POWER WITHOUT CREDIBILITY, Part 1 Bogged down at the Fed

By Henry CK Liu

The announcement during Democrat President Barack Obama's summer vacation that he has reappointed Ben Bernanke, a Republican first appointed as Federal Reserve board chairman by president George W Bush nearly four years ago, to a second term, served to divert attention from unwelcome figures released on August 25 by the White House budget office.

These forecast a cumulative US$9 trillion fiscal deficit from 2010-2019, $2 trillion more than the administration estimated in May. The federal government will spend $2.98 trillion in fiscal 2009, $3.766 trillion in fiscal 2010 and $5.307 trillion in fiscal 2019, all substantially more than projected revenue.