Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I wish to share a few things briefly before we move into the vote. William Kristol today raised a fundamental question in a blog site regarding the way this bill is written when he said: This is a giant power grab for the FDIC and Treasury, who could use their new powers to tug the strings of our country's largest financial institutions like a puppeteer. I would also refer to a letter of April 12, from the Judicial Conference of the United States. This is a thoughtful letter in response to an inquiry from Patrick Leahy, the Judiciary Committee chairman, in which they express grave concerns about the legislation. Among other things, the Judicial Conference says: The legislation does not envision objection, participation, or input from the bankruptcy creditors (whose rights will be affected) in the course of appointing the FDIC as receiver. Indeed, the legislation proposes to deal with this petition in a sealed manner, only the Secretary and the affected financial firm would be noticed and given the opportunity of a hearing. I think that is insufficient. Finally, I received a letter today from a number of superb and well- known economists, legal scholars and leaders--Darrell Duffie, Dean Witter Distinguished Professor at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University; Tom Jackson, Distinguished University Professor, University of Rochester; Kenneth Scott, Parsons Professor Emeritus of Law and Business, Stanford Law School, George P.…”