Richard Shelby

I do not believe there is any dispute that our housing finance system is broken.

I think it would be very difficult to price risk.

Opening statements, comments, or prepared statements of: Senator Shelby.

It would be a lot less risk to the taxpayer, too, wouldn't it?

I will say it again. In order for this Committee to reform Fannie and Freddie, I believe that we must understand here why those institutions failed so that we do not repeat our past mistakes.

Encouraging low down payment lending is a mistake. It just creates gambling.

I just believe that if we come push to shove, that it is going to be very difficult for the Government not to step in and save the system.

It is a catastrophic risk.

So they learned something, didn't they?

We think we could do a lot better this time around.

Guarantees are perilous. Governments are not very good at doing them, not very good at designing them, not very good at pricing them, not very good at limiting the moral hazard risk that comes with them.

I agree with Secretary Geithner that housing finance reform is overdue and should be promptly addressed.

In order for this Committee to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it must first understand why those institutions failed.

Before we discuss solutions, I think on this Committee we should first clearly identify the problems we are trying to solve.

The too-big-to-fail doctrine is a flawed doctrine from the beginning, is it not?

The focus on repayment of TARP is deceptive because it fails to consider the huge taxpayer cost from non-start programs.

The ultimate success of the Dodd-Frank Act depends to a certain degree on market perception.

I meant work with some people you do not need to work for.

Well, you have to do the metrics. You have got to measure this, have you not?

The financial markets believe more than ever that the United States Government will step in and save the too-big-to-fail institutions should there be another financial shock.

I voted against TARP. I believed then, as I do today, that TARP was a serious policy mistake.

The Administration is fully committed to exploring other measures to make sure that secondary market participants are providing capital to all communities.

Government-supported incentives for housing that distorted the market.

I believe that is a good place to start.

I hope we can, because if you are socializing the risk, putting it on the taxpayer, and privatizing the profits to the shareholders, we have got a bad situation.