CNBC Press Releases

Sen. CLINTON: We've got a problem with South Korea and autos. You know, we entered into a memorandum of understanding in the mid '90s. They were going to open up their markets. They still haven't done it. I'm tired of being a patsy. I believe in free trade and competition. But, you know, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me." We're got to get starting to be smarter and more strategic. I want the world's economy to increase and expand, but I want Americans to understand what it's going to take for us to be competitive and not be disadvantaged from the get-go.

CRAMER: You mentioned some trading partners that have been, I'd say, less than ideal, and yet here we are going hat in hand to China for sovereign funds, to Dubai for sovereign funds, to many Southeast Asians for sovereign funds. Why don't we have a sovereign fund in the United States?

Sen. CLINTON: Well, you know, Jim, this is a great question, but why are we going hat in hand? Well, in large measure, because we've so messed up the economy and the federal budget in the last seven years. You know, now, I mean, I know enough to realize that having a balanced budget and a surplus is not the end-all and the be-all, but it does give you some control over your fiscal destiny, which we have totally abdicated. How do you get tough on your banker? How do you deal with sovereign wealth funds that are unregulated giant pools of money? The United States is being put in a disadvantageous position because of bad fiscal policy, because of inadequate monetary policy, because of too little, too late to deal with the home foreclosure crisis, trying to catch up on the credit crunch. I mean, what is going on here? We're supposed to be the primary engine of economic growth and shared prosperity in the world. Our house is in total disarray. So yeah, we're going hat in hand to sovereign wealth funds...

CRAMER: OK.

Sen. CLINTON: ...to bail out our businesses, and we're going hat in hand every single day to governments to keep us from going into bankruptcy as a nation. We've got to get this straightened out.

CRAMER: Well--OK. Let's talk specifics. Why has Congress not moved to use the FHA to assist homeowners to, right, refinance their loans? How about an FHA guaranteed program for the poor and for bad neighborhoods?

Sen. CLINTON: I'll tell you what, that's exactly what I have proposed, and maybe we'll get some movement. Both Senator Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank have been in the forefront of this. We ought to convince the Republicans and the administration to understand that they just can't ignore or slow walk this crisis any longer. Because, as you've talked about on many occasions, you know, when you've got a foreclosed home or a vacant house in a neighborhood, you're going to undermine housing prices. You're going to undermine confidence. Home values are going to drop. You know, we can't keep treating the symptoms. Thirty billion dollars for Bear Stearns. Well, what about the $30 billion to try to prop up the housing markets? Keep people in their homes? Get back to restoring confidence so people will want to buy homes and refinance them again. So when you look at the proposal that's been made, I'm all for going to an auction, but with an FHA guarantee, a back-up. We did it before, some years ago, with the, you know, the home loan corporation.

CRAMER: Right.

Sen. CLINTON: We need to be looking at something like that again.

CRAMER: Right. We're in emergency times here. How about waiving the penalties and demands of repayment with interest of those who use their 401k or their IRA to fund home purchases or to stay in their homes?

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