"What our hearings demonstrated was that speculation in the commodities markets by noncommercial investors... has grown enormously from 2003 to 2008."
"I cannot imagine a federally or State-chartered bank being allowed to have a leverage ratio of 30:1."
"We need a system where just because a product is new does not mean that it falls into a regulatory black hole."
"I don't see, on the grassroots level, the benefits of putting billions of dollars into financial institutions."
"As a result of the hearings that we held, Senator Lieberman and I introduced a bill that directed the CFTC to establish position limits."
"Worse, the deficit level will be rising--not shrinking--toward the end of the 10-year period, reaching 5.7 percent in 2019."
"I would argue that the credit default swaps were more like an insurance product."
"I am troubled that the President's budget proposes to double the debt in 5 years and triple it in 10."
"It troubles me that banks have received billions of dollars without having to demonstrate that they've increased lending."
"I think when Bear Stearns failed, its leverage ratio was an astonishing 30:1."
"This decision has been perplexing to many of the automobile dealers in my State."