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Left as a comment on Peach Pundit, a conservative-leaning blog. (Crossposted at DFNH)
The object of the so-called "stimulus" (really just an updated version of revenue sharing) was to infuse money (currency, dollars) directly into the economy, instead of funneling it through Wall Street and the bond market. The reason that had to be done was because Wall Street and our private corporate sector had sequestered or hoarded ($3 trillion in cash at present) the currency, making it very difficult for people to engage in exchange and trade. That's what was meant by the "liquidity crisis." Despite a decade of low interest being charged by the Federal Reserve to make money more readily available, the financial community used it to create a real estate bubble and to float dubious financial instruments, instead of lending to Main Street to finance inventory and small manufacturers to promote innovation.
The object for the financial class is to get their "cut" of the taxes our public corporations collect. They have a need to intercept the flow of currency from the public purse to the public treasury and out again. That's the "trickle" they're concerned about. The preferred point at which this capture of taxes occurs is called "dividends on bonds." The bonded debt is the financial gravy train and the engineer of this train is the Federal Reserve.
Who knew there are so many euphemisms for keeping the public's interests secret? If Judd Gregg is to be believed, "protect national security" and "preserve sovereign immunity" now have to be buttressed by "confidence," as in confidential deliberations to insure the "independence" of the Federal Reserve.
God forbid that the representatives of the people, assembled in Congress, might investigate how the Federal Reserve Bank manages our money and to whom it doles it out.
At least, that's what Gregg is reported to have said on the floor of the Senate in discussing the Vitter Amendment.
