Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Tester-Corker amendment that, hopefully, will be before us shortly. I have to say I have just witnessed a great discussion of populism, and that is, if an institution is making some money, let's take it from them and give it to others in the name of fairness. I think everybody knows there certainly are tremendous numbers of small institutions across America that are very concerned about the Durbin amendment and its effects--and a number of small retailers. And there is no question, let's face it, the big boxes, my friends-- Walmart, Home Depot, and Target--have funded this effort, as was mentioned, on K Street with the lobbyists. There is no question a lot of the larger financial institutions have funded the effort on the other side. There is no question. But the people who Senator Tester and myself and others listen to are those folks who come in from our home States--the small community banks and credit unions around our country that are very concerned. Let me talk about a couple of things. No. 1, the Senator from Illinois talked about timing. Well, we have been trying to find some vehicle to attach this amendment to for some time. The fact is, the Senate hasn't done any business this year. We come in from time to time and vote on a noncontroversial judge, but we have been trying to find some vehicle to attach this to, and we have been trying to do that for months.…”