Bernake needs addiction therapy

After being named Time magazine's man of the year, Ben Bernake had the largest number of Senate votes against him of any federal reserve chairman.

Although he has been one of the main contributors to the housing bubble, he unbelievably argued that the low interest rates that he controlled did not cause it and the resulting persistent recession. His remedy for this government-produced recession is now doubling down on our debt ceiling.

On Christmas Eve with the support of the head of the Federal Reserve, Bernake, the debt ceiling was raised another $300 billion to $12.4 trillion. A month later, on January 28, 2010, it was increased another $1.9 trillion to $14.3 trillion.

This out-of-control spender, instead of being celebrated, should be committed to an addiction program. Like many drug, gambling and credit card addicts, he thinks increasing the dosage of government spending, that caused the problem in the first place, can solve our financial crisis.

The increasing debt is a threat to the loss of our sovereignty. Once a country, like a family, is unable to meet its financial responsibility, chaos reigns. Borrowing from another nation places the taker country in a one-down, dependent position. Inevitably there is a loss of individual freedom and prosperity whenever a country is at the mercy of a foreign power.

China has an historical policy of giving large gifts to other nation's leaders to develop a one-sided trading relationship. President Barack Obama's cool reception during his recent trip to China is a warning sign of increased Chinese demeaning behavior towards a debtor nation.

President George H. Bush receiving of royal gifts and Clinton's huge campaign contributions from China opened Chinese access to American markets and technology. Chinese subsidized products flooded our economy with cheap goods that quickly put us into a debtor status.

Instead of biting the bullet and pulling back our nation's involvement with China, the U.S. continues this dangerous dependency game. The Chinese have increased credit for America to buy even more cheap Chinese items. China owns more of our assets than any other country on Earth. Our founding fathers made it a point to caution us about debt. They even went so far as to write built-in restraints on federal spending into our Constitution to keep us solvent.

The Irish government is following the common sense economics of our founders. They are decreasing the debt by cutting back on government workers and services. They have decided to live within their means to stabilize their economy.

Bernake's solution is just the opposite. He has encouraged expansion of the money supply rather than cutting it back. According to the polls, the only part of the American public that is satisfied with our dire economic situation is government employees. Their numbers in the workforce and their salaries have exploded, while the private sector has taken a beating.

The Federal Reserve incessantly printing money to feed the national debt has to be stopped or a national economic collapse will occur.

The American people's major concern is not health care, global warming or any cradle to grave program. It is restoring a vibrant economy by government getting out of the way of free enterprise.

Bernanke, the symbol of not living within his means, has to admit he is a recovering spending addict. If he is unable to correct his behavior he should be replaced with a fiscally responsible person who will put the brakes on this irrational spending.

This will allow all Americans, especially small businesses to begin to gain faith in the direction of our economy. This will spur the private economy to increase employment, thus reducing the destructive power of big government's attempt to micromanage the economy.

Progressive Keynesian economists like Bernanke who studied this period were never able to recognize the obvious truth staring them in the face. Increasing debt without production is not a solution; it is digging a bigger hole.

Bernanke and the Fed will be on the road to recovery when he ends his denial and accepts he has an addiction problem. He needs to realize out-of-control spending is not a virtue, while financial responsibility is a virtue and not a vice.

This will not make him "man of the year" but will bring back sanity to his life and economic growth to America.