You get to lie straight to Congress and the people in Washington DC once.

Ben already got that "pass" back in September 2008, when he had been repeatedly claiming that he was providing "extraordinarily liquidity support" to the markets.

As I reported at the time, and which is proved by the data, in point of fact on September 24th Ben Bernanke's NY Fed desk intentionally drained over $100 billion in liquidity from the banking system:

Exactly three trading days later the market began its fall crash, losing some 30% of its value over the next two months, and the next day Washington Mutual collapsed.

Every Congressperson got a faxed "letter form" copy of that Ticker on the 24th warning them of what was being done and urging them to act and STOP IT.

Absolutely nothing was done, and Bernanke was NEVER called to account or asked under oath why he took that action or what his intention was.

The outcome, however, is a matter of historical fact.  Washington Mutual collapsed, the market imploded and Americans suffered trillions of dollars of lost wealth in their 401ks, Pension Funds and IRAs.

Now Bernanke appears to have been caught in a flat lie about coercing Bank America during the end of year merger finalization between Bank America and Merrill Lynch.  Watch this video:

Bernanke clearly stated that he exerted no "inappropriate" influence.

Really?  The WSJ says otherwise:

A Dec. 21 email from Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker to Fed employees said that Mr. Bernanke "intends to make it even more clear" that if Bank of America kills the Merrill deal, and later needs government assistance, "management is gone."

Mr. Lacker added that he had had a "long talk with Ben" about the matter.

Is that extortion?  If you or I tried something like that as private citizens there'd be trouble.  So how is it that we have a Fed Chairman who is involved in this sort of sleazy BS, and more to the point, was he perjuring himself in front of Congress?

Tricky-Dick Nixon did not lose the Oval Office because some thugs broke into the Watergate Hotel.

He was threatened with impeachment and resigned because he lied about his knowledge and involvement in the matter.

Note that The Federal Reserve was asked for this documentation by Congress.  They tried to "stiff-arm" the Committee, resulting in a subpoena being issued.

Now we find out why they tried to stiff-arm Congress, and it is clear that they complied with the subpoena for one reason only: Mr. Lewis is going to testify tomorrow on this and related matters, under oath.

The gambit was that they'd get away with the apparent original lie and that Congress would not "call the bluff.

Bad guess.

This is twice that Bernanke has, in my opinion, intentionally misled both Congress and The American People.  It is my opinion that he has done so to further the crony banking interests that ultimately received billions of taxpayer dollars in assistance. 

It also appears to me that he both orchestrated the crash of the market in the fall of 2008 as a leverage tool to force the passage of the EESA/TARP and may have been responsible for Washington Mutual's collapse and forced dismemberment.

Let us remember that on September 20th, four days prior to Bernanke's action, Henry Paulson pitched TARP (along with Bernanke) to Congress.

Let us remember that the day after the liquidity was pulled Washington Mutual (formerly NYSE: WM) collapsed.

And let us remember that through all of this Ben Bernanke has both claimed his actions were pure as the overnight snowfall and that, in the case of Bank of America, that no improper influence was exerted by The Federal Reserve.

The evidence appears to say otherwise.

Finally, I will go further:

I directly question Bernanke's competence and charge that he is manifestly unfit to hold the office of DOGCATCHER, say much less Chairman of The Fed.

This is my evidence;

If this is not outrageous enough for you, I have a whole list of quotes both from Bernanke and Paulson over the previous two years in various Tickers and letters to Congress.

BEN BERNANKE MUST BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE, AND IF HE REFUSES, CONGRESS MUST REPEAL THE FEDERAL RESERVE ACT OF 1913 AND SET UP A NEW UNITED STATES BANK.

There is precedent for this action; former US Central banks have been dismantled by honest Congresses and Administrations.  Specifically, President Andrew Jackson shut down the Second Bank of The United States.  In fact, the charges President Jackson levelled were:

• It concentrated the nation's financial strength in a single institution.
• It exposed the government to control by foreign interests.
• It served mainly to make the rich richer.
• It exercised too much control over members of Congress.
• It favored northeastern states over southern and western states.

All but one seem to fit pretty well, no?

Do we have an honest Administration and Congress, or do we have 536 criminals: 100 in the Senate, 435 in the House, and 1 in the Oval Office, residing in Washington DC?

The people are owed both answers and actions, right here, right now, today.