"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street"

[impik]

President Obama took aim at "fat cats bankers" in an interview airing this Sunday on CBS's "60 Minutes," slamming the financial services sector for failing to learn the lessons of the recession.

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street," Obama told Steve Kroft, who interviewed him earlier this week.

The president expressed concern that banks are returning bailout money to the government simply so they can pay out massive end-of-year bonuses without restraint.

"I think that in some cases, was the motivation," he said. "Which I think tells me that the people on Wall Street still don’t get it…They’re still puzzled why it is that people are mad at the banks. Well, let’s see. You guys are drawing down $10, 20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year…in decades and you guys caused the problem."

http://www.politico.com/politico44/index.html?refresh=1

[DJ13]

1. His words ring hollow so far

[ThomCat]

15. Yup. He appointed Goldman Sach people to all the top spots

controlling our treasury and setting all our financial policy. He has given far more money to wall street with no strings attached than he has to main street, and anything given to main street requires jumping through hoops and signing your life away. He has gotten rid of all the liberal economists who worked for him during his campaign and replaced them with Rubin devotees who are free trade promoters promoting a democratic version of trickle down economics. Reagan would be so proud!

[Raster]

21. No shit! If you truly mean what you say, President Obama, than walk the walk.

Talk is cheap, Mr. President. The trillion dollars to Wall Street was not.

[snagglepuss]

20. +1

[LakeSamish706]

2. He talks a great talk, but now lets see him walk the walk! n/t

[polichick]

3. So why did he fill his White House with Wall Street fat cats?? nt

[democracy1st]

61. +1

[27inCali]

4. hopefully this is the sound of Obama starting to get wise

to the bullshit he's been fed by the DLC Wall Street whores he's surrounded himself with.

[safeinOhio]

5. Stay tuned.

[polichick]

6. That would be wonderful! nt

[cilla4progress]

29. or pissed...

which it's about time! I think he wants to give everyone a fair shot to show they're good side; a clean slate with his administration. Once he realizes that there is no getting through to them - like with Al Quaeda (as he said in Oslo), sadly, it's going to have to be WAR!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

36. Why isn't he just responsible for his own thoughts and actions?

This is something we commonly do around here - try to justify Obama's actions and ascribe them to the influence of others when he acts in a way inconsistent with our personal vision of him.

He's not "being fed bullshit by the DLC Wall Street whores". He is eating it with relish all by himself and passing the dish to the rest of us.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

56. I am not counting on it

Obama is smart, he knew what he was doing.

[Better Believe It]

7. Empty rhetoric. What counts is deeds.

[Imajika]

8. At least he said it....

"The president expressed concern that banks are returning bailout money to the government simply so they can pay out massive end-of-year bonuses without restraint."

Err, yeah, kinda obvious isn't it?

I mean, seriously, I've watched news story after news story heralding this as AWSOME news. The banks are returning the money!! Yippie!

It is plainly obvious that these banks are doing this only so they can get back to the business of paying out massive salaries and bonuses to their top exec's. They don't even care if their company's collapse, as long as they get their big bonuses while they are "working". Roll in, collect a few years of huge bonuses regardless of how the bank is doing, and retire in style. Who cares how it effects average Americans or the health of the company.

The fact these banks returned TARP funds does NOT mean they are in much, if any, better shape. This is ALL about getting their bonuses.

I will give Obama credit for at least stating the obvious here.

[Armstead]

9. "I ran for office to ;protect the insurance industry"

[AllentownJake]

10. Attack the fuckers in public often

and AllentownJake will be back to cheerleading.

[PM Martin]

11. Empty rhetoric at this point.

[tbyg52]

12. Really? Then why is that what you are doing?

Stupidity? Threats? What?

[HughMoran]

22. Yes, the President is stupid

Good question - I'd have never used such a sophisticated argument.

[tbyg52]

43. No, I don't really think he's stupid. Although that would be less scary than what I *really* think.

Edited to add: So, what's *your* explanation?

[Waiting For Everyman]

13. That's it, Mr. Prez, you've found the target, now attack!

Maybe he's starting to "hear us now"??? (hope so)

Banksters could be the gift that keeps on giving for him (with the voters instead of lobbying money) - if he can only realize it.

[waiting for hope]

14. I think everyone has gotten what was promised ...

Now that the "crisis" is over and Wall Street got their big bail out, he can appear to be contrite.

[slipslidingaway]

17. Agreed n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

18. Yes, words are worthless unless turned to action.

He'll need lots of action to regain any semblance of trust. Lots of it.

I'm not expecting it, just willing to encourage a turnaround if he's considering doing one.

[slipslidingaway]

16. We'll see - Obama gives powerful drug lobby a seat at healthcare table

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-healthcare-pharma4-2009aug04,0,3660985.story

"The pharmaceutical industry, once condemned by the president as a source of healthcare problems, has become a White House partner.

Reporting from Washington - As a candidate for president, Barack Obama lambasted drug companies and the influence they wielded in Washington. He even ran a television ad targeting the industry's chief lobbyist, former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin, and the role Tauzin played in preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices.

Since the election, Tauzin has morphed into the president's partner. He has been invited to the White House half a dozen times in recent months. There, he says, he eventually secured an agreement that the administration wouldn't try to overturn the very Medicare drug policy that Obama had criticized on the campaign trail..."

[boppers]

23. I hear he's talking to Iran, and North Korea, too!

Doesn't he know that negotiation, and working with competing interests doesn't work, and only partisan, closed-door, scorched earth tactics are effective?

[slipslidingaway]

33. Maybe he should not have made these promises in his HC plan and during ...

the campaign.

:shrug:

[snagglepuss]

24. Anyone care to explain this about face. What is Obama getting from this?

[slipslidingaway]

32. Seantor Carper explained it for us ...

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) admits Obama admin deal with PHarma
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJa_kTXad1Q


Carper Publicly Defends Secret PhRMA Deal In Exchange For Support Ads

http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2009/09/23/carper-public-defends-secret-phrma-deal-in-exchange-for-support-ads/

"In a stunning moment during the Senate Finance Committee markup Sen. Tom Carper defended a secret deal that the White House, Baucus, and PhRMA had reached. The White House has long denied the deal. Carper publicly acknowledges that part of the deal was that PhRMA would run millions of dollars worth of campaign ads in support of health care reform.

...Carper was speaking in opposition to an amendment from Sen. Bill Nelson and Sen. Jay Rockefeller. The amendment mirrors what Henry Waxman did in the House to close the Medicare Part D doughnut hole by requiring drug manufactures to provide rebates for the overcharging of dual eligible Medicare/Medicaid recipients. In July, Debbie Halvorson and Heatlh Shuler authored a letter to Waxman signed by 70 Democrats, asking him a rewrite the bill to " substitute the President's proposal" for his own, which reflected the PhRMA deal..."

[Indenturedebtor]

19. Blah blah blah blah n/t

[HopeOverFear]

25. Like moths to a flame

this thread is.

[dionysus]

27. yeah, it's predictable as the sunrise, isn't it?

[HopeOverFear]

38. Sure is.

*smh*

[spoony]

30. Says one moth to another? nt

[girl gone mad]

26. Funny how he says all the right things, yet he consistently does the opposite.

Actions speak louder than words, Mr. President.

[polichick]

49. It's as if his mouth has no idea what his hands are doing sometimes. nt

[Enrique]

28. message: I'm a populist n/t

[tbyg52]

45. Yep. *Message*. nt

[Name removed]

64. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[donheld]

31. A little less conversation a little more action

Tim Geithner and Larry Summers prove otherwise

[rudy23]

34. Guess what America---Presidents are con-artists

Con-artists for the military-industrial complex/CIA/Corporate America.

We are owned.

[Autumn]

35. So what changed his mind?

He sure has done a good job of it.:shrug: Of course he has had a lot of help, thanks to certain Democrats.

[tbyg52]

46. The fact that he got elected.

I was just reading (here, I think) about how as soon as the election was over the progressive economists were put out to pasture and the Wall Streeters were brought in.

[kenny blankenship]

37. He just kinda fell into it...

[Bullet1987]

39. Too little too late

Senate Dems caving on the Public Option, Wall Street fiasco...I'd like for Obama to finally put his actions where his words are. Let's see how many Dems use this as proof that Obama hasn't sided with the corporatists. That's the whole point of this, the White House has to know their standing with the base of the party has taken a serious blow.

[rockymountaindem]

40. Then stop helping them n/t

[Peacetrain]

41. So let me get this straight...posters are attacking Obama because he did not run

for the fat cats.. but had to deal with the mess they left.. and so now he is the bad guy? A little help please from the those in the audience instead of rotten tomatoes would be much appreciated

[Better Believe It]

42. No .... you got it all wrong. Read the posts before commenting on them.

[tbyg52]

47. >>because he did not run for the fat cats.

Yeah, but almost the first thing he did was let *them* run the bailout.

[Politics_Guy25]

48. This is unbelievable-the hatred for the first Democratic majority president in 32 years

FUCKING Unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable. Fucking unbelievable.

First Dem to get elected with a majority of the popular vote in 32 years (since Johnson really/Carter was a bare 50%) and all you guys do is shit all over him and hurl insults that people at free republic would be proud of. Coming at it from different ideological positions on the spectrum still does not change the fact that you are saying the same thing as those over at Free Republic.

The hatred towards the democratic president and congress on a supposedly democratic site is UNBELIVABLE. Half of you guys are probably infiltrators from FR anyway.

What's happened to this site. Fucking unbelievable.

Oh and to one poster in particular in this thread, the PRIMARIES ARE OVER! OBAMA FUCKING WON!

ASSHOLES.

[Cowpunk]

50. Actually we're all secretly Freepers

There, I said it. What a burden has been lifted.

BTW, have you tried the forums at DemocraticAssKissers.com? You may find them much more to your liking.

[FrenchieCat]

54. 203 posts since May of 2006?

You must have been elsewhere kissing other asses all of this time!

What do you do.....come and stir shit every now and then? :shrug:

[Cowpunk]

55. I come here to learn, mostly

To quote Metallica, the empty can rattles the most.

[Autumn]

59. DemocraticAssKissers.com?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:





:spray:

[boppers]

52. We have a lot of squeaky wheels.

A great number of them kick and stomp every chance they get.

Probably the most attention they get in their lives.

[tbyg52]

57. I'm not an infiltrator of any sort, just a very diappointed Democrat.

And I'm not making any personal attacks, at least not on purpose. I'm just stating what it looks like from where I sit. I'm not going to blindly follow *anybody* just because they have the "Democratic" label.

[Born_A_Truman]

60. + 100

[WorseBeforeBetter]

62. Grow up... this isn't obamaunderground.com.

There's all sorts of shit being hurled, but also well-deserved criticism on a number of issues. I didn't sign a loyalty oath when I voted for him.

[Undercurrent]

44. K&R

Thanks, impik!

[Raine]

51. The sounds real good

but all it is ... is nice words. :-( What he has said and what he is doing are two DIFFERENT things. :yoiks:

[tbyg52]

58. Amen. nt

[tomm2thumbs]

53. is he saying it just happens to continue under his watch, but it wasn't why he ran? or?

[Vidar]

63. He talks like JFK & acts like Reagan.

[newportdadde]

65. Glass Steagall - we are waiting..

[budkin]

66. If he drops the current people and policies I will forgive him completely

[Dreamsoldier76]

67. Video Footage

Is his meeting with these bankers found anywhere on the net? Did he stand his ground and tell them off on film?

[IsItJustMe]

68. As my daughter would say, "yeah, right, whatever?"

[LittleBlue]

69. So, Obama, what are you going to do about it?

I mean we've heard this fucking fiery rhetoric before, and it's come to nothing.

[WT Fuheck]

70. of course, that's exactly what I'll do,

but that's not why I ran for office. I did that for the bribes, er campaign donations.