Original Article : EndoftheAmericanDream.com

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his annual address to Congress on Tuesday, and he did very little to give lawmakers much confidence about where the U.S. economy is heading.  Bernanke told members of Congress that recent economic data points "suggest further weakness ahead" and that the Federal Reserve is projecting that the U.S. unemployment rate will remain at 7 percent or above all the way through the end of 2014.  Now, it is important to keep in mind that Federal Reserve forecasts are almost always way too optimistic.  The actual numbers almost always end up being much worse than what the Fed says they will be.  So if Bernanke is saying that the U.S. unemployment rate will be 7 percent or higher until the end of 2014, then what will the real numbers end up looking like?..............

Dis-InfoWars Grade : -2

Dis-InfoWars Comment : From the tone of this article it seems that the originators think that Bernanke has NEVER been wrong!

Fact is, Bernanke is WRONG all the time! So, why do people still believe what he says? All on the day that 30 year mortgage rates drop to their all time lows of 3.53%!

Also, during that address to Congress, Congresswoman Maxine Waters asked Bernanke if the clause of "Eminent Domain" should be used by the government to seize overpriced homes from banks, and force banks to renegotiate the loan of the home, by reducing the loan amount  to the CURRENT appraised market price! Big words - for sure! So, lets not forget them.

Changes the tone of the whole address. Doesn't it?

.............During his testimony, Bernanke seemed unusually gloomy about the direction of the U.S. economy.  He seemed resigned to the fact that there really isn't that much more that the Federal Reserve can do to stimulate the U.S. economy.  Yes, the Federal Reserve could try another round of quantitative easing, but the first two rounds did not really do that much to help.  The truth is that the United States is absolutely drowning in debt, and when that debt bubble finally bursts the Federal Reserve is simply not going to be able to save us from the Great Depression that will happen as a result.

At this point, Bernanke appears to be in "cya" mode.  For example, the following is from Bernanke's prepared remarks to Congress on Tuesday....

The second important risk to our recovery, as I mentioned, is the domestic fiscal situation. As is well known, U.S. fiscal policies are on an unsustainable path, and the development of a credible medium-term plan for controlling deficits should be a high priority. At the same time, fiscal decisions should take into account the fragility of the recovery. That recovery could be endangered by the confluence of tax increases and spending reductions that will take effect early next year if no legislative action is taken. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, if the full range of tax increases and spending cuts were allowed to take effect--a scenario widely referred to as the fiscal cliff--a shallow recession would occur early next year and about 1-1/4 million fewer jobs would be created in 2013. These estimates do not incorporate the additional negative effects likely to result from public uncertainty about how these matters will be resolved. As you recall, market volatility spiked and confidence fell last summer, in part as a result of the protracted debate about the necessary increase in the debt ceiling. Similar effects could ensue as the debt ceiling and other difficult fiscal issues come into clearer view toward the end of this year.

The most effective way that the Congress could help to support the economy right now would be to work to address the nation's fiscal challenges in a way that takes into account both the need for long-run sustainability and the fragility of the recovery. Doing so earlier rather than later would help reduce uncertainty and boost household and business confidence.(continue)

Did you catch that?

Bernanke says that the federal government is on an "unsustainable path" and must reduce debt, but he also says that the economy cannot afford tax increases and spending cuts right now.  In fact, Bernanke is warning that "a shallow recession would occur early next year" if something is not done about the looming "fiscal cliff" that so many people are talking about.

So what does Bernanke want us to do?

If we continue on the path that we are on, our debt will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.

But if we seriously cut spending or raise taxes, that will significantly slow down the economy.

Either path leads to a whole lot of pain.

Original Article : EndoftheAmericanDream.com