I think it would be helpful if we used a fair amount of that trillion to address the housing industry, which is what I see to be the core problem.

the present stimulus package is not on target. The problem is real estate.

my view is that that is an extraordinarily counterproductive statement to make in this market and will have a massively chilling effect on the willingness of private capital to participate.

Another proposal that is out there to stimulate the housing industry that I find attractive is to develop a national program, which could probably be run through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, where we would essentially create a mortgage rate…

Shouldn't any stimulus package not add to the long-term baseline? Shouldn't it be basically focused on the immediate problem, be temporary, be targeted, and have a horizon which is definable rather than be a baseline builder in the…

I like your idea of a holiday on the FICA tax. I think that makes a lot of sense.

I do think the Government has to step into this mortgage issue much more aggressively than we have.

I think one of the reasons we are having problems with the marketplace is there is such uncertainty about where the Government is going to go.

I think we have to figure out where the Government can be most constructive in addressing the core problems.

I was delighted to see President-elect Obama indicate that he intends to hold a Fiscal Responsibility Summit in February.

The problem with what we are doing right now is injecting capital from the taxpayer into institutions.

You have been the voice in the wilderness for a little while.

Maybe we can take a little bit more, but we sure cannot take 31 percent of the gross national product and spend it.

He told me in a phone call about 10 days ago that he knows this is not going to be fun and it is not going to be easy, but that it simply must be done.

Our Federal Reserve is in a very tough position. It has two goals: sustaining the economy and price stability.

It is really the fiscal tsunami that is going to overwhelm our capacity as a Nation to be prosperous.

Should the stimulus package have in it aggressive enforcement mechanisms to discipline it, such as a hard sunset with supermajorities?

There are a lot of ideological issues here. You know, as a conservative, I obviously have an inherent dislike of having the Government expand dramatically and having, obviously, deficits of this size.