Bernanke Dragged into Stimulus Debate

Never has the American Federal Reserve been so challenged by Congress, or not for the past 50 years anyway, not since the Great Depression, actually. We've been following what we believe to be the unraveling of the Fed, and Bernanke's appearance on the Hill yesterday exposed the chairman and his organization to fairly withering criticism. Bernanke was asked about his authority to make US$500 billion in loans to overseas central banks, why he didn't believe an audit of the Fed was appropriate, why he believed the Fed should receive expanded authority - and why he figured he could bring the country out of recession.