GOP leadership urges Fed to do nothing #p2 #tcot in letter to Fed Reserve Chairman @gop

from http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/09/21/1018840/-GOP-leadership-urges-Fed-to-do-nothing?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
 

The good news is that Republican leadership has finally decided to take action on jobs. The bad news is that the action they took was urging the Fed to sit on its hands.

Even though the financial markets have been counting on the Federal Reserve to take action, Republican Congressional leadership sent a letter to the Federal Reserve chairman on Tuesday evening urging it not to engage in further stimulus.

The letter was sent in the midst of a two-day meeting in which Fed officials are widely expected to undertake policies to lower long-term interest rates. That move would be intended to loosen up credit in hopes of promoting growth. The meeting ends Wednesday, and the Fed is expected to release a statement Wednesday at 2:15 p.m.

"We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Federal Reserve could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy," said the letter, signed by four of the top Republicans in Congress: Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Republican leader; Jon Kyl of Arizona, the Senate Republican whip; House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia.

The Fed's chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, has not said further stimulus was in the works, but economists and analysts have repeatedly asserted that they believe the central bank will announce more easing.

The next thing you know, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination will say it would be treasonous for Bernanke and the Fed to try to do anything to improve the economy. Oh, wait...