Jim Bunning: “As my good friend and fellow Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once said, ``Its deja vu all over again.'' Once again, Chairman…”

“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.…”