Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Wall Street's crisis became the Nation's crisis. Lost jobs in Toledo, foreclosed homes in Bedford Heights, frozen credit for small businesses in Lebanon, State budget shortfalls, and the list goes on and on. It can't happen again. We must not let it happen again. One of the most disturbing aspects of the Wall Street reform process is, some policymakers started with the premise that, first of all, Wall Street wealth must be protected. Sure, they have their lobbyists. Sure, they have their PR people spinning. But it amazes me to think that is where some people started this whole debate. They focused their energies on minimizing the safeguards put in place to protect our Nation from another financial meltdown. In this morning's Washington Post, E.J. Dionne quotes an e-mail from an arrogant banker, who happens to work at Goldman Sachs, who wrote: What if we created a ``thing,'' which has no purpose, which is absolutely conceptual and highly theoretical and which nobody knows how to price? At some point, we have to ask in this body: Whom do we report to, the megabanks that raked in millions by gambling with the livelihoods, the homes, the retirement security of middle-class Americans, or do we report to middle-class Americans themselves? Is our job to protect Wall Street or is our job to protect against more taxpayer-funded bailouts?…”