I personally believe the Federal response did avert what could have been a financial collapse.

if we are going to take on this issue, it is going to require dramatic cuts in Government spending, but it is also going to require meaningful tax reform.

I hope history will record the same for your leadership.

there is nobody that could have participated in this process that did not conclude this tax system that we have is just completely out of date.

you have to have everything on the table. Spending, revenue, and every part of Federal spending has to be dealt with.

Job one, stabilize.

You have to adopt a plan. You have to put it in place.

Clearly, that cannot continue for very long.

I personally believe you and then Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, followed by this administration, have taken steps that were critically important to averting a financial collapse, not only here but globally as well.

We are on an unsustainable course, and we have an obligation, we have a very serious and somber obligation to come up with a plan and to do it sooner rather than later.

We have seen some progress made--in fact, important progress made.