Tim Geithner: “Assistance comes with conditions. It is not a right. It is a privilege.”

I think it's inevitable that the Congress and the administration come together and reform, comprehensively, the U.S. tax code.

It's critically important. I'll give you an example of how to--if the Congress extends those tax cuts that go to 2 percent of the most fortunate Americans in the country, we have to go borrow $1 trillion over 10 years.

People don't like to pay taxes. But they are more likely to pay taxes if you can make them more confident that they are not going to be wasted by their government.

The basic sense that you see across the country that the political institutions in this country are not up to the challenges we face, unable to act, unable to solve problems, is absolutely weighing on confidence.