Political Quotes

“This is a very important proposal--one that we have not adopted. It is in the House bill. I told my friend I would be anxious to pursue the idea he has incorporated because, obviously, this is subject matter that has probably evoked more public interest almost more than any other aspect of the crisis over the last 2 years. Obviously, people have lost homes and jobs and retirement income and the economic damage done to the country; but people seemed to understand this issue from the very beginning more than almost anything else, particularly in light of the fact that taxpayers were writing the check of $700 billion to stabilize, we are told, and preserve many of these institutions. What was degrading to many people is, in the midst of all that, we watched some executives take excessive bonuses who could only receive them because the American taxpayer stabilized and preserved those companies as a result of that legislation. What also bothered me beyond that, I might have thought at some particular point the executives might have expressed their appreciation to the American taxpayers for stabilizing and saving some of these institutions.”