The Fed's Increased Efforts to Hide Bailout Records

On Friday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech claiming that the economy is finally headed on the right track. He stated at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual economic symposium that "despite this recent slowing, however, it is reasonable to expect some pickup in growth in 2011 and in subsequent years."

Not so fast. It has become apparent that Ben Bernanke’s economic forecasts are rarely ever correct. Here are just a few quotes showing Ben Bernanke’s oblivion to the looming housing crisis from 2005 to 2007:

CNBC announcer Maria Bartiromo, July 2005: We have so many economists coming on our air and saying oh this is a [housing] bubble and it’s going to burst and this is going to be a real issue for the economy. Some say it could even create a recession at some point. What is the worst case scenario?

Ben Bernanke: I guess I don’t buy your premise. It’s a pretty unlikely possibility… I don’t think it’s going to drive the economy too far from its full employment path though…I’m hopeful and I’m confident in fact that the bank regulators will pay close attention to the kind of loans that are being made and making sure underwriting is done right.

So much for transparency...

Unfortunately, rumors that the Veep would have an actually transparent meeting were unfounded:

Unsubstantiated rumors that Vice President Joe Biden had suddenly gone a little loopy and ordered some of his official meetings opened to at least cursory public or media attention were just that -- unsubstantiated rumors.

After a recent public sighting, fears had mounted that the one-time, long-term senator might rebel against traditional White House strictures and start acting on all the administration's oft-promised promises of government transparency and official openness running back into 2008.

But the VP's public schedule today puts all those fears to rest.

Obama Holds Closed Door Meeting on Government Openness

In a story of irony, President Barack Obama held a closed door meeting to the public on the transparency of government.

From the AP:

It's hardly the image of transparency the Obama administration wants to project: A workshop on government openness is closed to the public.

The event Monday for federal employees is a fitting symbol of President Barack Obama's uneven record so far on the Freedom of Information Act, a big part of keeping his campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever. As Obama's first year in office ends, the government's actions when the public and press seek information are not yet matching up with the president's words.

"The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails," Obama told government offices on his first full day as president. "The government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears."

What's in the Senate Bill?

We've written about H.R. 3200, the House version of Obamacare, a few times now. But that's the House bill -- what about the Senate bill? What new horror stories lie in that bill?

I wish I could enlighten you, but I can't -- the Senate HELP committee won't even let us read it.

On July 15, six weeks ago, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee passed an amended $1 trillion health-care bill, with acting Chairman Chris Dodd calling it a "historic achievement." Too bad the committee won't reveal this history even to other Senators, much less to the public.

Three weeks ago Republicans on the committee wrote Mr. Dodd "to reiterate our request for a full copy of the bill as amended, in the four-week mark-up." Mr. Dodd has refused to comply. The Senate bill that is available on the committee Web site is 790 pages long. While that is some 300 pages shorter than the House health bill, that's in part because it doesn't include nearly 200 amendments that passed when the committee redrafted the bill.

Transparency my foot!