Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I hope we have a chance now, during the final hours of debate, to take into consideration some of the reasons we got from where we have been over the last 3 or 4 years with the bubble, and that bubble bursting a couple of years ago, and the financial crisis and the recession that has come as a result of it. I want to start out with something that is familiar to all my colleagues, something that George Santayana said: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. As the Senate continues to debate the financial regulation bill, I think it is important to consider how we got from where we are today. Many people believe the housing and financial crisis was the result of too much greed on Wall Street. No doubt. No doubt whatsoever; there was plenty of greed on Wall Street. But greed is like gravity--it is a constant of nature. When planes crash we don't blame gravity. If you search the Internet for the term ``decade of greed,'' you will discover that is what some people called the 1980s. There is no reason to believe people are greedier now than they were then. Greed has always existed. The Ten Commandments admonish us not to covet our neighbor's possessions. Everyone is tempted by greed. Some are more successful than others in resisting temptation. But greed alone does not explain our current crisis. We need to look further. Many people blame the crisis on deregulation.…”