There’s a lot of subtext in Bernanke’s last comment. I think he’s laying some rhetorical ground work. If HR 1207 passes, and we get to actually see the abuses and excesses of the Fed, it may trigger a run on the dollar, or an extreme downturn in the economy. Bernanke will then be able to say “see, I told you so,” as if the cause of the downturn was not the Fed’s crimes, but their revelation.
It’s such a bad idea for congress to get involved in monetary policy, but its alright for a handful of guys at the Fed and Treasury Dept to pull levers from behind their curtain. At least if you had congress in charge they’d be too busy debating to make any sort of decision and the end result might be less intervention.