Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – “I think if this is not done, that it will be of significant adverse consequences for the average person in the United States. I do believe we need to act to stabilize the situation, which is continuing to be very unpredictable, very worrisome.”[1]
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson – “You worry about taxpayers being on the hook? Guess what — they’re already on the hook.”[2]
Financial Services Roundtable – The sophisticated interconnectivity of institutional market participants, individual investors, small businesses and pension funds – both large and small – reflects the broad range of Americans who have a great deal at stake in this debate. If the market conditions that have paralyzed the credit markets are allowed to continue and become exacerbated by inaction, every American‘s economic well-being could be at risk. The recovery plan, in its most general sense, offers an opportunity to return to an orderly market while assuring maximum protection for taxpayers and a path to divestiture of private funds purchased by the public facility. While we understand the details of the proposal are complex, we encourage Members of Congress to enact a bill based on the Treasury proposal as soon as possible.[3]