Political Quotes

“Madam President, let me thank my colleague from the State of Washington. She has been tireless in trying to address these issues, both in legislation and on the floor of the Senate during debate, and it is so important. I, too, voted against Mr. Bernanke's nomination today, and I wish to explain why. It is certainly not that I believe Mr. Bernanke is a bad guy. He is not. He is a well-respected economist. But I wish to talk a little about the issues that persuade me we need a change--a change in culture, a change in personnel--in some respects. If ever there now is a bright line in America between those who are too big to fail and those who are too small to matter;--that is, the too big to fail are the biggest financial institutions in the country that have been making a lot of money, paying large bonuses, and living high off the hog. The too small to matter are the folks on Main Street who sink everything their family has into a business trying to run a grocery store, maybe a drugstore, a gas station, a barbershop, a restaurant, and then they discover they cannot make a go of it because things turn against them, and they are told: Do you know what. That was your risk. If you can't make a go of it, that is your problem. What you do is you lock the door, somebody sells the inventory, and you are out of business.…”