John Garamendi: “At a time when the Wall Street behemoths were going from 33 percent of their total financial wealth in the Nation to 66…”

“At a time when the Wall Street behemoths were going from 33 percent of their total financial wealth in the Nation to 66 percent? And 30-something people for the Securities and Exchange Commission? I hope your bill passes. We need watchdogs. We need watchdogs with teeth that are willing to bite into the arrogance and the greed of Wall Street. We need those people there to watch and to make sure that the kind of financial rip-offs that occurred that nearly took down this Nation's economy--and the world's economy with it--and put hardworking men and women that were out there on the production lines in your community, that were building the homes in my community, the farmers, they're out of work. They are unemployed. Why? Because of the extraordinary greed, arrogance, and mismanagement of Wall Street thinking that the financial institutions of America are nothing more than a Las Vegas casino, where a bet is placed on a product that they could not even describe. Enough already. Enough already. The Republican Party has got to come to its senses and give us the opportunity to pass a strong financial reform of Wall Street. The people in my district, my homeowners, my small businesses are trying to get a loan at a time when we're seeing more and more concentration of power on Wall Street.”