Governments are never able to manipulate markets sucessfully, unless the goal is purely disruption. The political horizon is always much shorter than than the economic one. When the Fed twiddles a rate the results of the twiddling don't show up economically for perhaps three quarters or maybe not for a couple of years. The functionaries trying to make "corrections" need results in six months or less.
It is like a large ship at sea piloted by an advertising executive. You put the helm over and nothing happens immediately. You put it over a bit more and still the vessel appears to be maintaining a straight course so you spin the wheel over hard to make it do something. Then the ship begins slowly to turn. When it is facing the proper direction you center the rudder in momentary satisfaction but the damn thing keeps turning back so you panic a bit and turn back the other way and then turn back some more, etc. and you have the great ship running in ever wilder "S" curves until it hits the reef.
It's hard to disagree with a statement like that. The government's goal I believe is to make itself look useful, but when things go wrong as a result, blame someone else: Martha Stewart for example.