Jeff Merkley

There are a number of folks in the scientific community who have said we need to be more aggressive.

I must say it is a daunting challenge to lay out a road map to address the Bush legacy of economic disaster.

It is pretty clear to me that the stimulus package did a lot for a lot of different things. It did zero, virtually, for the Defense Department, and I am worried about that direction.

It was probably the most cost-effective investment this Government ever made.

I think it is imperative for the Fed to think about what that limit might look like.

So in the absence of political issues, you are saying that it would be much better policy to have a direct appropriation to fund such an entity.

I look forward to working with CBO, that I think that there are many challenges to figuring out a pathway to move quickly, that is fair to our taxpayers, and yet addresses the significant impact on failing mortgages on this downward cycle.

Well, and that is exactly the reason I was asking what the average percentage markdown is on the pool, which takes into account the entire extent of mortgages from those that are healthy to those that are not.

I think the thing one should be careful about is that the HOLC seems not to have lost the Government money on a cash basis.

I think there are. The situation, of course, was quite different.

I hope I do not overload them with requests.

Mr. Chair, it is a delight to be here, and particularly to be here for a hearing on housing, which is so important to citizens in this country.

I have spoken to the heads of various Wall Street equity derivative trading desks and every single one of the senior managers I spoke with told me that Bernie Madoff was a fraud.

I am very concerned about the personal safety of myself and my family as a result of this report.

I have outlined in this document a detailed set of red flags that make me very suspicious that the returns aren't real, or if they are real, that they involve front-running customer order flow.