IMO, the government is trapped. If the interest rates rise, their payment on our huge debt may become unpayable.
If they quit printing money and running a huge defecits, we go into a deflationary spiral.
If the economy starts growing, businesses will begin to compete with the government for loans which will drive up interest rates and create serious inflation.
That is what they think. It's a keystone of Keynesianism.
And I agree that they are in a trap -- of their own making, of course. I don't see how we get out of this without a pretty horrible collapse. They're just trying to stave off the inevitable, I fear.