Fed Reserve Chairman attacks government regulators

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke attacked governemnt regulators in the second day of hearings held by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The job of the commission is to chronicle why the current financial crisis occured, and what the government's response was. Bernanke blamed government regulators for not using their powers "forcefully or effectively" to halt risky financial practices by large wall street firms and banks. The chairman also said that the United States government must be prepared to heavily regulate or shut down Americas largest firms if they pose a significant risk to the market. This power was given to regulators earlier this summer when Obama signed the new financial reforms. Bernanke closed his testimony with a warning that firms that are considered "too big to fail" must be fixed so that what happened to several large investment firms at the beginning of the current recession wont be repeated.