Putz Ponders Proposed Plunge Protection Ploy

Bankrupt government may send out checks in effort to delay depression and buy votes.

"Bears beware. The New Deal of 2008 is in the works. The US Treasury is about to shower households with rebate cheques to head off a full-blown slump, and save the Bush presidency.
(...)
The US data is now relentlessly grim. Unemployment jumped from 4.7pc to 5pc - or 7.7m - in December, the biggest one-month rise since the dotcom bust and clear evidence that the housing crunch has spread to the real economy.
"At this point the debate is not about a soft land or hard landing; it is about how hard the hard landing will be," said Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics at New York University.
"Financial losses and defaults are spreading from sub-prime to near-prime and prime mortgages, to commercial real estate loans, to auto loans, credit cards and student loans, and sharply rising default rates on corporate bonds. A severe systemic financial crisis cannot be ruled out. This will be a much worse recession than the mild ones in 1990-91 and 2001," he said."

George Bush ponders tax rebates as Goldmans Sachs says recession will hit US this year

"The White House is preparing to grant tax rebates for individuals and businesses in an attempt to boost the American economy as Goldman Sachs yesterday became the latest bank to give warning that recession is going to hit the United States this year.
The plan, which would need to be ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives, would mark the first significant step by President Bush to prop up the broader economy since America’s mortgage market began to melt down early last year.
Although the proposals are at an early stage, the White House is expected to return up to $100 billion to individuals and companies."

Probably just a useless loan like last time when we had to pay it back. Responsible fiscal policies and a few less trillion dollar losses would do us a whole lot better.