On the recordSeptember 21, 2012
Well, my head is spinning a bit after hearing my friends across the aisle. I heard our former Speaker ask about whether we're better off now than we were 4 years ago, and actually ask how can people who perpetuated this economic disaster ask that question. And it was amazing, because former Speaker Pelosi and I were on exactly the same wavelength. She was asking: Are we better off now than we were 4 years ago? And I was thinking the same thing that she was: How could people who perpetuated this economic disaster ask that question? But she asked it anyway. You heard our friends talk about the economic disaster. Some of us remember back into the early point of the 21st century when there was an effort by first-term President Bush, George W. Bush, calling for reform of Fannie and Freddie, and I seem to recall my friend from Massachusetts who resisted such reform. In fact, there were people here on the Democratic side of the aisle that resisted such reform; they prevented such reform. There were Members on the Republican side--not all of them, but there were Members who were calling for reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it didn't happen. In fact, our friends across the aisle were in control of the House and Senate for 4 years. In 2005 and 2006, as a freshman, I often heard our colleagues across the aisle asking how we could do such a terrible, terrible thing of spending 100 to $200 billion more than we had coming in.…
