http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/obama-and-bernanke-agree-if-we-don%27t-fix-the-deficit-we%27re-screwed-535476.html?tickers=tlt,tbt,udn,uup,%5Edji,%5Egspc

Posted Oct 05, 2010 11:08am EDT by Henry Blodget in Recession, Banking, Politics

In separate remarks yesterday, President Obama and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke articulated a similar view of the country's budget situation.

Bernanke said that, one way or another, America's enormous budget deficit would have to be addressed or the economy would be threatened. The only question, Bernanke added, was whether we would address it deliberately and gradually--or suddenly, in response to another crisis.

Obama, meanwhile, described the situation as "untenable."

With Republicans leading in the polls and likely to regain some control of Congress after the November election, it's reasonable to wonder whether the deficit problem might be addressed sooner rather than later--either through tax hikes or spending cuts.

Yahoo's economics editor, Dan Gross, believes that the November elections will bring even greater paralysis to Washington--and, therefore, that little will get done. The Bush tax cuts will likely expire as scheduled, Dan says, but beyond that, the Republicans will likely try to stymie the Democrats through the rest of the "lame-duck Congress."

Assuming the expiration of the tax cuts don't radically change the deficit picture, therefore, we may be heading for Bernanke's second scenario: only addressing the problem when we absolutely have to--when we hit another crisis.