Thank you very much indeed.

Can we conclude from what you have just said and from what you are seeing that the favorable factors in our economy today may be glimmers of hope, may be harbingers of an economy that is recovering?

I ask unanimous consent that before concluding that members who did not have an opportunity to ask questions of our witness be given 7 days to submit questions for the record.

I think it is a widely held view that all of those actions have had positive effects on the economy.

We convene today to review the state of our economy, a dismal state, and its interaction with the budget.

Over the last year and a half some truly extraordinary steps have been taken, including the so-called TARP program, the Recovery Act program, and the Fed's own actions to make an extraordinary amount of collateralized loans to its member…

simply giving away pollute-for-free allowances to certain industries does not work.

an approach which relies on giveaways instead of relying upon auctions would, represent the largest corporate welfare program that has ever been enacted in the history of the United States.

This year, Congress has passed and the President has signed into law a $787 billion recovery package to spur demand and create 3 million new jobs.

To help put the economy back on its feet, Congress enacted the Troubled Assets Relief Program in October.

He is very helpful to us. Has been. A wonderful individual to work with.

Thank you for your very excellent testimony and for the fine work that the General Accounting Office, now the Government Accountability Office, has done for us.