It's Earth to Bernanke and the "Ninety Nine Percent" Thing

Dear America,

mea culpa
this girl was all over the place yesterday...

looking back -- hindsight being twenty twenty, you know -- my rather punchy perspective on the day just couldn't be controlled; making any chance for articulating a refined argument with defined grievances slim to none.  so in the end...dizzy girl went rogue and she ruled the day.

perhaps, if there is room for rationalization here, we could attribute my spastic repartee with myself as simply a reflection of the gene pool of "the ninety-nine percent."  The "99" being the rolling thunder of discontent, of which even they -- the occupiers -- cannot even figure it out and fine tune their cause into any one thing.

and how true:

From Georgia Public Broadcasting:

" 'Out here today to juxtapose zombie-eating money between corporate bankers that consume everything. Never enough. Must have it all! Tax poor! Tax cuts for the rich!'  Rallston says in a throaty zombie voice.

The zombie agenda is just one of many issues and philosophies animating these protesters, who've eaten and slept in Lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park for more than two weeks now. If you ask them what exactly they're protesting against, you get a lot of different answers."

A picture worth a thousand words was provided in the link above.

But apparently, the "zombie-eating money" grubbers is only one percent of the "ninety-nine"... 

"Naturally, capitalism is their favorite target. They proclaim it in signs, comments and in interviews. Their “declaration of demands” reads like some deluded fantasy about things they hate in the world. Those include: corporate-produced food, animal testing, the death penalty, outsourcing, paying for tuition, campaign finance, colonialism and carbon-based energy. They left out some of the protest standards of “Free Mumia” and “Death to Israel,” but those are sure to surface over time."

talk about being all over the place.  oi vay. [I here you, like I should talk]

check. and check check.

so jumping out on another limb here -- I believe this thing -- being "all over the place"  -- is not exclusive to little old G or the Occupiers.  So if you can bear it, follow me along on a trip down zombie-central memory lane, and with laser-like focus concentrate on the words of Ben Bernanke.

Beginning with OCTOBER 4 -- but in the year 2006!

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the economy is experiencing a "substantial correction" in the housing market and that the Fed is closely watching how it plays out.

The decline in housing 'was one of the major drags causing the economy to slow now'...

The Fed chief characterized the long-term outlook for the economy as "healthy" and "growing" but said particular care must be given to two issues: the effects of aging on the economy and the importance of skills, education and training both for children and adults in order for the United States to stay competitive in today's world."

fascinating, isn't it?
that was Bernanke, eight months in.
Now, skipping over 2007 entirely...let's go here:

Valentine's Day 2008:

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson both acknowledged problems in the U.S. economy Thursday, but both said they believe the nation will avoid falling into recession.

The two made their comments at a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee about the economy. Their testimony comes in the wake of troubling economic readings that have raised recession fears on Wall Street.

...'More expensive and less available credit seems likely to continue to be a source of restraint on economic growth,' Bernanke said.

But he added he's not worried about bank failures because he thinks banks entered the current downturn with sufficient capital and have been able to raise additional funds."

By 2009,  we don't need to look any further than recollect the cover of TIME and recall the confidence reflected by the president himself:

"Ben approached a financial system on the verge of collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes on our economic free fall.”   

oh really, Mr. President?

TIME just couldn't help it, they just kept gushing and gushing:

"Bernanke also knows the economy would be much, much worse if the Fed had not taken such extreme measures to stop the panic. There’s a vast difference between 10 percent and 25 percent unemployment, between anemic and negative growth. He wishes Americans understood that he helped save the irresponsible giants of Wall Street only to protect ordinary folks on Main Street. He knows better than anyone how financial crises spiral into global disasters, how the grass gets crushed when elephants fall."

riveting good journalism.

Looking back to about a year ago, August 27, 2010:

"Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke bluntly acknowledged that the U.S. economic recovery has lost considerable steam, but said the central bank has the necessary policy tools to support continued growth.

'The issue at this stage is not whether we have the tools to help support economic activity and guard against inflation,' Bernanke said at the Fed annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. 'We do'...

Bernanke said that the pace of economic growth is 'somewhat less vigorous' than expected, but remained optimistic for a pickup in 2011.

 ...the Fed would reinvest in Treasurys to maintain the size of its balance sheet, and added that the bank is prepared to provide additional "unconventional measures if it proves necessary, especially if the outlook were to deteriorate significantly." 

question:  what defines "unconventional" ?

But again: "Bernanke said the Fed will continue to monitor developments in the economy and evaluate other options to try and reverse the slowing momentum."

are we feeling confident, or what?

we are all over the place with this;  we are grasping for the fix -- with Ben Bernanke leading the flighty fight for recovery all the way.  and considering all things said and unsaid, how sketchy is that?


Flash-forward to today: OCTOBER 4, 2011:

"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank stands ready to take additional steps to boost U.S. growth and cautioned lawmakers against budget moves that would harm a 'sluggish' recovery.

The Fed 'will continue to closely monitor economic developments and is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability,' Bernanke said today in testimony to Congress’s Joint Economic Committee in Washington."

seriously?

 “A second important objective is to avoid fiscal actions that could impede the ongoing economic recovery,” Bernanke said. 'Putting in place a credible plan for reducing future deficits over the longer term does not preclude attending to the implications of fiscal choices for the recovery in the near term,' he said, without being more specific."

did this guy really deserve being named person of the year way back in 2009?    could this be yet another 'mission accomplished' moment for all time?

when "wall street" gets leveled next week by the Occupiers-in-Chief -- by the rebels with too many causes to count, the zombie-dwellers with too many threats of violence to mount -- what will Ben do then? what will he say?  how will he instill confidence once the threshold to all future retirement funds and pensions and livelihoods  large and small come crashing down?  what will he say?

let me guess, something to the effect of ...the Fed will continue to closely monitor economic developments and is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability....how's that?

THIS is why we, the people, were intended to live free and die hard of our own doing  -- to rise and fall on our own in a free market of our own making.  Reincarnating the sounds of the dizzy-zombie-girl of just yesterday, for decades we have been surrounded by red flags and still!  ignored all the signs.

Granted, I may have been all over the place, but not without cause; I merely linked arms with the rest you indiscriminately attacked by the twenty-first century contagion that holds the power to get the better of us -- as anything goes and being all over the place the better and running viral as we speak.    

Unless! we actually take the precious time out now, and regroup, no matter what happens, no matter how much it might hurt.

These conditions call for us to return to the ideals and economic policies that have been proven, leading me wide open with an excellent segway to a fine read, The 5000 Year Leap.  Get it.  Read it.  Love it.  

[but earth to Bernanke -- if we have to work with you, along with The Fed itself -- by all appearances, you sir, seem to be operating under a stabs-in-the-dark policy.  this is no way to run a central bank or instill confidence, just sayin'...ooooh and check that, maybe 'the occupiers' are spot on with the whole zombie dimension...]

Let's just grind this all to a halt right now.

You know what I think?  
I think it calls for each one of us to drop to our knees and chant all together:

"I give" 

...over and over and over again; for if this isn't a time to call for divine guidance and intervention and direction, I don't know what is.

We have made serious errors -- in judgement, in practice, in mind, in the body politic and in the public body. We are all zombies now.

mea culpa      mea culpa          mea culpa  

God help us.

Make it a Good Day, G

our thoughts are things...the mindset of yesterday continuously feeds into the reality on the day. It works the same way for all of us, all creatures large and small.