White House official gets lesson on Fed's sensitivity
WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's press secretary got a lesson on how sensitive a subject the Federal Reserve can be.</br></br>Disclosing that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan met with Mr. Clinton Wednesday night, Dee Dee Myers told reporters that the Fed chief said passage of the president's deficit-reduction plan would help keep interest rates low.</br></br>But that apparently sounded too much like Mr. Greenspan was endorsing the specifics of the Clinton plan, which he hasn't. Ms. Myers later issued a written clarification saying she hadn't meant to imply that Mr. Greenspan was endorsing the president's plan. Rather, he told the president that "any credible deficit-reduction plan would help to keep longterm interest rates low."</br></br>A Fed spokesman wouldn't say if Mr. Greenspan had complained. "I can tell you that the clarification is correct," he said.</br></br>Separately, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen ducked a reporter's query about the possibility that the Fed may raise short-term rates. "It's the Federal Reserve's province insofar as short-term interest rates" are concerned, he said.