Ben Bernanke: You Must Resign

I dugg it.

We all talk a lot of shit in our lives -- pretending to be who we wish we could be. We make up stories about things we've done or said which are nothing more than retellings of personal events as we wish they had been; retellings that portray us the way we wish we had behaved; all with the goal of winning the favor of our friends, lovers, parents, bosses, idols. For the more healthily adjusted among us we tend to do this for personal gain (a job, money, admiration, sex). But the truly screwed among us are those who are so depraved, so lacking in self-esteem, as to actually believe their stories.

But there always comes a time in a person's life (and if they are fortunate, many times) when he is forced to face the lie. It is during times of crisis, duress, and moral strain that a person's true nature is revealed to all.

Last week Ben Bernanke played his cards and showed the world that his nickname, "Helicopter Ben", is, in my opinion, likely a deserved one. I say "likely" only because it was the Fed-to-bank discount rate that he lowered and time will only tell whether Ben extends that to the Fed funds rate.

How long can America survive the moral hazard that is today's Fed? Perhaps you have a personal or professional stake in seeing to it that people continue to live on ever-increasing burdens of debt while their incomes languish. Or perhaps you "got in" before the madness overcame America, and you've now hunkered down and closed the hatch of your private bomb shelter, and everyone else can be damned. Perhaps you feel that it is all okay as long as you believe that you can keep your own head above water. But what if one day you can't? What if our out of whack system overtakes you too? Would you want to be met with your own indifference?

If you take one moment to step away from our culture of selfishness and think about others, about your children and grandchildren, or, if you are single, the possibility that you might one day want to have children, do you still think the path we are on as a nation leads to the sort of world that you want your kids to play and live in? Or maybe you think you are immune and you will be able to shelter your progeny.

Now is the time to cut the crap -- stop making excuses, stop thinking about just ourselves, look at the big picture, and be honest with ourselves.

Americans have become debt junkies on such an unprecedented scale that even with the slightest of interruptions to their debt fix they scream bloody murder. And all through it the Fed has been their all too willing dealer. How much continuing self-inflicted economic harm must we endure before we as a society admit that the 9-11 terrorists won and succeeded in hurting us, and that the actions of the Fed since then have been nothing more than a form of self-medicated economic forgetfulness on a massive scale?

Now is the time for strength in leadership. We need a Paul Volcker, not a continually spineless Fed, not a Greenspan clone. Ben, let the free-markets work; let them heal themselves. Hillary and others, forget the bailouts; they are not the answer. Short-term pain breeds long-term gain.

Anyway, that's what I think, for all it's worth. Use this forum to share your thoughts if you want or vent.