“Mr. Bernanke played down the risk of a major municipal-bond crisis, noting that muni markets have been functioning normally, with healthy trading volumes and lots of issuance. But he said that if municipal defaults did become a problem, it would be in Congress’s hands, not his.
“This is really a political, fiscal issue,” he said.
Lawmakers also are drawing a line in the sand. Senior House Republicans say they will oppose any state requests for money. “If we bail out one state, then all of the debt of all of the states is almost explicitly put on the books of the federal government,” House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan said Thursday.” Read more.
“Bernanke Rejects Bailouts”
Jon Hilsenrath and Neil King, Jr.
Wall Street Journal, January 8, 2010.
