We are heading in the right direction by anybody's measure.

I feel like I am a voice crying in the wilderness here. Here I am, Mr. Pro-market, apparently.

So 5 years after Dodd-Frank, they still have potentially 3 years before there are any serious consequences to prove to you that they no longer operate a threat to the entire U.S. economic system?

I am personally shocked that you or anyone else would care about growing income inequality.

I can't tell you how strongly I disagree with the Fed's recent decision to take municipal bonds and declare them not high quality liquid assets.

Honestly, if my mother or my teacher or my priest told me, if you do those terrible things, I will be very disappointed, I don't need to tell you, but when I was irresponsible, it didn't much matter.

You are trying to create more of those good stories while being fiscally responsible.

I would much prefer that those distressed properties in my district be offered to the highest bidder on an individualized, at least a small lot process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

FHA has been the reason that this economy is in the shape that it is in today.

I think that law is stupid that requires you to borrow taxpayers' money that you don't need.

With respect to subprime lending, what consenting adults do with their money is their business, but what the FHA does with taxpayer money is our business.

And perhaps the bigger failure is not living up to President Johnson's goal, "not only to relieve the symptoms of poverty but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it."

I personally don't think that is the best way that HUD could be going.

Again, the Administration should not be leading the way, putting people like Walter into homes they cannot afford to keep.

And to think that you have to get to 2 percent immediately would--you could try to get there in a month by raising your premium to 28 percent instead of point whatever percent, and then nobody--you would kill the program.

Some of us are not part-time freedom fighters. Some of us were born into this.

What would you give them as a grade?

I could give him higher than a 10 because I think that is the best thing he could have done.

I know that for me, one of my biggest problems was my police officers.

I just don't want anybody to walk away with the idea that somehow HUD or any other agency that I am aware of is full of people, all of whom want to commit nefarious, terrible actions.

I personally think that, for instance, most of the people on Wall Street who did bad things all got off.

I just want to point out for the record that no one has ever given me a '10' on anything.

I would just say briefly that, as I mentioned in my testimony, seeing predisaster mitigation withering away seems to me to be the wrong message.

What is unthinkable is a hurricane going directly into New Orleans, or what is unthinkable is really strong hurricanes hitting the New York City and New Jersey areas.