Can one of the board economics gurus put this in plain speak for me?

I don't have near the economic credentials of the folks that you mention but I'll take a stab. Caveat emptor.

It's my understanding that the auction is a new way for the Fed to get money to stressed lenders in order to facilitate the flow of funds to borrowers. Previous to the auctions, the way that stressed lenders would get funds would be to go to the Fed discount window but apparently lenders were reluctant to use it post mortgage meltdown. I <i>assume</i> that the lenders can get better rates via the auction.

Or something like that.

In the very simplest of terms, it's yet another mechanism for the Fed to flood the economy with dollars in an effort to keep the economy growing.