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Columbia Missourian

Federal Reserve System should stay out of market

By Louis J. Anesi, Centralia
April 2, 2008 | 8:04 a.m. CDT

It’s only proper to support our brave troops, who are only following orders in Iraq. However, to support this misguided war is putting them in harm’s way, which has resulted in the death of 4,000 and is costing us in the estimated amount of $1-3 trillion. Many of the war supporters fail to realize that this war is also costing them at the gas pump and everything they buy, as this war is helping to keep the supply of fuel down, which the oil companies like. If Sen. John McCain has his way, this war will last 100 years. President Bush, in his speech of March 19, said the war was necessary because Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator killing his own people. However, he failed to mention the hundreds of thousands ofinnocent civilians we killed and the millions more we displaced who will take hate with them, which will turn to violence. Nor did he mention the 5,000-plus desertions of our troops, the suicides of more than 500 and the thousands who will return with postwar stress, which will ruin their lives. And the overloaded Veterans Health Administration and the Federal Reserve System cutting interest rates to make up for Bush’s mistakes will only cause more inflation, devalue the dollar, make it harder to sell our treasury bonds overseas and discourage our own investors. The low interest rates, to make Bush’s tax cut for the wealthy look like they were working, enticed people into debt and is the reason we are in a recession. Now the Fed. is repeating its mistakes. However, Bush is more interested in the wealthy on Wall Street than the rest of our people. It would be better for the Fed. to stay out of the market and let the rates adjust themselves.