The rhetoric is tougher than the proposed fee, but at least Obama has discovered his inner FDR. Is is about time.
Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Weekly Address
January 16, 2010Over the past two years, more than seven million Americans have lost their jobs. Countless businesses have been forced to shut their doors. Few families have escaped the pain of this terrible recession. Rarely does a day go by that I do not hear from folks who are hurting. That is why we have pushed so hard to rebuild this economy.
But even as we work tirelessly to dig our way out of this hole, it is important that we address what led us into such a deep mess in the first place. Much of the turmoil of this recession was caused by the irresponsibility of banks and financial institutions on Wall Street. These financial firms took huge, reckless risks in pursuit of short-term profits and soaring bonuses. They gambled with borrowed money, without enough oversight or regard for the consequences. And when they lost, they lost big. Little more than a year ago, many of the largest and oldest financial firms in the world teetered on the brink of collapse, overwhelmed by the consequences of their irresponsible decisions. This financial crisis nearly pulled the entire economy into a second Great Depression.
As a result, the American people – struggling in their own right – were placed in a deeply unfair and unsatisfying position. Even though these financial firms were largely facing a crisis of their own creation, their failure could have led to an even greater calamity for the country. That is why the previous administration started a program – the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP – to provide these financial institutions with funds to survive the turmoil they helped unleash. It was a distasteful but necessary thing to do.
Many originally feared that most of the $700 billion in TARP money would be lost. But when my administration came into office, we put in place rigorous rules for accountability and transparency, which cut the cost of the bailout dramatically. We have now recovered most of the money we provided to the banks. That’s good news, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s not good enough. We want the taxpayers’ money back, and we’re going to collect every dime.
That is why, this week, I proposed a new fee on major financial firms to compensate the American people for the extraordinary assistance they provided to the financial industry. And the fee would be in place until the American taxpayer is made whole. Only the largest financial firms with more than $50 billion in assets will be affected, not community banks. And the bigger the firm – and the more debt it holds – the larger the fee. Because we are not only going to recover our money and help close our deficits; we are going to attack some of the banking practices that led to the crisis.
That’s important. The fact is, financial firms play an essential role in our economy. They provide capital and credit to families purchasing homes, students attending college, businesses looking to start up or expand. This is critical to our recovery. That is why our goal with this fee – and with the common-sense financial reforms we seek – is not to punish the financial industry. Our goal is to prevent the abuse and excess that nearly led to its collapse. Our goal is to promote fair dealings while punishing those who game the system; to encourage sustained growth while discouraging the speculative bubbles that inevitably burst. Ultimately, that is in the shared interest of the financial industry and the American people.
Of course, I would like the banks to embrace this sense of mutual responsibility. So far, though, they have ferociously fought financial reform. The industry has even joined forces with the opposition party to launch a massive lobbying campaign against common-sense rules to protect consumers and prevent another crisis.
Now, like clockwork, the banks and politicians who curry their favor are already trying to stop this fee from going into effect. The very same firms reaping billions of dollars in profits, and reportedly handing out more money in bonuses and compensation than ever before in history, are now pleading poverty. It’s a sight to see.
Those who oppose this fee say the banks can’t afford to pay back the American people without passing on the costs to their shareholders and customers. But that’s hard to believe when there are reports that Wall Street is going to hand out more money in bonuses and compensation just this year than the cost of this fee over the next ten years. If the big financial firms can afford massive bonuses, they can afford to pay back the American people.
Those who oppose this fee have also had the audacity to suggest that it is somehow unfair. That because these firms have already returned what they borrowed directly, their obligation is fulfilled. But this willfully ignores the fact that the entire industry benefited not only from the bailout, but from the assistance extended to AIG and homeowners, and from the many unprecedented emergency actions taken by the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and others to prevent a financial collapse. And it ignores a far greater unfairness: sticking the American taxpayer with the bill.
That is unacceptable to me, and to the American people. We’re not going to let Wall Street take the money and run. We’re going to pass this fee into law. And I’m going to continue to work with Congress on common-sense financial reforms to protect people and the economy from the kind of costly and painful crisis we’ve just been through. Because after a very tough two years, after a crisis that has caused so much havoc, if there is one lesson that we can learn, it’s this: we cannot return to business as usual.
Thank you very much.
What do you think?
I think it’s brilliant. Forces the GOP to side with the big banks, or risk their perfect record of obstructionism.
This was weird to see.
Still welcome in the club. Makes me uncomfortable, even if I understand the symbolic importance.
It was like a horrible nightmare, turning on the TV and seeing Bush back in the White House.
But still, the symbolism of showing Obama as the uniter Bush claimed to be is invaluable.
Horrible nightmare, indeed. But I do not believe that the administration is doing itself and good by taking the blame for this recession, which is what it seems to be doing. George Bush is hiding out, no doubt at the request of the Republican party hierarchy and the compliance of the press.
Where is George? Why is Obama facing his music? Where is Greenspan and Paulson? Why aren’t they out in front of the cameras explaining their irresponsible pro-Corporate decisions?
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government personnel .. non-existent
faith-based groups .. adoptions, bibles, Bush subsidies
bring out the best of the human spirit .. Katrina disaster
our brothers and sisters in the Caribbean .. Pat Robertson
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief [abstinence] programs .. Laura Bush
“Even if he stumbles and messes up — and he’s had his share
of stumbles and gaffes — I just think God’s blessing is on him.”
-- Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson
of course no mention of the United Nations, its stabilizing force MINUSTAH and the loss of life.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
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[Shannon Smith] My Pastor was there two years ago, and of the 4% that accepted Jesus Christ as their savior most of them still rely on dead chicken and voodoo for their healing. Pray for them to choose the real God. He still moves mountains Cor. Chptr 10. I love you Sarah. Notice how the Dominican Republic was left unscathed.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Yeah — I guess Palin’s “god” did move a mountain. Evil humans worship evil gods, I guess.
Maybe the Gnostics were right.
I don’t know. I suppose it’s politic, but pretending that Bush is anything but a poisonous clown is a lie. He should have been ignored.
I heard that devil on the radio yesterday.
he said, “I know some of you want to send blankets or water, but really, just send cash.”
and even though I know what he meat, I couldn’t help thinking, “the next thing he’s gonna say is ‘make it out to ME, George W. Bush’. No checks, no money orders, just stuff a wad of unmarked bills in an envelope…”
I got the same feeling. I almost forgot how much I hate that man. He was the earthquake that leveled Iraq and he killed more people.
I don’t care what he said. I don’t care if he delivered the Sermon on the Mount. He’s an evil asshole and it pisses me off that Obama pretends like he commands some kind of respect from anybody who’s not crazy. We’re not One Nation. Never have been. Get over it.
dave, that’s not very hopey changey.
I think the politics of “I want to do it, now make me do it” may actually work — now and then.
Good address.
Too bad whatever actual action that goes with it has to go through Congress.
It will not be the Republicans that kill this. I guarantee you that.
It’s another step toward forcing Congress to take a stand one way or another. The proposal is far less punitive than I’d like to see (think ropes and lampposts), but has the virtue of being dead simple and easy to understand and sell. A no-win position for the Reps and a gauntlet for the Dem turncoat caucus. If Obama matches the rhetoric with determination in pushing this fee through he’ll be doing the right thing and unraveling much of the doubt among the base about his true intentions. So, if followed through without wavering, a win-win for us and a no-win for the opposition, who will have to either side with Obama or obstruct payback that even their base has to be salivating for. Finally a step toward giving the populist left and right some bit of common ground, under Dem/liberal leadership. It bodes well for the future.
This comment is exceptionally cogent and literate and savvy with regard to policy issues at stake in a so-called majority-ruled democracy. I had to read it over and over, and am still not sure that I totally get it. Mainly in my mind it concerns finding the middle ground and making our peace with the kind of ignorance that leads to cruelty. If you object to violence, you have to make your peace with the middle ground, no matter how off-center, with respect to humanity, that middle ground might be. If not, ropes and lampposts, and we don’t want to go there.
then we’ll see whether talk meets action.
because Obama has no more urgent task than a long discussion with the US Senate about a new cabinet confirmation?
Zero republican votes – and it’s not their fault?
It needs to be about 5 times bigger. The Wall Streeters can certainly afford it.
If Obama and Reid want to do it this year, then the only chance they have is to go through reconciliation. If they introduce it through the regular order process, it won’t happen. Lieberman and other fuckups will shut it down just because they can.
Get the relevant 50 Senators, then jam it through. No bipartisanship, no debate, no nothing. We’ve lost far too much time already for those stupid fucking games.
I think it puts the GOP in a very hard place. You really think they’re all going to stand together in blocking discussion of kicking the banksters in the ass? If they do they can kiss their party goodbye, and they know it. Just like the turncoat Dems can kiss their jobs goodbye.
Encouraging. Lets flood him with e-mails and phone calls saying how much we agree with him. Its time to help the victims. We paid off the hostage takers now lets help the victims of these greedy scumbags.
It took FDR until 1935 to realize that his goal of “cooperation” with big business wasn’t gonna happen, and finally to move to the left to take the bastards on head-on.
That said, FDR had a significantly stronger 1933 than Obama’s 2009.
I heard Limbaugh, by accident, railing about the fee and I think the corner may be too sharp even for a number of his moron listeners.
It’s important to remember that only a few months ago the “progressive” consensus was that (a) we’d never see a penny back from TARP and (b) the program itself was unlikely to save the banks – that it was just pissing away money before an inevitable collapse.
So if while we are waiting for “action”, note that Obama and the much maligned Timmy have retrieve most of the money that went to the banks, plus the interest, plus decent payments on the warrants.
Anything not accompanied by bellowing seems too subtle for our “progressive” political analysts, who, to me, have become way too enamored of the Geore W. Bush style of confrontational dick waving in lieu of coherent speech.
I don’t know about not seeing a penny back .. but we’re still likely to lose money .. unless you think Geithner is a genius
I think Geithner is far from a genius, but only a few months ago if anyone had said we’d have only about $100B losses on the bank TARP program, he/she would have been widely derideed as engaging in a Kabuki ninja eleventy-dimensional chess fantasy.
My friend, who is an engineer and worked in the field all his life until he was laid off a year ago still needs a job. Did Obama say anything about jobs, or are we still going for a jobless recovery?
i think that, when rhetoric is stronger than the action, I’m seeing theatre.
Gee, ain’t his addresses pretty? Strikes me like a lawyer making an impassioned plea for justice for his client when he’s already sold his client out.
More like his inner FDL.
But will it be “just words”?