On the recordApril 22, 2010
this speech is not meant to target or malign anyone. It is simply to talk about the responsibilities we have as Members of Congress to our constituents. Our country has been rocked by a financial crisis of epic proportions, one that will have Americans paying for generations to come. It has shaken the public's faith not only in Wall Street but in this institution, the Congress. Whether it is Enron or Amaranth or Bernie Madoff or the Wall Street bailout, the American people are asking themselves a fundamental question: Can I even trust those guys in Washington to look out for me when it comes to the special interests creating rules of the game that tilt the board in their favor? Some people listening today may be smiling and thinking: Senator, that is one of the oldest questions and most frequently asked in Washington, DC: Whose side are you on? But never has this question of 'whose side are you on' had such dramatic consequences for the economic lives of millions of Americans. Over 2 million people have lost their homes, many going into bankruptcy, 7.3 million jobs have been lost, and our government has put something like $24 trillion on the line to help Wall Street in this meltdown--something taxpayers will be paying for decades, to say nothing of the kids who will not go to college because college tuition went up 32 percent or workers whose 401s have been wiped out, making it almost impossible to retire.
