Yahoo: Treassury: Bernanke Speaks:

click on the post for the remarks.

Mr. Bernanke noted:

"History teaches us that government engagement in times of severe financial crisis often arrives very late, usually at a point at which most financial institutions are insolvent or nearly so. Waiting too long to act has usually led to much greater direct costs of the intervention itself and, more importantly, magnified the painful effects of financial turmoil on households and businesses.

That is not the situation we face today. Fortunately, the Congress and the administration have acted at a time when the great majority of financial institutions, though stressed by highly volatile and difficult market conditions, remain capable of fulfilling their critical function of providing new credit for our economy. The Congress' prompt and decisive action in passing the financial rescue legislation made possible the critical steps that have been announced this morning. I also find it heartening that we are seeing not just a national, but a global response ...."


I would think in reviewing the actual text of the speeches from the past year, one must conclude that the Federal Reserve asked for more drastic actions earlier and that Sec Paulson, who came from Wall Street ties, delayed.

So----I think the first paragraph in which Mr. Bernanke refers to the delay, delay, delay of most governments facing these types of events----is very descriptive of what has transpired. That is just my personal conclusion after listening to some of the earlier speeches from early 2008. Congress and Bernanke were asking for bold action but Treasury was standing in the way. That is as I see it.