It's a recession dammit!

Don't know if the current administration has their head stuffed in the sand but I believe we are and why this administration is not calling it like it is...hmmmm....quite a quandary:

Bernanke Warns of Possible Recession Without Using the Word

By JEANNINE AVERSA / AP Economics WriterWASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress on Wednesday that the economy may shrink over the first half of this year, which would signal the start of a recession. Yet, he didn't offer assurances of further interest rate cuts.

In prepared testimony to Congress' Joint Economic Committee, Bernanke didn't use the word recession. But it's the closest he has come to date to suggesting that possibility, given a trio of crises -- housing, credit and financial -- that has pummeled the country."It now appears likely that gross domestic product (GDP) will not grow much, if at all, over the first half of 2008 and could even contract slightly," (Duh you think?????) Bernanke told lawmakers. GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced within the United Statesand is the best barometer of the United States's economic health. Under one rule, six straight months of declining GDP, would constitute a recession.Still, Bernanke said that he expects more economic growth in the second half of this year and into 2009, helped by the government's$168 billion stimulus package of tax rebates for people and tax breaks for businesses as well as the Fed's aggressive reductions to a key interest rate. Nevertheless, the chairman acknowledged uncertainty about the Fed's next steps, notwithstanding the mounting economic woes.

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