If the Dow goes below 10000 and the S&P below 1100, and Nasdaq below 2000, does anyone think they are going to raise rates? This is not Volcker or Trichet we're talking about here. It's Bazooka Ben Bernanke. Rates should be at 4%+, let the banks fail that leveraged their eyeballs out to juice earnings. Don't bail them out with negative real interest rates and punish savers. The surviving banks will take over the leftover business. There are too many bankers in America and not enough farmers and engineers. Let the banks fail pansies!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a5P_x5HfhQA0&refer=home Democrats Are Weighing More Tax Rebates, Pelosi Says (Update3) By Laura Litvan July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Congressional Democrats are considering a second round of rebates to taxpayers, saying the benefits of the first checks sent to more than 100 million households this year are being eroded by rising energy prices. ``We will be proceeding with another stimulus package, and we once again hope we will work in a bipartisan way,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after House Democratic leaders met with a group of economists to discuss the spreading housing crisis and rising gas prices. Pelosi and other House Democrats said that in addition to more rebates a second stimulus package would probably include additional spending for roads and other infrastructure, expanded unemployment benefits, home-heating assistance for low-income families and aid for states struggling with budget deficits. Plans for the stimulus legislation are taking shape as Democrats race to approve the Bush administration's proposed rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by early next week. Bush said today he would prefer to wait to see how the $168 billion economic stimulus measure passed in February affects the economy. ``We're always open minded to things, but we'll see how this one works,'' Bush said. His wait-and-see approach got a boost from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, who testified to the Senate Banking Committee. `The First Round' ``On a second stimulus package, my own sense is that we are still trying to assess the effects of the first round,'' Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee today. ``It appears that it does seem to be helping, but it might be yet a bit more time before we fully understand the extent to which additional stimulus may or may not be needed.'' Bernanke said any added stimulus should have an immediate effect on the economy rather than result in extended spending or tax policies. Rebate checks, up to $600 for individuals, are being sent to 111 million households as part of the earlier stimulus package. Offering the rebates boosts Democratic efforts to showcase their economic credentials in an election. Still, it won't be clear until after a monthlong August recess whether enough Republicans will join with Democrats to clear stimulus legislation, said Charles Gabriel, managing director of Capital Alpha Partners. `Smart Politics' ``It's smart politics, mostly politics,'' Gabriel said in an interview. ``We won't know until after the August recess whether it gains traction.'' Alan Blinder, a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and a Princeton University economist who attended the meeting with the Democrats, said that the impact of the earlier round of tax rebates has been ``swallowed up'' by rising energy prices. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who also attended the meeting, said the federal government is ``in much more danger of responding inefficiently than in responding excessively.'' Alan Sinai, chief global economist at Decision Economics Inc., said the U.S. economy ``is in a recession that is probably getting worse.'' Any additional stimulus should include more spending designed to help states grappling with budget deficits and rising costs to provide health care and other services, economists said. ``There are a good number of states that are facing quite serious financial problems,'' said Rebecca Blank, an economist at the Brookings Institution. To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at
What a crock of sh*t. Throwing good money after bad. Take this to the limit, why not give everybody 1 billion dollars? Everyone would be rich rich rich!