Heidi Alexander: “I congratulate the Senator from Alabama for his comments and for his proposal, which he described as a Republican…”

“I congratulate the Senator from Alabama for his comments and for his proposal, which he described as a Republican proposal. Of course, what all of us hope is that it becomes a bipartisan proposal as our friends on the other side look carefully at it. That is what happened with the big bank bailout provision we worked on yesterday. Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby worked for a while, Senators Corker and Warner had worked before that, and we came up with a conclusion that all but five Senators agreed to. Now we have moved to address two of the other major deficiencies in the Dodd bill that we have wrapped up in one proposal here, and it is really wrapped up with the central issue that is before the American people. President Obama said in September of last year that the health care bill was a proxy for a larger issue about the role of government in Americans' lives. The President was exactly right about that, and we have seen the issue of government's role over and over again. I don't think it will change between now and the November election. In fact, the President said at our health care summit that is why we have elections, and I think he is correct about that. We have seen a Washington takeover of banks; we have seen a Washington takeover of car companies; we have seen a Washington takeover of many aspects of health care; we have seen a gratuitous Washington takeover of student loans.”