[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THERE HE GOES AGAIN . . .

  Mr. BUNNING. As my good friend and fellow Hall of Famer Yogi Berra 
once said, ``Its deja vu all over again.'' Once again, Chairman 
Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee, FOMC, are taking us 
down an economic path that is fraught with peril by unnecessarily 
raising interest rates.
  Surveys show that Americans are much more worried about filling their 
gas tank than fitting into their swimsuit this summer, which may be a 
first. But nonetheless, despite record high energy prices, the Chairman 
Greenspan continues to raise rates. He is fighting an inflationary 
boogeyman that does not exist. Meanwhile, there is a very good chance 
his policies will lead us into the third recession of his tenure and 
American workers will suffer from his antics.
  This reminds me of the summer of 2000, when all signals pointed 
toward a recession, but Chairman Greenspan refused to cut interest 
rates. When he finally did cut rates on January 3, 2001, in an 
emergency meeting after refusing to cut at the FOMC's regularly 
scheduled on December 19, 2000, the damage was done. And the recession 
that was greatly exacerbated by September 11 was already underway.
  I am very concerned with the Federal Reserve's continued raising of 
interest rates. The Federal Reserve, it seems to me, continues to fix 
an economy that just is not broken. It is almost as if the Federal 
Reserve is frightened by success. They are once again throwing a wet 
blanket on an inflationary fire that does not exist.
  As I have said before, I do not believe the Federal Reserve's 
economic models are factoring in the impact of new technologies on the 
economy. They do not account for our increase in productivity. I also 
do not believe they take into account the psychological effects of 
higher energy prices. Chairman Greenspan, probably doesn't have to fill 
up his own car very often, but families all over Kentucky and across 
the United States are feeling the sting of record gas prices, and it 
troubles them greatly.
  We are coming to a crucial point in our economy, a point where it can 
not sustain higher and higher interest rates. As our interest rates 
rise like helium, our economy will suffer, housing starts will be down, 
and we will lose the economic momentum we have enjoyed. Apparently 
Chairman Greenspan wants to do to the housing market what he did to the 
stock market, and once again the average American on Main Street USA 
will suffer.
  Sometimes, I feel like a voice crying out in the wilderness, but 
somebody has to tell Alan Greenspan and the FOMC that prosperity is not 
the enemy. I hope it will not take another recession for Chairman 
Greenspan to learn that lesson. The American people have already 
learned those lessons during his tenure in very painful ways.

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