Political Quotes

“I direct my question through the Chair to the Senator and thank him for offering the amendment and say to the Senator from Vermont that over a year ago, while making a phone call to someone in a financial institution in New York on an unrelated issue, the person said to me: Watch out for subprime mortgages. It did not register with me, but I should have paid closer attention. A few months ago, while making a similar call to a financial institution in New York, the fellow said: Watch out for credit cards because people are shifting their debt now into credit card debt with the sky-high interest rates. Many people listening may ask what is this about. This is supposed to be about housing. It is not about housing. It is about the credit vulnerability of America. Housing is the first canary in the cage the Senator shared, if he will allow me to use that analogy. Credit cards will quickly follow. I say to the Senator from Vermont, when we debated bankruptcy reform on the floor of the Senate 3 or 4 years ago, the credit card industry was pushing that bill because they wanted credit card debt to survive bankruptcy so you could carry it to the grave. I put a provision in that bill that said on a monthly statement for a credit card asking for a minimum monthly payment, you have to disclose to the person holding the credit card how long it would take them to pay off the balance if they paid the minimum monthly payment.”