—"I know that Americans sometimes get discouraged by the tone in Washington and the seemingly endless struggles, yet history has shown that, in times of real trial, elected officials rise to the occasion. And together we will show the world once again what kind of country America is: a nation that tackles problems head on, where leaders come together to meet great tests, and where people from every background can work hard, develop their talents, and realize their dreams."
Treasury Secretary Henry A. Paulson (the administration’s point person on the "rescue" effort): "The American people are angry about executive compensation, and rightfully so. We must find a way to address this in the legislation."
—"I’m not only concerned, I’m angry about the things that got us here. It makes me angry, and it makes you angry. You talk about taxpayers being on the hook? Guess what? They’re already on the hook. If the system isn’t stabilized, they’re going to bear the cost."
—"We want this to be clean, and we want this to be quick, and it’s urgent that we get this done."
(Note: acknowledging "excesses" in executive compensation—but saying that debate should be put off for another time, Paulson said), "If we design it so it’s punitive and so institutions aren’t going to participate, this won’t work the way we need it to work."
Rep. Joe Barton, R–Texas "Just because God created the world in seven days doesn’t mean we have to pass this bill in seven days."
Rep Gene Taylor, D–Miss. Where have I heard this before? The Iraqis have weapons of mass destruction, and they’re ready to use them. I’m in no rush to do this."
Sen. Christopher Dodd, D–Conn. Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee "It’s still possible to meet the deadline. But this is of such import, if it takes a little longer to get it right, then so be it. I’m all for moving as quickly as we can, but I’m far more interested in getting it right."
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi "We’re moving forward. I think we are making some progress."
—"We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street."
—"This legislation will pass, and it will pass soon."
(And wrapping up her week, Pelosi said), "We will not leave until legislation is passed that will be signed by the President. The market needs a message from us that we are acting."
White House spokesman Tony Fratto (Note: Regarding Paulson echoing of the administration’s objections to limits on executive compensation, saying limits would discourage "successful" firms from participating in the bailout) "These are not all weak or troubled firms that own mortgage-backed securities. They were not necessarily irresponsible players, and so you have to be careful about how you deal with them."
Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Shalom Bernanke "I’m a college professor. I never worked on Wall Street. My interest is solely for the strength and recovery of the U.S. economy. I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost; the unemployment rate will rise; more houses will be foreclosed upon; GDP will contract; that the economy will just not be able to recover in a normal, healthy way, no matter what other policies are taken."
Barney Frank, D–Mass., Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee "It would be a grave mistake to say that we’re going to buy up the bad debt that results from the bad decisions of these people and then allow them to get millions of dollars on the way out the door. The American people don’t want that to happen, and it shouldn’t happen."
(Regarding the partisan battle brewing over the bankruptcy provision for homeowners’ mortgage payments—a rally point for Democrats, Frank said), "We’ll see how hard they fight. It’s something we care about."
