Helicopter Ben to the Rescue

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Faced with growing risks of recession, the Federal Reserve made its second deep interest-rate cut in a week and slashed a key short-term rate by a half-percentage point Wednesday.

U.S. stocks, which had been slightly lower ahead of the announcement, surged on news of the rate cut but ended lower after a volatile final two hours of trading.

The federal funds rate - an overnight bank lending rate that affects how much interest consumers pay on credit cards, home equity lines of credit and auto loans - was cut to 3.0% from 3.5%. The rate had stood at 5.25% only four months ago.

The discount rate, which is what banks pay to borrow directly from the Fed, was also cut by a half-point to 3.5% on Wednesday. The cut was made at the request of nine of the nation's 12 Federal Reserve district bank presidents.

The Fed slashed both rates by three-quarters of a percentage point in an emergency move on Jan. 22.

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I really believe that if most Americans were just a little bit smarter there would be a revolution tomorrow. I guess the fed will just drop the rate to 0% and create more mal-investment and let the cycle continue. America is being destroyed from within just like Rome.