Prez on WS protest: "I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel."

[bigtree]

___ The president, speaking at a press conference, said he had heard about and seen television reports on the recent protests on Wall Street, and noted that "I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel."

"We had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression - huge collateral damage throughout the country, all across main street. And yet, you are still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to crack down on abusive practices that got us in the situation in the first place," Mr. Obama told reporters. "I think people are frustrated . . ."

"American people understand that not everybody's been following the rules," he said. "These days, a lot of folks doing the right thing are not rewarded. A lot of folks who are not doing the right thing are rewarded. That will express itself until 2012 and beyond until people feel they are getting back to old-fashioned American values . . ."

But, he said, "You've got Republican presidential candidates whose main economic policy proposals are, 'we'll get rid of the financial reforms that are designed to prevent the abuses that got us into this mess in the first place.'"

"That does not make sense to the American people," said Mr. Obama. "They will continue to be frustrated by it until they get a sense that everybody is playing by the same set of rules and you are rewarded for responsibility and doing the right thing as opposed to gaming."


http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/mQGnzxkSQ3qOdRCbeUB_FQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yOTE7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/
President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011. (AP photo/Susan Walsh)


read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20116707-503544.html

related:

Occupy Wall Street Denounced By Cain, Romney as 'Class Warfare'
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/226376/20111006/occupy-wall-street-romney-occupy-wall-street-cain-occupy-wall-street-republican-occupy-wall-street-c.htm

[Kahuna]

1. But..but..but....I keep reading on DU that he didn't address it...

:eyes:

[trumad]

2. He nailed that question.

[HighContext]

3. Didn't he tell us to MAKE him behave?

[Divine Discontent]

4. wait, I thought it was people had to quit whining? I'm so confused. haha. but yes, he needs to keep

hearing from the people! We are the 99%, and it's goona be 51% of us that are going to make sure we don't have him flying away in a helicopter as President Romney waves him goodbye... barf!

I hope that the economy improves, and we start correcting the wrongs of Congress' past that let so many jobs go overseas due to dirty deals, so we can start believing in America as a fair place again! I hope the protests don't stop until we have real change! I appreciate the president moving into populist territory on some issues - he needs to or re-election was unlikely.


http://www.zazzle.com/worst_congress_ever_do_nothing_republicans_have_bumper_sticker-128285616900051283?rf=238107662556833486

[zalinda]

5. The fact that he knows about it and has talked about it

means NOTHING. What he does about it, is everything.

zalinda

[bigtree]

7. he's acknowledging the protestors and giving heed to their efforts

. . . in his remarks today.

I take your point though, that he needs to do more than pay lip service to the protestors' concerns. There's certainly plenty of criticism of his own actions and his administrations' own WS associations coming from these folks he's recognizing in his remarks. Still, it's pretty significant, I think, to have a sitting president (rhetorically, at least) endeavor to ally himself with such a populist and organic protest movement.

[loyalsister]

12. What would OWS or anyone have him do?

I have seen no realistic solutions proposed. There are a lot of people involved whose mind is he supposed to read?

[zalinda]

22. You can download their wants

What he could do about it? He could invite the committee that wrote their 'wants' to a meeting at the White House. Ask them what they would do. Of course, they would probably tell him to fire Geithner and Summers and get someone in there who isn't owned by Wall Street.

zalinda

[loyalsister]

25. How about showing up with something realistic?

I have spent many years working with advocates who show up with a bill, talking points, and facts and evidence. It works. We have to be able to prove that our ideas are better before they will be taken seriously. If someone wants drastic changes that affect a lot of people, they really better have hard evidence.

[zalinda]

26. And the evidence that Obama is working from now

contains what facts? The failed GOP platform? Hell, he still has repubs advisors, but not leftys. Kind of tells you something.

zalinda

[seabeyond]

24. then maybe WE ought to vote repugs out so he can implement rules and changes

ya think

[progressoid]

6. Maybe we'd have a little more confidence if you hadn't hired those WS tools to work the White House

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. +1000000!

:thumbsup:

[jpljr77]

8. Damn, Candidate Obama is WAAAAAAAY awesomer than President Obama n/t

[bigtree]

10. so true

In fact, I was just reading a old account of his last campaign talking about his 'messianic' appeal. There hasn't been much of that 'awesomeness' in office, so far. It's his best course for the foreseeable future, though. Who knows? Maybe it'll stick this time.

[xiamiam]

9. his big supporters are from wall street..everyone needs to stop pretending about motives

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/05/tim-geithner-w...

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. If the reforms aren't working then...

Um...
HHello?

[woo me with science]

14. Our side gets "empathy." Their side gets active pressure from the administration

for settlements that will halt and prevent further criminal investigations of banks.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1795232

[bigtree]

15. I saw this

. . . as an attempt to prevent foreclosures, not some mere collusion with the banks.

[woo me with science]

16. There is absolutely no reason

that helping people avoid foreclosures requires letting banks off the hook. None.

[xiamiam]

17. foreclosures are not being stopped..and until that happens, its going to get worse..nt

[phleshdef]

18. Prosecutions and investigations aren't going to help prevent foreclosures.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against valid investigations and/or prosecutions. But all thats going to do is punish people who it can be proven that they broke some kind of law, make a lot of progressives feel warm and fuzzy and piss off a bunch of Republicans. That sounds like a lot of fun, but it doesn't do a damn thing as far as preventing foreclosures goes. And it likely wouldn't do enough to discourage the greedy from trying to play the system to their advantage, as much as they can, the same as they have been. Just like the death penalty has not done much to prevent murder, prosecuting Wall Street bankers will not prevent new faces in the same crowd, trying to pull the same kind of shit, anytime they think they can get away with it.

The most important thing we can do to prevent foreclosures is to use any legal power available to pressure the banks into changing terms with people who are in trouble. And the government can't legally use the threat of prosecution as a blackmailing tool in order to force banks to do the right thing. As justified as that may sound, its simply not legal.

Aside from that, we need the new Consumer Protection Agency at full power. Republicans are using legal methods of obstruction to prevent that right now. Again, the law allows them to pull these kinds of tricks. Thats not on the President. He can't wave his hand and make those tricks go away.

[bigtree]

20. the deal may well have stopped the pending lawsuits in those cases

. . . but I don't think it shields the banks from prosecution. It doesn't give them some sort of blanket immunity. The security abuses are still being investigated and still subject to prosecution. There's some sqwaking from some legislators about hindering their own investigations, but I don't know why they can't proceed with the prosecutions without keeping these homeowners in limbo. The court cases could go on for years. That's how I understand that particular situation.

[malaise]

19. Excellent

GObama

[bigtree]

21. transcript of news conference

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2011/10/obama_oct_6_2011_press_confere.html

[seabeyond]

23. right on mr. president. though media act flustered they dont understand the message.

for me, it is pretty obvious and seems so to the pres...

dummy media

[Marnie]

27. "I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel."

The guy has a law degree so that must be a brilliant concept.