The threat of a double-dip recession would be significantly less if the Obama administration had pushed for the full stimulus that was needed (it didn't), and then not given away 35% of the remaining stimulus to near-useless tax cuts (it did), and then not embraced defcit cutting fever (it did) instead of continuing to explain to the American people that continued deficit spending was crucial to recover (it didn't).
We've been quite critical of the President's handling of the stimulus from the beginning. Not because we like being mean to the man we supported in the primaries, and raised $43,000 for, but because we were concerned that his poor decision making would come back to haunt us. And it has.
Federal Reserve officials, increasingly concerned over signs the economic recovery is faltering, are considering new steps to bolster growth.
With Congress tied in political knots over whether to take further action to boost the economy, Fed leaders are weighing modest steps that could offer more support for economic activity at a time when their target for short-term interest rates is already near zero. They are still resistant to calls to pull out their big guns -- massive infusions of cash, such as those undertaken during the depths of the financial crisis -- but would reconsider if conditions worsen.
