Mainstreet continues to go squish under foot. Consumer prices rose 1.1 in the last quarter, the highest since 1991. The Fed is in a double bind unable to either raise or lower interest rates in fear of doing damage to an already damaged economy. The FBI is now investigating Indymac Bancorp for fraud, and both parties are balking at the idea of bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Time for another round of economic stimulus, right?Not so fast. That's proving problematic at the very height of election season.
Sure, the price of oil did drop $10 over the past two days, closing at $134.60 a barrel, pushing the Dow up 300 points. But that's only a Iranian missile test away from shooting back up again. Unfortunately, Team Bush continues to remain attached to the idea that expanding oil drilling in U.S. protected regions is the way to stimulate the economy, despite the fact that not one drop of said oil would even hit the market, much less get drawn, before the end of the year if they started now.
Speaking on the effects of the initial stimulus President Bush said “Let it run its course. I’m an optimist.” He can afford to be. It's not his pocketbook that's being eaten.
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