The Iowa Freedom Summit & Ag Summit (preparation for Iowa Caucus): on Corporations

Bernie Sanders: If Teddy Roosevelt saw modern banks he'd say "break them up"

CLINTON: You can look at what I did in the Senate. I've laid out a very aggressive plan to rein in Wall Street-- not just the big banks. We have to go after what is called the shadow banking industry. Those hedge funds. I want to look at the whole problem; my proposal is much more comprehensive than anything else that's been put forth.

Q: Sen. Sanders, you said that the donations to Secretary Clinton are compromising. So what did you think of her answer?

SANDERS: Not good enough. Let's not be naive about it. Over her political career has Wall Street been the major campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? You know, maybe they're dumb and they don't know what they're going to get, but I don't think so. If Teddy Roosevelt, a good Republican, were alive today, you know what he'd say? "Break them up." Reestablish Glass-Steagall. And Teddy Roosevelt is right.

Bernie Sanders: Wall Street will not be in my Cabinet; their model is fraud

SANDERS: With all due respect to the secretary, Wall Street play by the rules? Who are we kidding? The business model of Wall Street is fraud. That's what it is. Let me make this promise. Whether it's Republican administrations or Democratic administrations, we have seen Wall Street and Goldman Sachs dominate administrations. Here's my promise: Wall Street representatives will not be in my cabinet.

CLINTON: I represented Wall Street and I worked closely with New Yorkers after 9/11 to rebuild.

SANDERS: Many of us supported you in trying to rebuild that devastation. But at the end of the day, Wall Street today has enormous economic and political power. Their business model is greed and fraud. And for the sake of our economy, the major banks must be broken up.

Hillary Clinton: AIG & Lehman were not big banks; we needed to bail them out

CLINTON: For me, it is looking at what works and what we need to do to try to move past what happened in '08. And AIG was not a big bank. It had to be bailed out and it nearly destroyed us. Lehman Brothers was not a big bank. It was an investment bank. And its bankruptcy and its failure nearly destroyed us. So I've said, if the big banks don't play by the rules, I will break them up. And I will also go after executives who are responsible for the decisions that have such bad consequences for our country.

Martin O`Malley: It's crony capitalism to bail out banks for bad bets

SANDERS: Wall Street play by the rules? Who are we kidding? The business model of Wall Street is fraud. That's what it is. Wall Street representatives will not be in my cabinet. Wall Street today has enormous economic and political power. Their business model is greed and fraud. And for the sake of our economy, the major banks must be broken up.

O'MALLEY: There is not a serious economist who would disagree that the six big banks of Wall Street have taken on so much power and that all of us are still on the hook to bail them out on their bad bets. That's not capitalism: that's crony capitalism. That's a wonderful business model. If you place bad bets, the taxpayers bail you out. But if you place good ones, you pocket it.

Rick Santorum: Pro-worker Republican; only 10% of Americans own businesses

Santorum received huge applause for decrying the Common Core and touting his last go-around in Iowa. But when he called on his party to become "pro-worker," response ranged from reluctant applause to silence.

Ted Cruz: Get senseless obstacles from Washington out of the way