On the recordMay 18, 2010
I came to the Senate to fight for families and small business owners in my home State of Washington, and those are the people I work for every single day--moms and dads who are working hard, paying their taxes, doing their best but who have watched, over the last 2 years, as Wall Street executives and big banks derailed our economy and then held out their hands for a bailout from the rest of us, men and women who have seen their friends, family, and neighbors lose their jobs, who have driven by neighborhood shops they have known for decades that are now sitting empty and boarded up. They have seen all this, and they have also seen Wall Street and big banks go right back to their 'bonus as usual' mentality, acting as though nothing ever happened, handing out millions of taxpayer dollars to their executives, and shamelessly sending lobbyists to Washington, DC, to try and water down reform. Families in Washington State and across the country have seen all this and they are angry about it and they have good reason to be.
