The International Monetary Fund confirmed today what Republicans, such as Senator Shelby (and me), have been saying: The financial sector has to be working before there can be any hope of anything else working.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/end-bank-crisis-sight-imf-says/

There is no end yet to the global financial crisis, the IMF said in its latest report released Thursday... "If the financial sector is not restored to health, an enduring recovery will not be possible," the IMF said.

This is really common sense but it seems that, finally, it's being stated in public. Republican Senator Shelby said it and now the International Monetary Fund has said so, also.

Even if we are to accept Keynesian theory on its face and believe that the "stimulus" package would actually achieve its goals in a normal recession, it still will not achieve its goals if the financial system is not operating normally. As I said before, it's like trying to get a car to run by buying gas when the engine is broken. You have to fix the engine before the gas does any good.