WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday threw his weight behind proposals for near-term actions to stimulate economic growth to ward off an election-year recession — but warned such a plan could do more harm than good unless put together quickly.
So, if it wasn’t an election year, a recession would be okay?
A sense of urgency has set in at the White House and among lawmakers on Capitol Hill about how to prop up an economy that some analysts say may have already fallen into a recession.
The White Houses confirmed it was working on a stimulus plan, and President George W. Bush talked with congressional leaders later on Thursday about measures that might be in it.
…snip…
The idea of a quick fiscal stimulus package has taken flight in the past two weeks as rapid-fire reports showed U.S. unemployment hit a two-year high in December, while retail sales fell and manufacturing activity stalled.
Lawmakers are considering a package that could extend tax rebates of about $250 to $600 each to individuals and give businesses a bigger tax break on new investments.
Of course, no relief for those people who don’t earn enough to even file for income tax.
Bernanke repeated a bleak assessment of the economy’s health that he made in a speech last week. “Recently, incoming information has suggested that the baseline outlook for real activity in 2008 has worsened and that the downside risks to growth have become more pronounced,” he warned.
…snip…
U.S. stock prices dropped sharply as the factory gauge and news of a big loss at brokerage Merrill Lynch […] deepened economic fears. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI ended the day down 307 points, or 2.5 percent. The dollar dipped on the factory survey and Bernanke’s testimony, while the yields on U.S. government debt fell sharply.
…snip…
Bernanke noted that financial markets around the world have been under strain since late last summer, largely because of problems in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, where foreclosures have been rising sharply.
He said losses in the subprime market may have reached $100 billion so far and would likely climb, but would not top $500 billion.
HYSTERICAL RAISINS 
Send me your check ok ?
he may be smart, but bernanke is a fucking idiot
as is paulson
how can they work for such a moron — this stimulus is nothing more than a gimmick to help the GOP in November….
Voters, who have been laid off because of the slow down in construction due to the glut of existing housing on the market as a result of people who are unable to refinance homeloans now that they have been laid off. Loans are resetting for much higher payments, as equity falls, below the purchase price.
You just watch the way this plays out. From ABC News online: http://tinyurl.com/2ur8mq
The president also made a push to have his tax cuts made permanent, something that Democratic congressional leaders have long resisted.
In testimony Thursday, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said — while taking no position on the issue — that making the tax cuts permanent deals with the long-term economy and would not be the immediate economic stimulus that’s needed.
Sweet work, nonnie! NICE TITLES! 😀
Upon rereading, the above looks like a real long run on incomplete sentence. Here are some commas ,,,,,,,, Thank you. Also, I guess, it should have some sort of action for the voters. Investigations of regulation enforcement performance at state and local levels, for financial brokerage. I’ll bet that the Bush DoJ has overlooked irregularities more often than looked for noncompliance.
i2tf, i don’t get a check. i’m too poor. 😥
whatever they do, it is a bandaid on a gaping wound. this economy is killing everyone but the mega-rich. people don’t care how stockholders are doing when they can’t afford to put food on their families.
Jeez, nightowl, I glanced quickly at your last line and for an instant there I could have sworn you told nonnie she had nice tits. That would have been a glowing endorsement, indeed!
As to the rest, can you say “Trickle Down Economics?” Because that’s what we’ve had here for several decades now, and it really doesn’t work. Fotc’s right, we’re in a vicious cycle, and it will get much, much worse before it ever gets better. Good thing I know how to cook a squirrel in a popcorn popper. And I know how to put it on my family, too….
😆 that’s what i thought at first, too, gotta!! 😆
(*)(*) still perky after all these years! but, alas, they don’t glow. 😦
maybe instead of tax rebates, the government needs to hand out popcorn poppers and slingshots.
by the way, i was in walgreen’s yesterday. it was one that i used to go to a while back, but they redid the entire store, and i had no idea where anything was. i looked up to see the signs over each aisle. the very first one i saw was the one that said gum mint. the first thing that sprung to mind was that that is what grampa fred would call his administration if, heaven forbid, he won the preznitcy.
HAHAHAHAHA!
But, the question remains, “Is our kids eating?”
And, the stock market lost 675 points this week. I don’t invest, of course. However, this HAS to be bad for just about everyone in the nation. Overseas markets are plummeting, too.
I don’t see no stinkin’ repression, just a little “downturn” is all.
FOTC===== huh?
Hello Moonbat minion,,, this one by our President is another bandaid on a problem that is never as bad as the media blow it up to be, and it may well be vote pandering.
The solution is right in everyones face. Lower taxes on all (to include big and small business) and cut spending. For example cut off all of these stupid social programs like the war on drugs, career welfare, etc etc
The lowered taxes on business generate growth, therefore generating jobs etc etc etc… I trust your lefty infected minds will let you finish the equation…
I never understood why the left is so mad at the rich,,, the rich generate jobs, the rich generate capital… etc etc..
Hate ya!! ——————–>:)
The rich are not immune to what is happening to the economy. The rich own the Morgan Stanley. The rich own the construction/development companies. Rich people can go broke, too. I don’t hate the rich but, some of them annoy me. I don’t think that giving the rich more tax breaks is going to create more jobs, in this country. Manufacturing is a lot cheaper, off shore, so the rich will make more money by investing internationly. Just business. The dumb ass war on drugs is not a social program, it is a law enforcement program. It could use an overhaul, for sure. I would love to see them take a hard look at heroin trade since the invasion of Afghanistan. The drug culture in America is a huge social problem and stunning loss happens every day because of it. I don’t know the answer but, it seems to come from hopelessness, that feeds on itself and causes more hopelessness. I’m not sure that permanent tax cuts for corporations and share holders, who want to let their money work for them, trickle down hope. Small businesses are being sunk faster by the costs of insurance than taxes.
Why do you think they go overseas FOTC? The ridiculus taxes here in America
No, TRM, that’s not why they go overseas. They go overseas because they can use the absolute cheapest labor possible, often in sweatshops. You know, slave labor. They go overseas because they can maximize profits by using cheap labor and sub-par materials without fear of regulation which, last time I checked, is there to protect us from such fiascoes as lead poisoned toys. If it were just a question of taxes, they wouldn’t be American companies at all, they’d relocate entirely to those countries with little or no taxes. As usual, your rightwing talking points are ill thought out and childish.
You worry far too much about permanent welfare. Permanent welfare is a myth, unless you’re speaking about disability, which I can tell you from hard won experience isn’t something they hand out to anybody who says, “I’ve got a boo boo and can’t work.” If rethug ideas of how to run this country worked, there wouldn’t be so many families with parents working two jobs each, as my youngest son and his wife do, to keep food on their families and still in need of some sort of help to get by (which isn’t coming from the government, I might add).
America’s rich, individuals and corporations, have very low taxes compared to other developed nations, yet our middle class is struggling mightily to avoid being the lower class. Money doesn’t trickle down. Bush the Elder was right when he called it Voodoo Economics low those many years ago. But keep pushing it if you must. I hope you know how to feed your family without the benefit of a job or a helping hand from anyone, though, as I learned through years of experience under that master of Voodoo Ecomonics, Ronald Reagan. And let me tell you, it will take more than roadkill to do it…..
Even if there are tax cuts, they will still go overseas, Win/win for them. Cheap labor and lax regulation will still draw capital off shore.
I promise, I was not looking at Gotta’s paper when I wrote that.
Of course you weren’t, fotc. You’re way too nice for that.
You managed to put it much more succinctly than I did, though. Once I get me started…. 😉
and you both save me a lot of typing! 😀
We do what we can, nonnie, we do what we can…. 🙂
no matter what bush ends up doing it is just something to help his pals in November (or party members because at this point i dont think bush has any pals left)
tax cuts solve NOTHING…it doesnt change the big underlying problems in the country
1. over dependence on foreign oil — which transfers billions out of this country every day
2. the growing concentration of wealth among fewer and fewer people
3. we dont produce and manufacturer much anymore — a lot of money is generated from services and “moving money” — this is not a solid basis for a sound economy
and trickle down economics does NOT work ever
it is a marketing slogan
Just out of curiosity, so who has the solution, Edwards, Obama, or Clinton?
None of the above and none of the Repubs, either. “Change”, is not a plan.
The election has become a distraction. People need to hear the truth in order to make an informed choice. I would love to vote for someone who would say that the current Administration must be impeached and investigated. No solution is possible until America becomes a “Nation of Laws”. I see hard times commin’ and that’s the hokie pokie. That may not be the vision of my party but, it is my own.
Ditto that, fotc.
I say you guys should put me on the ballot,,, I have it alllllllll figured out… trust me 🙂
nah, vote for me. i don’t know what will get fixed, but i’ll give you pictures to laugh at! plus, i’m nicer than trm. see?–> 😀 😀 2 smileys!
Yeah , maybe you better vote for nonnie..
If I got into office it would be straight to the Haliburton re-education camp for you all!!!
and i will just force you to eat organic vegan foods, hug trees, and pay taxes. but i will do it in a nice way. 😀
TRM, I’m headed out of town for a few days to visit my children and grandchildren. Behave yourself, treat my girls here decently, or there will be hell to pay when I get back. And of course I mean that in the nicest way — — — > 🙂 🙂
safe travels, gotta. don’t worry, we will keep trm in line. and in a nice way! 😀
Safe trip, Gotta. Give those babies a hug from the unknown moonbat.
Hey nonnie, if you win, can I be on the supreme court? I have been trying to think of a way to meet Justice Stevens. I admire him very much and light a candle for his health, daily.
i was gonna make you the chief justice, fotc! i can’t wait to read your rulings. they will be hilarious!! 😆 don’t worry about roberts currently holding that position. we’ll catch the little wuss at the airport with something suspicious in his suitcase and disappear him right before we reinstate habeus corpus.
Rulings? Does spelling count? I will be needing a clerk with a dictionary.
honey, we are going to get you a secretary! maybe one of these guys is looking for a job now that the holidays are over.
The one, with the glasses, standing next to the O.J. looking one, seems very smart.
geez, i just realized i had to edit my last comment. i had 2 comments in one, and together they didn’t make a lot of sense. anyway….
i think he is a very good choice, fotc. he looks very computer-literate to me, and he will have no trouble at all with spell-check.