Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said…(see post above)

Of course the Fed IS planning (or already implementing) actions to bring mortgage rates down to (or below) 4.5% on 30-year fixed.

Paulson isn’t an idiot (although he acts like one); he understands that a promise to America for rates of 4.5% on 30-year fixed would bring the already slow-as-molasses home market to a standstill, as potential homebuyers stalled purchases and waited for the promised 4.5% loans.

So Paulson made the only statement that wouldn’t get him fired. He lied and said they weren’t targeting 4.5%