Mr President..Why haven't you prosecuted anybody on Wall Street.....Jake Tapper ABC News

[rsmith6621]

In response to OWS movement.

...Obama's Response.......Because they did not necessarily do ANYTHING WRONG????..... WTF!!!

[HopeHoops]

1. Poor word choice - "against the law" would have been more accurate.

Just because it is legal, it doesn't mean it isn't wrong.

[Schema Thing]

what makes you think that was his choice of words?

surely you don't think the words you just read were actually verbatim from Obama?

[HopeHoops]

15. I didn't have a reason to believe they were not. Still, that would be a poor choice of words,

whether he actually used them or not.

[Kahuna]

7. The OP totally misquoted the president. nt

[hlthe2b]

20. I missed that question. What exactly DID he say?

[Kahuna]

23. See response #3. nt

[polmaven]

38. Gee!

Surprise, surprise! The president misquoted on this site? How could that possibly happen? :sarcasm:

:grr:

[young but wise]

13. Only thing is that's not what he said.

The OP colors is showing.

[HopeHoops]

17. As has been noted.

[Donnachaidh]

2. change we can believe in, huh?

:eyes:

[Kahuna]

3. That's not what he said. He said they didn't necessarily do anything

"ILLEGAL." Big difference. He then went on to say that they may have done things that were immoral and inappropriate. Get it right, next time. :eyes:

[Bobbie Jo]

18. Talk about dumbing down....

Knee-jerk headline, K&R!!!11! Fuck yeah!11! Change**#11!!!

It's getting embarrassing....

[mike_c]

24. smoke and mirrors....

You know as well as I do that if Obama had the political will and the cajones to take Wall Street bankers on he'd be able to find plenty of illegality to hang on them. One can't do business or cross the street in the U.S. any longer without pushing the envelope on one law or another.

[emcguffie]

25. But some attorneys general certainly seem to think there is evidence of fraud --

-- in the mortgage business in particular.

They did do things that were illegal.

So that was just a dodge. I'm not so sure if those other things were still illegal if that would have changed the outcome much, because I don't think those guys care particularly much about what is legal.

[Supersedeas]

37. Eric Holder is working on that

It will go away soon.

[emcguffie]

47. But why?

Can you tell me that? If I understand you correctly, you mean to stop the other AGs from investigating the banks? To look for offenses that can be prosecuted?

I went to the library and got the book 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown, by Simon Johnson and James Kwak. Just started it. The authors are describing the forces that have taken over, and how the banks got in trouble, were too big to fail, some failed, some got bailed out, and now they're even bigger than they were before. They would have to be. All of the clients of Merrill Lynch had to go somewhere.

[Marr]

42. Not "necessarily". And as long as we don't investigate it, we don't have to "know".

[David Sky]

46. Thanks! I so hate it when people misquote for their own agenda! n/t

[tabatha]

4. Because it was NOT against the law.

Dodd-Frank was to make it against the law.

[Bandit]

43. How do we know they did nothing illegal? We haven't launched ANY investigations..

Why not I would ask....:shrug:

[young but wise]

5. K&U

That's not what he said.

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. You have to level specific charges against specific individuals for specific crimes first.

Not sure why people don't get that.

[mike_c]

27. first you have to investigate....

Where's the result of that investigation?

[banned from Kos]

31. first you need a statute that you think has been violated.

Like it or not, toxic loans were legal. Option ARMs, 140% LTV, etc.

CDS were and ARE legal.

[polmaven]

39. Maybe because the don't want to?

[gateley]

8. He said it wasn't necessarily ILLEGAL, but it was IMMORAL. WTF

don't you get it right?

[Pisces]

9. That's right people. Technically what they did and sold was legal. Bush deregulation

allowed these derivatives to come into play. We don't like it, but it is the facts. Obama is not going to waste money when there is nothing to charge them with.

[HappyMe]

10. False!

Not at all what he said.

[DFab420]

11. K&U misquoting the President is kind of a dirty trick.

[Kahuna]

16. Maybe the OP thinks he/she is the only person watching the conf..

and they can pass off anything on the rest of us. :eyes:

[DFab420]

19. Anything to feed the poutrage machine I suppose..

[Kahuna]

21. The president is doing a fantastic job and of course many will feel

the need to piss on him no matter what. Typical.

[YellowCosmicSun]

12. I guess you would be happier if Obama painted with a broad brush, huh?

[banned from Kos]

14. UnRec for deliberate misquote n/t

[democrat_patriot]

22. He said they didn't 'break the law', they acted badly but that isn't illegal.

Change the laws and make it illegal.

[dionysus]

26. because a lot of the heinous shit they get away with is, unfortunately, legal?

[Tarheel_Dem]

28. And his answer was on point! Not everything that's "immoral" is "illegal".

;)

[flamingdem]

29. That needs to get picked up on by OWS, it's not Obama's fault

it's about deregulation that is thanks to the GOP primarily and Bush especially

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. And they've already promised to repeal Dodd-Frank. Just wanting to see a "perp walk"...

isn't a policy. Someone has to investigate, and prove that laws were actually broken, and I'm assuming the Justice Dept didn't see a case? :shrug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. The answer matters little really... the fact that the question was asked

is very significant.

[Kahuna]

35. Really? Tapper will be pleased to know that you believe his questions

are significant. At least somebody thinks so.

[polmaven]

40. The answer matters a great deal.

Or do you want the president to waste money and credibility by prosecuting legal acts....?

[Marr]

44. Good point.

Wall Street fraud is very much on the public mind nowadays, and all the usual bullshit has not swept it under the rug.

[Zen Democrat]

32. That's not what he said. At ALL! He said there were no laws against what they did.

And he talked about how he was trying to change the laws -- including the consumer protection agency laws and Dodd-Frank that Republicans want to repeal.

[kenny blankenship]

34. Even more cynical than the media that covers him.

[Nye Bevan]

36. Separation of powers is one answer.

I don't want the US to be like Russia where people are prosecuted because the President doesn't like them, or to boost the President's popularity.

The other answer is that extreme greed and gross stupidity are not necessarily criminal offences. Or at least not criminality that can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Whisp]

41. thats not what he fucking said.

[Bluenorthwest]

45. Thieves are fine. It is tey gay that gets his God Mix roiling

The only right and wrong he cares about is how wrong he thinks it is to be gay.
Obama to the Banksters as the crisis fell:
"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."