President Obama's Speech to the Wall Street Terrorists

WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama tried on Monday tried to revive a stalled push for stricter oversight of Wall Street, using the anniversary of Lehman Brothers collapse to argue for sweeping regulatory changes.
Here is the text of his speech as prepared for delivery:

Thank you all for being here and for your warm welcome. It's a privilege to be in historic Federal Hall. It was here more than two centuries ago that our first Congress served and our first President was inaugurated. It was here, in the early days of our Republic, that Hamilton and Jefferson debated how best to administer a young economy and to ensure that our nation rewarded the talents and drive of its people. Two centuries later, we still grapple with these questions - questions made more acute in moments of crisis.

It was one year ago that we experienced just such a crisis. As investors and pension-holders watched with dread and dismay, and after a series of emergency meetings often conducted in the dead of the night, several of the world's largest and oldest financial institutions had fallen, either bankrupt, bought, or bailed out: Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG, Washington Mutual, Wachovia. A week before this began, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had been taken over by the government. Other large firms teetered on the brink of insolvency. Credit markets froze as banks refused to lend not only to families and businesses but to one another. Five trillion dollars of Americans' household wealth evaporated in the span of just three months.

Congress and the previous administration took difficult but necessary action in the days and months that followed. Nevertheless, when this administration walked through the door in January, the situation remained urgent. The markets had fallen sharply; credit was not flowing. It was feared that the largest banks those that remained standing had too little capital and far too much exposure to risky loans. And the consequences had spread far beyond the streets of lower Manhattan. This was no longer just a financial crisis; it had become a full-blown economic crisis, with home prices sinking, businesses struggling to access affordable credit, and the economy shedding an average of 700,000 jobs each month.

We could not separate what was happening in the corridors of our financial institutions from what was happening on factory floors and around kitchen tables. Home foreclosures linked those who took out home loans and those who repackaged those loans as securities. A lack of access to affordable credit threatened the health of large firms and small businesses, as well as all those whose jobs depended on them. And a weakened financial system weakened the broader economy, which in turn further weakened the financial system.

The only way to address successfully any of these challenges was to address them together, and so this administration with terrific leadership by my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, as well the Chair of my Council of Economic Advisers, Christy Romer, and the Chair of the National Economic Council, Larry Summers moved quickly on all fronts, initializing a financial stability plan to rescue the system from the crisis and restart lending for all those affected by the crisis. By opening and examining the books of large financial firms, we helped restore the availability of two things that had been in short supply: capital and confidence. By taking aggressive and innovative steps in credit markets, we spurred lending not just to banks, but to folks looking to buy homes or cars, take out student loans, or finance small businesses. Our home ownership plan has helped responsible homeowners refinance to stem the tide of lost homes and lost home values.

And the recovery plan is providing help to the unemployed and tax relief for working families, all while spurring consumer spending. It's prevented layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers, police officers, and other essential public servants. And thousands of recovery projects are underway all across America, putting people to work building wind turbines and solar panels, renovating schools and hospitals, and repairing our nation's roads and bridges.

Eight months later, the work of recovery continues. And although I will never be satisfied while people are out of work and our financial system is weakened, we can be confident that the storms of the past two years are beginning to break

Continued>>>
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN1450770820090914

As much as I may disagree with those who said it during the Presidential campaign, I'm beginning to believe that they were right when they said that Obama didn't have the experience to govern because it consisted of more than being able to make a good speech.

I'll believe he's serious when he kicks Geithner and Summers to the curb and begins breaking up the mega-banks and re-instituting New Deal reforms like Glass-Steagall. Until then, it's nothing more than rhetoric to distract us from the fact that the emperor STILL has no clothes.

I'm sure it will improve with his delivery.

Yes, I too am still waiting for even one real reform. I blame the senate more than Obama though.

And while we are at it, let's pretend that Kucinich won the election by a landslide....
by simply invading Obama's body when no one was looking! :eyes:
That way the Teabaggers will have been correct all along
in calling this President a Socialist!

Yeah...that's the ticket!


Kucinich for President in 2012!
(so we can get our ass kicked to the curb, and then some!) :applause:

But hey, if it makes you feel good, then do it.

They ignore everything because they cannot refute what is obvious.

The spew Strawmen, insults, and Propaganda, because they are so invested in their "Football Team or Bust" Mentality, they cannot see that BOTH sides work against them.

They desperately feel good and ensconce themselves in their false paradigm, and expect the rest of us to take whatever crumbs we are given, and never fight for anyone or anything who could actually bring ABOUT real Change.

"Well, (Insert whatever person or entity they always tear down here) will NEVER be allowed to hold the strings of power, so you should just be happy with what we are getting here, shut up, stop asking questions, and feel good."

To which I respectfully say, FUCK THAT.

Pretty Speeches don't cut it anymore.

Impress me with ACTIONS, not WORDS.

In other words, Shut Up And Show Me Something.

.... + 10.

Obama yaps and yaps, then nothing happens. Real reform is going to take real guts and action, I haven't seen even a whiff of that from this administration.

This is the perfect day to remind all of us what condition our country was in a year ago today. He may be repeating some of his ideas and plans to move the economy but we need to be reminded. The media is in full blast mode. Gawd I am furious. Yes, Obama isn't perfect. Who else has suggesting better ideas? He mentioned Barney Franks several times and I so enjoyed that since Barney always sounds sincere when he talks economics.

will constrict the Banksters and help the public. He is very serious on this but not necessarily trying to draw lots of attention right now. I'm sure much work is going on behind the scenes. If we get this, healthcare, and a reasonable energy bill this year it will be incredible. Health care and ANYTHING else will be incredible.

It was a great speech, expertly delivered, targeted at fixing the problems that he inherited. Exactly the kind of thing that a good President should be doing.

BTW, I am also proud to be a cheerleader for President Obama. Unlike some, I am not bothered by seeing a black man in the Whitehouse and I don't want to see him fail.

You said: BTW, I am also proud to be a cheerleader for President Obama. Unlike some, I am not bothered by seeing a black man in the Whitehouse (sic) and I don't want to see him fail.

So, by your logic, if you resort to rational criticism of President Obama, that means that you are bothered by seeing a black man in the White House and you do want to see him fail?

Bollocks.

My problem with Obama is that he did not strike when the iron was hot. Politicians have a very narrow window in which to make serious, systemic reform. FDR understood that -- that is why he pushed against the titans of Wall Street almost immediately upon entering office. Obama, OTOH, provided continuity by bringing in some of the hacks that helped create this mess (Summers and Geithner) and did not push for serious reform when the public was on his side. If you want to know where the erosion of support for him is coming from, it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with his unwillingness to take on Wall Street and the health insurance industry.

If you want further proof, just look at the way that health care was handled from the beginning. He brought in everyone to the table that has so irreparably screwed up the system -- Big Pharma, health insurers, etc. -- while freezing out single payer advocates from the word go.

Then again, I'm sure he's just playing three-dimensional chess while everyone else is playing checkers, right? :eyes:

He'll have another chance to "strike when the iron is exceedingly hot". Since last year, NOTHING HAS BEEN SOLVED. NOTHING HAS BEEN FIXED. NO ONE HAS BEEN HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Thereby guaranteeing that the crash we saw last year is just a min-prelude to the collapse of markets, credit, consumption and our currency because Obama has failed to crack down and put an end to the ridiculous derivative market (notional value of $600 TRILLION, many times the value of the entire world's GDP).

Ironically, the only thing that can save the economy and the bankers, markets etc. is job creation by government investment and yet the economic policy has simply poured TRILLIONS of dollars into the hands of Wall Street which have used it to bid up the stock market, and commodity markets with 21st century computer mirages. These chimerical visions of prosperity will collapse very soon because their is no fundamental support from the real economy (I.E; we aren't making, buying or selling any tangible goods or services). Since all the government largesse has been thrown into the fake financial economy, when it collapses you aren't even left with a piece of paper! Just a little notation in your computer account $0.00.

When this second collapse happens, we won't have any money left to drag ourselves out of the hole because no one will lend us any more.

Obama is a fool or a gambler or completely amoral. It just doesn't matter anymore because the wings have come off the economic plane at flight level 360.

However, when another collapse happens -- probably after oil prices bump up to the $100-$120 range -- his political capital will evaporate like a thin pool of water in Death Valley. He won't be able to strike the iron, he'll be scorched by it.

and go fuck yourself.

Yours is a tired meme that is completely bereft of credibility and relevance.

Anyone who questions or has doubts about what The President is doing (or is not doing) is not a racist, nor do they "want to see him fail."

Making these types of breathtaking generalizations makes you look embarrassingly stupid.

I am about as racist as you are Republican.

Although your blanket statement makes you look about as smart as one.