Bernanke Whistles Past Banks' Doom

When Ben Bernanke speaks, maybe no one should listen. Last month Bernanke said that the economy's getting better and that the threat of an economic downturn is diminished. He took that back today. Today's talk was all about crisis. Well, not really crisis, because he expressed that he was heartened by the fact that the FDIC doesn't have a lot of troubled banks on its emergency list. He will have to take that back soon, too.

I am astounded by the seriousness with which Ben Bernanke is taken. Here we have at least a dozen banks that are on the verge of failing by traditional reserve standards, and he parrots the FDIC's line that there are very few banks that will fail.

He was so sanguine about the economy just a month ago, now he sees it in crisis?

Not only that, but he made the point that the budget deficit has little to do with the dollar. How can he say this stuff? How can he? And he gets a free pass from these know-nothing senators who simply don't have any idea how precarious things are.

I want to hear the following: "Many major banks are undercapitalized, and we are working with well-capitalized banks here and around the globe to ameliorate the problem." We need to hear him say, "I erred, things are still sickly, I believe the rebate checks might have temporarily changed my thinking."

The position of Fed chairman is like the position of a coach of a team. You have to earn the respect of the office. This guy doesn't have it. He is simply getting the biggest free pass that I have seen in finance.

Remember this: The mortgages issued exactly during the time of Bernanke's ascension is when all of this horror began. His watch.

What a skate job. I wonder what he will be saying when Citigroup (C - commentary - Cramer's Take) runs out of money.

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in stocks mentioned.

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