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By the time tax rebates get into consumer hands, it will be too little too late. A rebate is simply getting some of your own money back; most of it will be used to pay consumer debt, which is money already spent; what's left over will be used to pay higher prices at the pump. If consumers are going to do their patriotic duty and go on a shopping spree at WalMart, they need a job, a wage that lets them make ends meet, and an economy with a cost of living that doesn't rise faster than wages.

Cutting key interest may slow down the economic downslide, but I'd be surprised if it rebounds to robust activity. Recession is in the eye of the beholder; call it whatever, the economy is slowing down.

When the wealthy become the affluent; the affluent become middle class; the middle class become the working poor; and the working poor go on welfare, I'm sure some egghead economist will cheerfully announce that we have a stable economy.