Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified in front of the House Budget Committee today and gave, like, clear, concise and helpful answers to the committee. It made me feel all funny inside. He said that a stimulus package should probably be between $50 and $150 billion; that it shouldn't extend Bush's expiring tax cuts; and that "putting money into the hands of households and firms that would spend it in the near term" -- individual tax rebates and "bonus depreciation" which is some complex way of saying "tax cuts for businesses for buying stuff" -- would be desirable. That's the major part of the Democrats' plan (and not the one backed by conservative House Republicans) but he also wants them not to throw a bunch of stuff in there to muck it all up, which is probably the part they just haven't officially released yet. [Raw Story]