“The food was terrible and the portions were small”
Comment from the post war Catskill resorts
So now the Fed’s being warned about shooting more blanks:
GOP Leaders Warn Bernanke About Further Fed Action
Published: Tuesday, 20 Sep 2011 | 6:13 PM ET
Top Congressional Republicans Tuesday took the unusual step of telling the Federal Reserve to refrain from further “intervention” in the economy on the eve of a policy decision by the U.S. central bank.
The group, which included the top two Republicans in both houses of Congress, said the Fed’s policies have been ineffective at supporting economic expansion and boosting employment.
“It is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve has facilitated economic growth or reduced the unemployment rate,” the group said in a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The letter was signed by House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl.
With economic prospects fading dramatically after a damaging U.S. debt downgrade in August and an escalation of European financial turmoil, the Fedhas made clear it is intent on taking further steps to lift growth.
Although officials at the central bank differ on how best to address the economy’s woes, analysts expect Bernanke to muster a consensus behind a plan to rebalance the Fed’s portfolio to push down longer-term interest rates.
Officials hope that by weighting the central bank’s bond holdings more heavily toward longer-term debt they can spur mortgage refinancings and push investors into stocks or corporate bonds and away from safe-haven Treasurys.
The Fed is expected to announce its decision at about 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.