In mid-March, while the Bush-Cheney Administration continued to ignore the worsening financial crisis, the Federal Reserve (Fed) finally took action by rescuing Bears Sterns, a large investment bank. Wall Street's fear of a financial market meltdown, however, continued to spread, compelling the desperate Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, to quickly lower the Fed funds' rate to 2.25 percent. This is the rate that member banks charge one another.