Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Maryland and the senior Senator of Vermont. They both show extraordinary leadership and we learn from them every day. I am back on the floor to talk about a dangerous provision slapped in a must-pass spending bill at the last minute solely to benefit Wall Street. This provision would repeal a rule called prohibition against Federal Government bailouts of swaps entities. On Wednesday I came to the floor and talked to the Senate Democrats to ask them to strip this provision out of the omnibus bill and to protect taxpayers. On Thursday I came to the floor to talk to Republicans. Republicans said they don't like bailouts either, so I asked them to vote the way they talk. If they don't like bailouts, then they could take out this provision that puts taxpayers right back on the hook for bailing out big banks. Today I come to the floor to talk about not Democrats or Republicans, but to talk about a third group that also wields tremendous power in Washington--Citigroup. In recent years many Wall Street institutions have exerted extraordinary influence in Washington's corridors of power, but Citigroup has risen above the others. Its grip over economic policymaking in the executive branch is unprecedented. Consider just a few examples. Three of the last four Treasury Secretaries under Democratic Presidents have had close Citigroup ties. The fourth was offered the CEO position at Citigroup but turned it down.…”