“I’m very optimistic that we’re going to get what we need from Congress here, because Congress understands how important these institutions are,” Paulson said.
Bob Higgs: “Of course, members of Congress understand: they’ve raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from Fannie and Freddie.”
“Our first priority today is the stability of the capital markets, the stability of the system. And these institutions have investors all around the world…and those investors need to know that we in the United States of America understand the importance of these institutions to our capital markets and to our economy and to our housing market,” [Paulson] added.
Bob Higgs: “Of course, it’s always to promote stability; nobody in power or in the ranks of the politicians’ prime supporters ever makes a dime off of any of these emergency actions.”
Paulson said:
“Of course the list is going to grow longer given the stresses we have in the marketplace, given the housing correction. But again, it’s a safe banking system, a sound banking system. Our regulators are on top of it. This is a very manageable situation,” he said in broadcast interviews.
Bob Higgs: “He left out: ‘I am not a crook.'”
8:15 pm on July 21, 2008
