Heed the Chairman

Yesterday, Fed Chairman Bernanke gave his second press conference of the year. To most Americans, his words are geared toward the financial gurus, politicians and economic geeks out there. They are ripe with economic concepts and terms that seem like a foreign language to most people. I love these speeches and press conferences. I find them both interesting and fascinatingly important, but that's me. It is important for all of us to at least understand what he said and to encourage our Government to heed his warnings. In a few easy nutshells, Bernanke said the economy is recovering at a slower pace than expected. Unemployment is frustratingly high and banks continue to be reluctant to loan money having tightened criteria for seekers of loans. He said most the of the real estate price declines are coming from the foreclosed homes and not from resales which emphasized the need to clear foreclosures through the system. He said payrolls have gone from a negative to positive trend. He said that much of the slowness is temporary as a result of unexpected events such as the Tsunami. Most important, now listen please, he guided our government to be aggressive with the deficit but from a long term perspective. He cautioned against the political knee jerk reactions of cutting expenses too quickly and actually said this in his opinion would hurt job growth. Republicans do not want to listen because they know that stalling the economy helps them blame Obama, but all of us must listen to the Chairman. He gets it, and so must we all. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?