John Ensign: “we are venturing down a dangerous path that threatens to put the economic future of our country in jeopardy. When the…”

“we are venturing down a dangerous path that threatens to put the economic future of our country in jeopardy. When the housing market collapsed, the government stepped in with a blank check to bail out the Nation's largest mortgage giants--Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. When the automakers started to feel the pinch of a downward economic turn, again the government stepped in, taxpayer money in hand, and bailed them out. When the giants of the financial market started to see their bank accounts drop below zero, again the U.S. Government stepped in to bail them out, allowing them to sidestep the pain of their financial mismanagement--pain that was then passed on to hard-working Americans, many of whom are barely scraping by during these difficult economic times. The pain was certainly not felt by the managers of these institutions when they received exorbitant bonuses, despite their bad performance. This country has witnessed bailout after bailout after bailout. Yet not one piece of legislation has passed this body that would establish protections for taxpayers to ensure that we do not remain on the hook for bailing out these institutions every single time they mismanage themselves. Unfortunately, this financial reform bill that we have before us continues this trend. Last week, I offered an amendment that would have restricted the size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac so they would not continue to be too big to fail.”