Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise today to speak on financial regulatory reform. During the current economic downturn, we have seen far too many…”

“I rise today to speak on financial regulatory reform. During the current economic downturn, we have seen far too many Americans lose their jobs, homes, and their savings. Today, 15 million of our citizens are still out of work, and national unemployment continues to hover near 10 percent. It is this uncertain climate in which we consider financial reform legislation. The crisis is going to remain in the forefront of our national consciousness for years to come, mainly due to the immense government intervention that was pushed through over the past year and a half, attempting to stabilize our frozen credit markets but instead accumulating massive debt that threatens to harm our economy much worse than the original problems. The current legislation continues the government's failed 'too big to fail' policy. Too big to fail perverts free market capitalism and suggests that entities can privatize their profits, yet socialize their risks, and taxpayers foot the bill. The American taxpayer should not be forced to pay the gambling debts of risky bets made by large financial institutions. Republicans and Democrats alike agree that we must end too big to fail, but the bill that is being proposed does not do that.”