Political Quotes

“Roughly 2 years ago, the American economy stood on the verge of collapse. After years of growth and seemingly endless prosperity, the honeymoon was suddenly over. The bubble burst. The world was plunged into recession. Banks began to fail, foreclosures skyrocketed, businesses struggled, and many Americans lost their jobs. Working families saw their hard-earned economic security evaporate almost overnight. Some of our largest and most respected financial institutions were forced to close their doors and others were in imminent danger. In Washington, policymakers found themselves face to face with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. They took action. They were forced to make some difficult decisions, but they stopped the bleeding and set America back on the road to recovery. It is well known that reckless actions by large Wall Street firms helped get us into this economic mess. These companies skirted rules and regulations. They gambled with the securities of the entire financial system, and they lost. But my colleagues knew that if these large institutions collapsed, they would bring down the rest of our economy with them. They had become, as we say on this floor, too big to fail. In the face of the potential catastrophe, many of my colleagues summoned the kind of political courage that is rare in this town.”