Obama to Tell Bankers It's Time to Scale Back Rescue

Obama to Tell Bankers It's Time to Scale Back Rescue
September 13, 2009 8:50 PM

Looking in the rear view mirror one year after the Wall Street collapse heard 'round the world, President Obama hopes to convince Americans the country has not only avoided disaster, but that the time has come to scale back the expensive government rescue.

This is the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, a legendary Wall Street firm that got no billion-dollar bailout from Washington. President Obama has invited leading financial figures and progressive advocacy groups to Federal Hall in the heart of Wall Street, home to the first U.S. Congress, for a midday speech Monday designed to lay claim to success, and boast that the time has come to begin winding down the recovery program that saved other investment houses, banks, and insurance giants at taxpayer expense.

He makes it clear the rescue did not begin on his watch. He inherited it.

"When I walked in, the banking system, the financial system was under the verge of collapse," the President told CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday night. "I've essentially taken the program that was voted on by the previous Congress, supported by the previous Republican president, and we've made it work. So, that didn't originate under my watch."

But there is an initiative to which he lays claim: changing the rules of the road for Wall Street. This address is to kindle support for regulatory reform that digs deep into the culture of corporate America, including his belief that corporations need to observe greater responsibility and executives need to trim exorbidant salaries and bonuses.

And the thrifty message comes as the President is trying to convince a reluctant Congress to move quickly on health care reform that will cost as much as a trillion dollars in the decade ahead.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/09/obama-to-tell-bankers-its-time-to-scale-back-rescue.html

complimentary to Obama's plans.