. this risky practice was allowed to continue long after the f.b.i. warned in 2004 of an epidemic in mortgage fraud. here's what the bottom line is: the bottom line is that there are -- the key responsibility of the fed is to maintain the safety and soundness of our financial institutions and they failed. they failed. and as a result of the greed and speculation on wall street, which the fed should have been observing, which the fed should have acted against, which the fed should have warned the american people and the congress about, they did nothing, and our financial system went over the edge. and then, mr. president, a

mr. 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 wi

mr. 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

mr. chairman. 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

mr. 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

mr. bernanke, but the senate can, if it chooses, obli the president to make a dierent choice and i guess iew is, withoudisagreeing with alice very strongly about chaian bernanke's personal meritshat that wou be the better policy decision at this momt. >> lehrer: but that's not ing to hapn, is it, alice rivlin? >> no, it's not going to hapn, i think the senate will ta some opportunity for thoseho are angry -- a angry at the fed,ngry at the banks, angry something -- and they have right to be angry. th'll take an opportunity to nt, but they will confirm beanke. >> lehrer: let move ahead. les assume for discussion purpos only, professor galbraith, that bernankes ing to remain chairman of th federal reserve. what do you expect him to do or whado you think he should do from this point on at's different om what he's doing now, or otherwise? >> well, he has a ry -- >>here are several important -- >> lrer: let's go to alice rivlin first a then to you, pressor. sorry. he has a very delicate job the moment, becausthe economy beginning to recover but it certainly not there yet, a anything like raing

mr. bernanke? not very aggressively, in my view, but he said that recently. so this is a bad path. what does that mean about when you have a big debt, the debt goes up? where does -- how do you get the money? where does the money come from? well, you have to borrow it. we put on the market treasury bills and notes and we ask people to loan us the money so we can spend, spend, spend, spend more than we take in year after year. now, some say, well, it's the entitlements that are causing this and entitlements are growing. that's our social security and our medicare. one reason those are going, frankly, it's a very serious reason, is we have more seniors and they're living longer. so they've been going up 6%, 7% a year. and we're troubled by that. but the truth is that social security and medicare have been in surplus. and what has happened to the surplus? it's been spent on discretionary spending. we're spending the social security surplus and medicare surplus but it's going kaput. medicare is fading fast, and by 2017, it will be in deficit. so we're not going to have a surplus to spe

mr. bernanke. mr. greenspan has admitted that he talked gibber jabber for many years. what i would think the new gentleman will do any differently? -- what do we think the gentleman will do any differently. he will not do anything differently. this is a non-elected position. we do not know what the federal reserve does. this is where they want us to be. host: this is a story from over the weekend. it writes that greenspan was the first fed chief to become a celebrity. he was nominated by the post by four president. he was portrayed as a near genius for much of his record long run at the fed. his stark dimmed since the economic dry ride -- his star dimmed after the joy ride. he helped to encourage the house in bubble by prompting bad loans to unqualified buyers. a caller asked about the duties and mission of the federal reserve. it is the central bank of the united states. you can go to their web site for a definition. host: good morning to scott on the democrats' line. caller: it is obvious the federal reserve has not made any think more flexible or secure. with the co

mr. bernanke and geithner and ms. money of the government's choosing. look forward to learning about mrs. bair's role in that meeting. this investigation occurred to, 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 with your testimony. >> chairman towns, chairman kucinich, rank

mr. 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. 1

mr. 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

mr. 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

mr. bernanke did a good job.nd he has the best interest of the country and our economy and standard of living at heart. host: death of oral roberts. guest: very influential man. marks the passing at oklahoma history, because that is where his ministry was centered. through his legacy, a lot of people were impacted positively. a tribute to a guy who stood up for what he believed. host: finally, a tweet -- guest: good question. stupidity, one. when i was in the house, i was not here very long for president bush, but in the 1990's, the patient's bill of rights, as co-sponsor that. -- i co-sponsored that. the first two years of this year, which of the a lot more. -- first two years i was here, we should have done a lot more. host: senator tom coburn, thank you for being here. we are going to continue our discussion on health care. this is kimberley strassel's column in "the wall street journal." she calls the health care package political suicide. that is what we will discuss after this. >> he was not an imposing fig

mr. bernanke, the country is in cry sills. and if we do not act and act decisively we may go into a depression. you recall that my side of the aisle responded to the republican president, chief executive of our country, who said we were in crisis and we responded and 142 of us voted on a bill that nobody wanted to vote for in order to preclude us going into cry sills. your party unfortunately did not support your president as you recall on that particular vote in september of 2008. luckily we came back, we had a failure, luckily we came back. now the standing impact of that bill, we did contribute to stabilizing this economy. it was a tough vote, americans are angry about it, we're angry about it, bailing out people who were extraordinarily fiscally irresponsible. those same people that we want to regulate next week it make sure they don't -- are not subject to the regulatory neglect that they were subjected to for eight years, when the administration's policy was to simply get out of the way, not to to regulate, not to overse

mr. ben bernanke open up your books. the feds giving trade to their buddies on wall street. 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

mr. bernanke and geithner and ms. ir brought the ceos 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. this investigation occurred to, 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 we have with us the chair of the federal deposit insurance corp. we must share every witness in, so please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? let the record reflect that the witness has answered in the affirmative. you may began with testimony. >> ranking members, and members of the committee. as requested by the committee, my testimony will focus on the fdic and their role -- >> do you want to pull the microphone? >> >> and please be closer. >> as

bernanke. >> today we meet in executive session to conduct a nomination. there are four nominations pending before the committee, mrissa for the u.s. department of treasury and the assistant treasury for public affairs. we have a public forum. let me ask the vice of my colleagues. -- the vice of my colleagues. -- advice of my colleagues. unless someone would like to object, i would like to move those three and then move to the ben bernanke nomination. if anyone know would like to comment one way or the other? i would mess with unanimous consent to fifth consider -- consent to consider the nominations. if there is any objection? if not, all those signify by saying aye. ayes appeared to have it. now we continue with discussion of ben bernanke. i want to give everyone a chance to be heard on this. som i know are going to want more time than others to comment on this. obviously, to vote these nominations we need a quorum president, and the majority have to vote. we cannot vote by proxy for the nominee. i want to give a chance of a full opportunity to discuss the nomination in fall. what i am trying to do is put a five-

mr. 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

mr. ben bernanke open up your books. the feds giving trade to their buddies on wall street. 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 te

mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree with ben bernanke that the prime minister's decision to strip the bank of england's supervising role led to a "destructive run" and a "major problem for the british economy?" >> no, mr. speaker. i think that anybody who looks at the global recession knows that it started with the problems of the banking system in america that spread right across the world. our tripartite system is the right way to deal with these problems, because it brings the bank of england, the financial services authority, and the treasury together to deal with these issues. i noticed that only yesterday the leader of the opposition changed the shadow chancellor's policy on the future of the banking system, and that he also talked yesterday about introducing "flatter taxes". flatter taxes mean less tax paid by the very wealthy. before the conservatives come to give us lectures on economic policy, they should go back to the drawing board. >> emily thornberry. >> will my right honorable friend give the public a guarantee that he will never lift the ban on hunting with dogs? >> i am sur

mr. 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

"alan greenspan, including a reference from jim bunting, referring to ben bernanke as mr.did you want to respond to either point? guest: i thought you said that david was twittering in. host: no, but does he? guest: he does. host: we will try to track him down this morning. guest: this question from the twitter is a critical one, this question of trust. this crisis has damaged, in my view, the trust that the american people have in our financial institutions. not only the fed, but also the congress, the credit ratings, something that i think is going to linger for some time. something that ben bernanke is going to be battling with for some time. explaining 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 peopl

mr. speaker here to does the prime minister agree with ben bernanke, his decision to strip the bank of england civilizing role led to i quote a destructive run and a major problem of the british economy? >> no, mr. speaker. i think anybody can look at the global recession knows that it started -- does that start with the problems of the banking system actually an america. that spread right across the world. and our system is the right way to deal with these problems. because it brings the bank of england the financial services authority and the treasury together to deal with these issues. i noticed that the leader of the opposition change the policy of the shadow chancellor about the future of the banking system only yesterday that i noticed he was also talking yesterday about flatter taxes that he was going to introduce. flatter taxes mean less tax paid by the very wealthy but i think for the conservatives come to give his lectures on economic policy, they should go back to the drawing board at. >> will my right honorable friend give the public a guarantee that he will never let the ban on hu

bernanke hearing? >> it hangs over everything. many questions will be asked about what mr. chairman is doing to help the job situation. there will need to be persuasion. the question with the interest rates is how long they will sustain that. host:neil irwin covers the financial sector and financial regulation for "the washington post." thank you for starting your day with us. >> you got it. host: our question is what should washington do, what tools doesn't have and how can it use them? let's get to your ideas. we have a call from justin in new york city. caller: 1/6 of the jobs are although related in the united states. a hint that general motors is a way to begin to build up more manufacturing jobs in the united states. there should be some kind of agreement, some kind of legislation whereby general motors could relocate their manufacturing facilities. the parts suppliers in manufacturing, where the taxpayer already owns a big chunk of general motors. they could be offering tax incentives. cash for clunkers for general motors cars. health-care costs for general motors sh

mr. potter, at least not in this zip code, that he did the right thing because the alternative was worse. when bernanke one of 60 minutes he sat on a park bench on main street where his father's store had been. if it had been called wall street he would have been dead. [laughter] >> and he said i didn't set out to save wall street. i set out to save main street in order to save mainstreamed i had to save wall street that when you go out the financial system, that people make their money and don't financial institutions get bailed out. and that just happen. the question is, what, are we charging him enough money for this great service we did. we will see when it is in. , pay back their money. it's been a pretty healthy return for the taxpayer. the other thing are going to enough so that we are not in this situation again for your somehow? that really would be criminal. when what we know now, we cannot just a bump along with the status quo and hope that we can avoid this because they've learned their lesson because they're so evidence that people learned their lessons. >> we have time for three, four mor

mr. chairman. >> let me just say senator dodd may have to leave during the testimony because csg chair the bernanke hearings, confirmation hearing today so we expect that maybe the reason he has to go. >> i could have brought him here and had a joint hearing between the federal reserve chairman. >> maybe he could have told us out to pay for this. madam secretary thank you for being here and if he would follow secretary stayton admiral mullen we look forward to your testimony in if you want to summarize we can by your testimony in the record. >> thank you very much gemming kerry and ranking member lugar and all the members of this committee. it is an honor for me to be here to testify before you and also to continue the dialogue, both the chairman and ranking members statements as would be expected, were extraordinarily thoughtful, raised a lot of the hard questions we are grappling with campeau's the challenges that we have to meet, both the administration and the congress together and i want to thank the committee for the constructive role that it has played in helping us to address the difficult

mr. chairman. >> thank you very much senator lugar. let me just say senator dodd may have to leave at some point during the testimony because he has to chair the bernanke commination cairnes today so we suspect that maybe the reason you have to go. >> i have-- with. >> madam secretary thank you for being here. mr. secretary if he would follow the secretary of state and admiral mullen if you want to summarize the can put your full testimonies in a record. >> thank you very much chairman kerry and ranking member lugar and to all the members of this committee. it is an honor for me to be here to testify before you and also to continue the dialogue. both the chairman and the ranking member's statements as would be expected, were extraordinarily thoughtful, raised a lot of the hard questions we are grappling with an's the challenges that we have to meet on both the administration and congress together and i want to thank the committee for their constructive role it has played in helping us to address the difficult issues raised in their region of the world we are focused on today. win president obama addressed the cadets at west point, he set forth both the

bernanke as the person of the year,@@@@@@@℠g that. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr.is: madam speaker, by way of inquiry of my chairman, mr. chairman -- by way of inquiry of my chairman, aside, mr. chairman, from the unprecedented and secretive process by which this bill was put together and is being brought to the floor, the rule before us contains a most unusual provision to allow the chairman to submit a report explaining the legislation. it would be very helpful to all members before we vote on over $154 billion in spending to actually have the benefit of the chairman's explanation. i, for one, have not only not seen this report, i didn't even know he was writing one. therefore i ask the chairman, is there a copy of this report and will you make it available now so that members will have a chance to see it before we vote on this bill? mr. obey: i find it very interesting that the gentleman has not raised this point with respect to the defense appropriations bill, but let me simply say that the explanatory statement for this bill is very short. it is on our website

mr. bernanke did a good job. is not in anybody's political camp, and he has the best interest of the country and our economy and standard of living at heart. host: death of oral roberts. guest: very influential man. marks the passing at oklahoma history, because that is where his ministry was centered. through his legacy, a lot of people were impacted positively. a tribute to a guy who stood up for what he believed. host: finally, a tweet -- guest: good question. stupidity, one. when i was in the house, i was not here very long for president bush, but in the 1990's, the patient's bill of rights, as co-sponsor that. -- i co-sponsored that. the first two years of this year, which of t saab operationr talks of a deal collapsed. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span rating. >> "washington journal" continues. host: "healthcare half-truths'" is the book and carolyn engelhard is the author. she joins us from charlottesville, virginia. how do you define medical malpractice? guest: good morning. well, medical m