Thursday, October 6, 2011
Obama signals he will use anger at banks, Wall St.
Will he make them an offer they can't refuse?
Washington - President Barack Hussein Obama let voters know he will use their anger and frustration over unemployment, a tanking economy and what he characterizes as Republican obstructionism in his reelection campaign.
"I think people are frustrated and, you know, the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works," Obama said of Occupy Wall Street protesters.
Obama said the "Dodd-Frank" financial reform bill was designed to prevent Wall Street abuses, and his emphasis on the subject indicated he would use that theme heavily in the 2012 presidential race.
"For us to have a healthy financial system, that requires that banks and other financial institutions compete on the basis of the best service and the best products and the best price," he said.
"It can't be competing on the basis of hidden fees, deceptive practices or, you know, derivative cocktails that nobody understands and that exposed the entire economy to enormous risks...
“"What we've seen over the last year is not only did the financial sector with the Republican Party and Congress fight us every inch of the way, but now you've got these same folks suggesting that we should roll back all those reforms and go back to the way it was before the crisis."
Mr. Obama said he is ready and willing to see millionaires and billionaires pay increased taxes to help balance the budget and curb runaway debt through financing a jobs bill package that will be expensive to maintain.
Mr. Obama, had previously suggested paying for the jobs bill by limiting the value of deductions taken by households earning more than $250,000 a year. He said he would accept the alternative offered by Senate Democrats, which would also meet his objective of “asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share” by imposing a tax surcharge on those who make more than $1 million per year.
He said Congress would still have to make other changes to the tax code as part of a broader program to reduce the deficit over the next 10 years, in keeping with the debt agreement reached this summer.
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