Bob Corker

The purpose of cap and trade is to drive up energy prices from things--from energy that's generated from fossil fuels.

It's going to take a lot of tough sledding, if you will, to actually come to an end that makes sense.

It's very good testimony, and I'm really glad you're having this hearing.

We really do need to go through the process we're going through right now.

I think it would be one of the worst mistakes we could possibly make to put in one person's hands that ability.

I think we have seen that TARP was set up for an intended purpose and we have moved into industrial policy.

We still want private equity to take risk, right?

We have a moment now where there is broad-based will to change things that people did not want to change in the past.

I would rather be Treasury Secretary than chairman of the universe, so I hope we will be involved.

This is a fearful time. The public is concerned, and lots of time bad things happen legislatively as a result of people being concerned.

I think, at the same time, it's actually important for us to be very honest about where we are financially.

It will be very detrimental to the United States in proposing that, would it not?

I think this is a very, very important issue, and I hope we'll have more hearings on this topic.

I know that contractor abuse, as you know, has been a major issue there, or at least the discussion of it.

So much of the actions that we are taking as a Congress and as an administration to support some of these entities have to do with the fact that we really do not have any way to unwind them in a logical way.

This is really not a hearing necessarily about AIG but about how we regulate the insurance industry in general.

It's hard to imagine that one would consider that, and I hope that certainly common sense will make its way into this legislation in that regard.

I first of all support us using all types of energy in this country.

The fact was that TARP money never was ever supposed to be used for something that was not buying something of value. So that was a huge departure, a huge departure.

I have a hard time understanding the systemic risk issue then.

We have ended up buying stock, and instead of having our money be backing up this collateral that went to these counterparties that really have made out like bandits.

I mean, is that a fair assessment? Because if you had just stood behind it, we would not have any money out.

But what we will do as the Fed is we will stand behind the obligation so that in the event there is ever a credit issue, we will stand behind it.

It seems to me that that is another step that we have made that has greatly put taxpayer monies at risk, and I just wonder why we would have done that.

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