Political Quotes

“This is the amendment dealing with executive compensation. There are a number of proposals. This is one that would set some limits, basically allowing for some reaching back if, in fact, TARP businesses are found to have violated various provisions of law. It would allow the Secretary to negotiate resources to come back if there has been excessive compensation. I say to my colleagues, our colleague Senator Vitter in the Banking Committee made a point I wish to repeat. This is not the single most important issue. In fact, it could be trivialized. We all appreciate when we talk to our constituents about the TARP program, many of our constituents are so angry with what they see in executive compensation, it is difficult to have a conversation about the larger questions. We are trying to deal with this issue in a thoughtful way that does not impinge upon their ability to compensate people, but simultaneously we are not reading about compensation going to executives where billions of dollars have gone to those companies abusively. This amendment is to deal with that particular problem. I urge my colleagues to support it.”