Luetkemeyer: “Why, in the last 5 years, have there been almost no new bank charters issued? Why? What is your reasoning for that? Is…”

What you are saying is that when you raise taxes, to the extent that the individual or small business cannot even pay it, it will force them out of business.

Do you think it would be a good idea for us as legislators to look at doing this in other areas of government, where we could pass off some of the risk to the private sector versus having taxpayers take on all this risk?

I have been an advocate for a long, long time of reinsurance to be able to minimize the taxpayers' exposure on flood insurance.

One of the biggest problems that I have with them is this power grab by the bureaucracy to take more power to themselves and away from all of you small-business guys.