Bob Menendez

Well, we believe that we are close to zero, since the loss of production in Puerto Rico led to a commensurate loss of jobs there.

As I have said many times, we need to fix the housing market now to get the broader economy moving again and creating jobs.

I appreciate your responses.

I have personally written four letters to Senate appropriators signed by dozens of my colleagues expressing my priorities for programs at HUD that deserve funding.

Well, that is not acceptable. It is unacceptable at any given time. It is certainly unacceptable in these times.

It includes the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, authorizing legislation for which I have introduced in the Senate, that will provide grants to transform blighted neighborhoods and build upon the successes of HOPE VI while ushering in a…

Well, thank you, and we will look forward to working with you as well, the refining it.

We rarely get 60 votes around here these days, and at a time in which that is a rarity, that is exactly what we achieved in the Senate on preserving the higher loan limits at a particularly still challenging time for the housing market.

I believe that we can come together to solve some of these different issues

The Responsible Homeowner Refinancing Act of 2012 goes a long way toward addressing many of the underlying problems.

The existing system benefits the largest servicers, it benefits investors, and it harms homeowners and taxpayers

I have a real concern. Years ago, in this Committee, before we had the housing foreclosure crisis, we had members of the previous Administration, and I said, we are on the verge of a tsunami of foreclosures.

I take no joy out of what you describe as punching, using Mr. DeMarco as a punching bag.

Thank you very much. Thank you all for your testimony.

I think that is a great idea.

The discussion draft from myself and Senator Boxer is in the best interest of the GSEs

It is important to remember that there was widespread steering during this housing bubble of overpriced credit to African American and Hispanic households.

Removing barriers to refinancing will help the effectiveness of monetary policy, allowing the Federal Reserve to more quickly reduce its efforts in quantitative easing.

Allow millions of Americans to refinance their GSE mortgages at low current rates.

There is a reason the private sector does that. It does it to not lose money, right, Dr. Sanders?

So you clearly had between poor capitalization, liquidity crisis, highly leveraged, and inferior technology, a structural problem at MF Global.

So there is nothing structurally that you have learned from this?

Isn't there director liability here now?

What is the likelihood of recovering it on behalf of all of those individuals whose money is abroad?

I look at our arsenal of peaceful diplomacy tools and largely it is the use of our aid and our trade as an inducement to countries to react in a certain way.