It is the same reason why a lady I know, her father was a fan of the Boston Celtics. He invested in the Boston Celtics so he could say he owned a piece of the team.

The SEC prioritized their rulemaking. For instance, they spent enormous resources trying to write a rule on conflict minerals that was in Dodd-Frank.

So, under section 304, that undermines a portal's ability to truly act as an intermediary between the issuers and investors.

the legislation we passed, there were 400 votes that I authored here the House with the help of Carolyn Maloney

Ludicrous is a mild way of putting it.

We are really democratizing access to capital in a way that didn't exist before.

So the concern I had with the Senate provision from the get-go was as simple as the origin of Congress' action--and I can say the origin of Congress' action because I filed the first bill.

Stricter or more costly?

The idea of having light-touch regulation on the intermediary and regulate this security in a very different way.

Madoff's caper was not caused by any lack of laws, rules or Federal employees; it was caused by a lack of employees who were willing to do their jobs.

What do they actually do to protect the public, which is their number one job, and not employees who don't do their job?

I think the free market works in that regard that we can actually have access to that.

I think you will just have two people overregulating you rather than one.

I am deeply concerned about our statistical agencies.

I happen to think that is a little bit of a problem and it is something that is sort of falling between the cracks.

But beyond that, does the Fed accept as collateral for foreign debt sovereign debt of foreign countries?

I think many people like me have a significant concern of conflicts of interest, issues of lack of transparency, and a lack of openness.

The President's budget that he submitted this year puts us in a very harsh spiral based on the debt-to-GDP ratio, based on the tax increases, and for not addressing the cost drivers of our budget.

Now, is the Treasury considering being involved in the IMF's NAB, the new arrangement to borrow facility?

The way the law of the land is structured, we can't lend money to the IMF without the authorization of the Congress of the United States.

And it is a 30-day provision, so we would expect that within the next three or four weeks in front of Congress, the decision-making there.

Are you considering additional contributions to the special IMF European bailout fund?

I am interested to hear how our Nation's foremost economic experts and authorities view the Euro's own crisis.

What is a sustainable debt load for a country such as ours?

So austerity too fast and spending cuts too soon and tax increases that would have a negative impact in economic growth, that is the fiscal cliff that you are speaking of?