Declarations

Real Stuff

“When the bubble burst, however, those risky mortgages defaulted in record numbers and investors were left holding worthless securities, unable to sell them. Subsequently, the agencies downgraded the credit ratings of $1.9 trillion in residential mortgage backed securities, a tacit acknowledgment of their failure to adequately assess the risks of the debt they rated. This is real stuff here, and yet for the last year and a half, action has not been taken.”

—California Attorney General Jerry Brown upon issuing subpoenas to Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings as he launched an investigation of whether they broke state law with the ratings they provided mortgage-backed securities.

Move to Center Is Wrong

“Don’t let people come in here and tell you that we need to rebrand the Republican Party. Don’t let anyone come in here and tell you we need to reposition the Republican Party. When people come in here and tell you we need to move the Republican Party to the center, that is wrong.”

—California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who is running for governor, before a crowd at a recent GOP meeting near Palm Springs.

Remembering Dupuis

“Fred just had a way with people. He certainly knew the issues. But he just had a special way with people.”

—John Norwood, a fellow lobbyist upon the death of long-time Sacramento lobbyist for California insurance agents and former Federal Bureau of Investigations investigator, Fred G. Dupuis, who died recently at the age of 93. Dupuis will be remembered as the executive vice president of the Independent Insurance Agents of California who in 1979 lobbied successfully to get a bill to prevent bank-holding companies from selling insurance passed over the veto of then-Gov. Jerry Brown. The override of his veto was only the fourth time in California history a governor’s veto had been undone.

Sales to Seniors

“Seniors are particularly vulnerable to this type of deceptive marketing. They are looking for ways to invest a lifetime of savings and, as a result, are targeted by many people claiming to have specialized expertise.”

—Cory Streisinger, director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, which filed proposed rules to better protect Oregon seniors and other investors from misleading sales tactics. The rules prohibit those who sell financial and insurance products from marketing themselves by claiming they are a “specialist,” “adviser” or similar title when they have no substantive credentials based on legitimate professional training.