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Obama: "Occupy Wall Street" reflects "broad-based frustration"
Updated: 12:54 p.m. ET
President Obama on Thursday called the "Occupy Wall Street" protests a reflection of a "broad-based frustration about how our financial system works" and pledged to continue fighting to protect American consumers.
The president, speaking at a press conference, said he had heard about and seen television reports on the recent protests on Wall Street, and noted that "I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel."
"We had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression - huge collateral damage throughout the country, all across main street. And yet, you are still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to crack down on abusive practices that got us in the situation in the first place," Mr. Obama told reporters. "I think people are frustrated."
Thousands of Americans have gathered in downtown Manhattan over the last two-and-a-half weeks to protest greed, corruption, and economic inequality in the American economic system. The demonstrations, which started off as a relatively unheralded effort by a couple hundred mostly young people, have grown into what may be a burgeoning movement: On Wednesday, a diverse group of unions, having concluded that the demonstrators may have started something important, marched in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.
In recent days, demonstrators across the country have joined in on the protests to express their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed.Many of those protesting reject both political parties, saying they've been corrupted by corporate money and are concerned primarily with helping the rich.
Mr. Obama sympathized with the protesters' frustrations on Thursday but contended that the most effective way to fight corruption on Wall Street was through strict consumer protection measures.
"American people understand that not everybody's been following the rules," he said. "These days, a lot of folks doing the right thing are not rewarded. A lot of folks who are not doing the right thing are rewarded. That will express itself until 2012 and beyond until people feel they are getting back to old-fashioned American values."
Mr. Obama said he had "used up a lot of political capital to...make sure that we prevented a financial meltdown," pointing to his push for passage of the Dodd-Frank consumer protection act in 2010. He also pointed to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Board as a measure designed to protect American consumers from Wall Street.
He conceded, however, that a number of Republicans were actively trying to derail those measures.
Mr. Obama noted the difficulty he has had in getting congressional approval for a director for the CFPB -- most recently with Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, who he has tapped to head up the bureau.
"This is a guy who is well-regarded in his home state of Ohio, has been the treasurer of Ohio, the attorney general of Ohio," Mr. Obama said. "Republicans and Democrats in Ohio all say that he is a serious person who looks out for consumers. He has a good reputation."
Yet, he said, "Republicans have threatened not to confirm him, not because of anything he's done, but because they want to roll back the whole notion of having a consumer watchdog."
"You've got Republican presidential candidates whose main economic policy proposals is, 'We'll get rid of the financial reforms that are designed to prevent the abuses that got us into this mess in the first place,'" he added.
"That does not make sense to the American people. They are frustrated by it, and they will continue to be frustrated by it until they get a sense that everybody's playing by the same set of rules and that you're rewarded for responsibility and doing the right thing as opposed to gaming the system."
Mr. Obama argued that these measures were so important, however, because so many of the actions that caused the 2008 financial crisis were not "necessarily illegal" but rather "immoral or inappropriate or reckless."
"The financial sector is very creative, and they are always looking for ways to make money," he said. "If there are loopholes and rules that can be bent and arbitrage to be had, they will take advantage of it."
As a result, he said, many of the actions that led to the country's current economic straits were not punishable -- or even preventable -- without the imposition of measures outlined in the Dodd-Frank Act, or protections guaranteed under the CPFB.
"I think part of people's frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of practices that should not have been allowed weren't necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact," he said. "And that's why it was important for us to put in place financial rules that protect the American people from reckless decision-making and irresponsible behavior."
He pledged: "I'm going to be fighting every inch of the way here in Washington to make sure that we have a consumer watchdog that is preventing abusive practices by the financial sector."
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See the capitalised text below for the omitted text.
"And yet, you are still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to FIGHT EFFORTS TO crack down on abusive practices that got us in the situation in the first place," Mr. Obama told reporters. "I think people are frustrated."
I actually believe banks should have the right to practice however they see fit and if people are dumb enough to not read the fine print then they deserve to be ripped off, call me old fashioned but I'm a conservative and I believe in old fashioned capitalist values, however the fine print should at least be accurate and I believe in accurate reporting. This article should be corrected but I can't even find an email address to let anyone know.
Many of the bells and whistles of mechanized convenience in the Economy are not really necessary and could be safely SCRAPPED,
adding thousands of jobs. A few these that I would include are:
Self-Serve Scanners in Supermarkets,
Automated Parking Lots
Automated Telephone Customer Service Lines
Airport Ticket Kiosks
ATM's and all Online Banking Services offered since 2000.
This is as good as it gets unless Regulation Q of the repealed
Glass-Steagall Act can be re-instated. But guess what, Greedy
Banks won't let it happen.
We need a new FDR to again save Capitalism from itself!
Whoever is out there deserves our praise and support and we should all get involved with this. The right wing corporations did not know when to stop as their end game IS corporation fascism. Time to take it back. Make Wall St and the rich pay. Create good American jobs, health care for all and strengthen Social Security.
Directory, Scanner frequencies, Too Big To Fail, see:
AMERICAN JOBS ACT 2012
http://americanjobsact2012.com
Claims of 'protecting the consumer' are meaningless when generations
of citizens are saddling with this mountainous debt!
No conscientious politician could behave so cynically!
It is time for Obama to stop his class warfare rhetoric. The people he is talking about taxing did not get some windfall for no reason. Most of these people worked hard, got educated, had great and innovative ideas, took risks, and invested capital. At The same time they created jobs and economic growth. They believed in The American Dream and made it happen. Obama's "tax The rich" rhetoric is a slap in The face to anyone who is a real American and believes in The American Dream.
Obama's plan IS class warfare. This plan raises taxes on the very people who create jobs and provide investment capital. Not only that, these are people who achieved The American Dream. Clearly Obama is an enemy of The American Dream. This is not a plan to create jobs and grow The economy, this is a campaign stunt to try to get reelected after a failed first term.
This plan is ANTI-GROWTH and ANTI-JOBS. Raising taxes on ANYONE with a WEAK ECONOMY is RECKLESS. This plan will send more investment and jobs out of The country. The only thing this plan will accomplish is extending The government's intrusion into The economy and it is The AVERAGE AMERICAN who will SUFFER.
More CLASS WARFARE from Obama. Obama will continue his SOCIALIST AGENDA until The AVERAGE AMERICAN votes him out of office.
Obama must realize most of his policies are temporary in nature. They will not fix The economy. What is need is a permanent FOUNDATION FOR GROWTH. If Obama wants to keep The wages of his union buddies ARTIFICIALLY HIGH, he must come up with other ways to lower The cost of production in The United States. If it costs more to produce a product in The US, companies will expand and add jobs outside The country. It is that simple. If Obama does not want to deal with The labor cost issue, The only other tools he can use to lower The cost of production are LOWER TAXES and LESS INTRUSIVE REGULATION.
Obama needs to stop pushing for alternative energy because it costs more to produce than it costs to produce conventional energy. That means The taxpayer pays an added cost twice: once for The money The government gives to The alternative energy companies and again because The energy produced by them costs more.
Instead of The government doing more and spending more, The government must stop The spending that only has a temporary effect, cut taxes, reduce The unsustainable public debt, and eliminate The oppressive regulation.
Obama also needs to do something about The culture we are breeding in The US which encourages people to depend on The system to survive. 46 million on food stamps and The millions who do not pay income taxes is more than we can afford.
When will Obama deal with The 46 million on food stamps or The millions who PAY ZERO INCOME TAX?
We must continue to VOTE THEM OUT!!!
"The financial sector is very creative, and they are always looking for ways to make money," he said.
__________________________________________________________
Well, duh... that's what all business does. That's capitalism. That's what you want to have happen.
The problem is the president sees the answer to the inevitable "maneuvering" to be more and more and more laws and regulations. It's far easier to simply create a climate where it is more attractive to invest your money and expand your business than to hoard your resources. Once you do that with the tax code and other policy everything else will take care of itself. But no, the president just wants an expanded nanny state as the answer.
Capitalism is not cheating and stealing from everybody else. You are misguided.