Bernanke tells Congress it can always repeal Social Security and Medicare

Here is news that simply makes me livid. The Federal Reserve gave trillions of tax dollars to the banking establishment, and now Bernanke tells Congress they can pay for it by ending Social Security and Medicare. And by the way, this was NOT picked up by the New York Times or CNN, so many Americans won't even know Bernanke said such a thing. This excerpt comes from the Huffington Post Blog:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/03/bernanke-channels-willie_n_378963.html

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee today, where he's seeking re-appointment as the Fed's chairman, Bernanke called for cutbacks in Medicare and Social Security even as unemployment rises and the middle class is endangered. [The link is to Elizabeth Warren's article, America Without a Middle Class.]

Citing legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, Bernanke said of the retirement and health care funds that are the legacy of the New Deal: "That's where the money is."

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) sympathized with Bernanke, saying that, because of entitlement spending, "you're going to be looking at a situation where the Congress will be unable to provide any kind of fiscal discipline because of the mandatory spending. That puts an enormous burden on your plate."

"Well, Senator, I was about to address entitlements," Bernanke replied. "I think you can't tackle the problem in the medium term without doing something about getting entitlements under control and reducing the costs, particularly of health care."

Bernanke reminded Congress that it has the power to repeal Social Security and Medicare.

"It's only mandatory until Congress says it's not mandatory. And we have no option but to address those costs at some point or else we will have an unsustainable situation," said Bernanke.

... and here's more--check out this video and partial transcript for Senator Jim Bunning's statements to Bernanke:

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Senator Bunning to Bernanke "You are the definition of a moral hazard. Your Fed has become the Creature From Jeckyll Island"

Chairman Greenspan sold the Fed's independence to Wall Street on the so called "Greenspan PUT". Whenever Wall Street needed a boost, Alan was there. But you went even farther than that when you bowed to the political pressure of the Bush and Obama Administrations, and turned the Fed into an arm of the Treasury.

Under your watch the "Bernanke PUT" became a bailout for all large financial institutions, including many foreign banks.

And you put the printing presses into overdrive to fund the government's spending and hand out cheap money to your masters on Wall Street.

In short, you are the definition of a moral hazard.

You are repeating the same mistakes as Japan in the 1990's on a much larger scale while sowing the seeds for the next bubble.

The AIG bailout alone is reason enough to send you back to Princeton.