Political Quotes

“Yesterday, I introduced H.R. 4414, a bill that imposes a 75 percent tax on the outside bonuses bankers are paying themselves from windfall profits earned from massive Federal Government support. This bill is necessary because bankers are about to pay out some of the largest bonuses in history. All banking corporations, whether they received direct assistance or not, received substantial benefits from government bailouts. Bankers' failures to self-regulate, let us remember, were the direct result of the crisis we're in today. They need to be told that the money they're making is a public trust, not something they've earned for good behavior. Bank profits are the result of a deliberate Federal Government policy to restore banking capital and ultimately investment in American prosperity. Banking bonuses have nothing to do with these objectives, and payouts to bankers are a form of appropriation of public wealth. Banks could be using their profits to do many things to improve the prospects of economic recovery, including strengthening their capital base, recognizing and writing off their real estate losses, reducing fees charged to customers, especially for seniors and struggling consumers, and increasing lending to small and medium-sized companies. Support H.R. 1414.”