John Garamendi

Is that the creativity that Goldman Sachs so prided itself on, creating something that was unpriceable, that nobody could figure out what it was and, therefore, it could not price it? But what did they do with this Frankenstein that was…

People talk about the partisanship in Congress and in Washington, D.C., and I really have seen it. I saw it on the financial reform bill--the Democrats voting to rein in Wall Street, Republicans voting ``no.'' We saw it on an issue just…

Well, we have got some things to do, don't we? We have some work ahead of us. We hope that we'll get a bill back from the other House shortly and get a conference committee going. Could you put that thing back up on The Cracks in Wall…

Excuse me. If I might interrupt, are you telling me that the Wall Street banks, the financial industry, is spending $1.4 million a day lobbying Congress and the Senate to stop financial reform and the reregulation of Wall Street?

Clearly, the American financial institutions have worked themselves into a situation that will continue the risk that nearly brought down the world's financial institutions and that brought the world into one of its most dangerous economic…

When you were chairperson of the California Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, I recall that there was legislation. I was then the insurance commissioner. We were trying to hold insurance agents accountable for their actions, that…

It's been a great pleasure for me to serve in the House with you, Mr. Andrews, and also to be able to deal with these fundamental issues. We were just talking a moment ago about the lending to small businesses and the fact that the big…

Well, I have seen some of that here recently in Washington. Apparently one person can stop legislation, and I think it's happened some 50 times in a certain legislative body that we are not supposed to--

At least that's the American way. If you have an issue, a policy issue, you take it to the legislative body, and it comes up for a vote, yes.

That is actually a tax reduction in the early years in allowing those expenses to be spread out.

I'd call it a boulder that she threw into the pond, and the ripples that came from that actually touched a family that my wife works with. She was at the California State fair, and this lady works with her at the State fair. The lady's…

Once again, most of these tax reductions came about through the stimulus bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was February of 2009. And I will point out, as I did at the opening, that not one Republican voted for these…

Well, I am going to interrupt you for a moment. Because I wasn't yet in Congress when this piece of legislation went into law. So I immediately started looking around and seeing about the clunkers that I have on my ranch. And I have this…

And, at the same time, it creates new businesses. That's a win/win in a green economy if there ever was one. I am looking over here at our representative from those four marvelous counties outside of Cleveland, and I was thinking about the…

So here is a tax credit, part of the stimulus bill, that actually provides up to 30 percent credit on the cost of one of these new energy systems, windows or solar.

So for somebody that goes into their home and puts in energy efficient windows or a solar system or solar hot water, they can get 30 percent tax credit on that. It is very interesting that, again, during the recess, the number of new…

Now, that's a very important one. All of the economists that look to the future of this Nation and our ability to compete say that we have to have a well-educated workforce. And so in the stimulus bill there is a $2,500 tax credit for the…

Everybody that I talk to about COBRA says, well, wait a minute, nobody can afford COBRA. They are unemployed. How could they possibly afford COBRA? And you are telling us that in the stimulus bill, in the Recovery Act, that 55 percent of…

I want to come back to you in a few moments and pick up something that really did stimulate the American economy, not directly on tax policy but something that was very, very important. And we'll just let people be curious about what it…

There's a heads-up for all of the taxpayers, all the working men and women out there that may not have taken advantage of this $400 per person or $800 per family, to make sure that in their tax return they actually reach out and get that…

Nine years. Okay. We added that one here. Medicare Advantage, we talked about that. The bonus to the insurance companies is gone. And that money is not sent off to some other program, that savings stays in the Medicare program. Reduce…

So we add to the bill that the Medicare trust fund is made solvent for something either 7 to 9 years.

I might add that between now and 2018, some of us are going to be around here, and we are going to give the Federal Government the power to negotiate drug prices. We are not there today. It is one of the things that is missing in this…

I am appalled and personally offended and I think all owe an apology to those Representatives who were demeaned, who were spat upon, who were cursed, and who were called the ugliest of names. It is totally unacceptable.

Thank God I'm a nurse and I have insurance. Matteo's arm, which was badly broken and required surgery, will probably be a $70,000 event. If I didn't have insurance, we would have lost our house. That's the situation that's faced by every…