Obama: Occupy Wall Street protests show Americans' frustration

[ProSense]

Source: Los Angeles Times

President Obama said Thursday that the Occupy Wall Street protests show a "broad-based frustration" among Americans about how the U.S. financial system works.

<...>

"I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country ... and yet you're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place," he said.

Obama said he used "a lot of political capital" to prevent a financial meltdown and ensure banks remained solvent after he took office. He also touted the financial reform legislation he and Democrats in Congress moved through in 2010.

He criticized Republican presidential candidates whose economic plans, he claimed, gut those reforms.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-obama-occupy-wall-street-20111006,0,1992639.story

[Kahuna]

1. Now which is it, dagnabbit! I read on the DU that he didn't address it!

:sarcasm:

[No Elephants]

15. It 's three weeks in. Comes a point when pretending it's not happening is simply no longer possible.

Not to mention all the arrests and police brutality.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Obama to the Banksters when the crisis hit:

"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."
Leonardo Da Vinci:
"He who refuses to punish evil commands it to occur."

[ProSense]

4. That

"My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks."

...was perfect. The RW spun it as he threatened bankers. That's how spin works.

[FreeBillClinton]

3. Obama: The Congress did nothing (ignore that I did nothing)

Last I checked, the DOJ reports to Obama. Where were the criminal investigations, the trials, the convictions?

[ProSense]

5. Remember

"Last I checked, the DOJ reports to Obama. Where were the criminal investigations, the trials, the convictions?"

Glass-Steagall? It made a lot of things illegal, but Clinton repealed it.

[No Elephants]

13. Securities fraud is still illegal. So is all fraud.

[marions ghost]

10. good question

but you don't honestly think the DOJ is working for us, do you? :shrug:

[Plucketeer]

6. Lip Service

[ProSense]

7. Someone

"Lip Service"

...has to speak up for Americans. When that someone is the President, all the better.

[No Elephants]

16. LOL!

[woo me with science]

8. +100000 This from the President who personally pressures

state attorneys general for settlements that will halt and prevent future criminal investigations of banks.

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

We get "empathy." The banks get action.

[ProSense]

9. Well

"state attorneys general for settlements that will halt and prevent future criminal investigations of banks. "

...keep posting that link. Here's another link.

[NBachers]

11. Wow, thanks for that link, ProSense. Lotta people in big trouble doing serious time

[woo me with science]

17. Bullshit and smokescreen. Let's look more closely at that website and the numbers.

"The Justice Department's 'mortgage fraud' unit doesn't prosecute bankers. It protects them."

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2011031329/justice-numbers-chasing-immigrants-while-bank-criminals-go-free

The Department of Justice: Indicting Immigrants While Ignoring Wall Street Crooks
March 29, 2011 - 3:12am ET
.....
If you also take a qualitative look at some of the Federal government's other well-publicized mortgage fraud efforts, like its "Stop Fraud" website, the picture becomes pretty stunning - if not downright infuriating..

Justice by the Numbers
....
More than half of all Federal filings (54%) were for immigration crimes. Then came drug cases, at 16%. Everything else? 30%.

There have been more than 2,000 prosecutions for mortgage fraud since the Federal government began tracking these actions in the 2008 fiscal year. How many of these 2,000-plus prosecutions involved the bank executives and others who were responsible for a computerized, systematized foreclosure fraud spree by the big banks? None.

Remember: The sheer number of fraudulent foreclosure activity by banks was so great that an Attorney General Task Force representing all fifty states has been formed to handle it, yet there have been no Federal prosecutions of bankers. By contrast, there were more than 1,000 prosecutions after the savings and loan scandal of the 1980's, which had a much smaller financial impact.
....
And get this: The DoJ's StopFraud.gov website has a page entitled "Protect Yourself From Fraud," but the word 'bank' never appears on it. There is, however, a referral to a "Consumer Help Desk" - from the Mortgage Bankers Association! The caption for the link reads "MBA provides information and tips on identifying predatory lending and mortgage fraud and where to turn if you encounter it -- or think you encounter it."

(much more at link)

[ProSense]

19. Hmmm?

"There have been more than 2,000 prosecutions for mortgage fraud since the Federal government began tracking these actions in the 2008 fiscal year. How many of these 2,000-plus prosecutions involved the bank executives and others who were responsible for a computerized, systematized foreclosure fraud spree by the big banks? None. "

Since 2008? The site is related to an effort launched in November 2009. As for the rest of the claim, what does that have to do with the fact that there are prosecutions? All one has to do is peruse the site to prove the claim false.

[woo me with science]

20. An irrelevant point that misleads.

"related to an effort launched in 2009"....Who cares when it was launched?

The significant point here is that you ignore both the quality and targets of these prosecutions, and the numbers compared to prosecutions of immigrants and other targets, which is the article's entire point.

It is always important to focus on the most important information: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1913184#1917103

[ProSense]

21. Hmmm?

"'related to an effort launched in 2009'....Um, who cares when it was launched?"

You think conflating a specific effort launched in November 2009 with efforts undertaken in 2008 is "irrelevant"

Is this supposed to indicate how aggressively Obama has pursued fraud or Bush?

Again, the site is there for anyone to browse, and it chock full of prosecutions, including CEOs and executives.

Your attempts at obfuscation isn't going to hide the information there.

[woo me with science]

24. ...

sigh

[ProSense]

26. More

<...>

The Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation dispute that, saying they are continuing to investigate potential wrongdoing connected to the emergency, and some probes didn’t find criminal behavior. They say they stepped up mortgage-fraud prosecutions, which more than doubled in fiscal 2010 from 2009, the first full year for which there is data.

<...>

Lee Farkas, the ex-chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., was found guilty on April 19 of what prosecutors said was a $3 billion scheme involving fake mortgage assets that duped financial institutions and contributed to the failure of Montgomery, Alabama-based Colonial Bank.

<...>

...obfuscation.

Former Chairman of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison and Ordered to Forfeit $38.5 Million

Nothing you post changes the fact that there have been prosecutions.

[woo me with science]

29. Obama has not been serious about fundamental change, notwithstanding PR websites:

and token prosecutions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/liamhalligan/7908516/Obama-signs-a-bill-that-lets-banks-have-US-over-a-barrel-once-more.html

Obama signs a bill that lets banks have US over a barrel once more
....
The closer you look at Dodd-Frank, the more apparent becomes Wall Street's influence. Limits on leverage – rejected. Limits on bank size – rejected. Restrictions on derivatives – well, some trading will go through a central exchange, allowing more scrutiny, but it's entirely unclear how much.

At every turn, this bill avoids decisions, delegating them instead to an army of regulators who will turn generalities into actual rules...Are there limits on credit card interest, ensnaring adjustable rate mortgages or predatory pay-day loans? Nope.

Some other omissions in the bill are breath-taking. There is no mention of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – the government-sponsored mortgage-providers that have already cost $145bn in bail-out cash, rising to almost $400bn by 2019. No mention, either, of capital requirements – which means the global banking system must rely, once again, on the ridiculous Basel process for resolving this crucial issue. Once again, Obama missed a chance to give a lead when it comes to financial reform.

Based on sound-thinking courageous judgment, the Glass-Steagall legislation was only 17 pages long. Packed with wheezes and loop-holes, Dodd-Frank runs to 2,319 pages. Enough said.


And no, the top CEO's associated with the mortgage collapse have not been held accountable. Robert Kuttner decries this in his posting this week on the Wall Street protests:

http://www.vxec.com/2011/10/robert-kuttner-wall-street-from-protest-to-politics/

"With a newly-elected president who inspired great hope for change, politics failed us in that first phase of the crisis. Barack Obama installed a Wall Street-friendly team that resisted fundamental changes in the financial model that caused the collapse and the deep recession that followed.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, despite heroic efforts by progressives, stopped just short of separating financial speculation from ordinary banking. Most of its pro-consumer measures were added by relatively junior legislators over the objection of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. The law's strong provisions are being relentlessly gutted by a combination of industry lobbying, Republican obstruction, and lack of enthusiasm for tough regulation from Tim Geithner's Treasury Department.

The depth of the continuing recession can be traced back to the failure to radically reform the banks in the spring of 2009. Interest rates today are at record lows, but Wall Street banks still make their money from merger deals, complex securitization packages, and trading for their own accounts, while community banks are too traumatized to make loans to any but blue-chip customers.

Meanwhile, nobody has gone to prison for the systematic frauds that brought down the economy, consumers are getting gouged by new fees that the banks dream up to compensate for their own losses. And the mortgage foreclosure crisis continues to fester and drag down the rest of the economy.


In fact, as you know, the President has sided with Wall Street and pressured for settlements that would halt many criminal prosecutions and prevent many new ones: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1795232

[ProSense]

30. Hmmm?

"The closer you look at Dodd-Frank, the more apparent becomes Wall Street's influence."

Yeah, I suspect that's why they're fighting hard to repeal it.

[woo me with science]

31. Lesser of two evils bullshit again.

Is that the best you can offer?

[ProSense]

32. Obviously

Lesser of two evils bullshit again.

Is that the best you can offer?

...it's the best you can offer.

[woo me with science]

33. No, you tell me, Prosense.

What are Obama's plans for fundamental Wall Street change?

Or do you consider that crap legislation to be sufficient for Americans?

[woo me with science]

35. And also,

we have never really gotten your answer to this question: How do you defend the people he has chosen to surround himself with?

How on earth do you expect fundamental change on Wall Street, with Wall Street ensconced in this administration?

[No Elephants]

42. As if that means anything

Wall Streeters would fight hard to repeal a law that required them to tie their shoe laces. That does not mean they had no influence on the bill to begin with.

[frylock]

12. umm people are well past frustrated mr president sir..

people are in full-on fucking pissed off mode.

[No Elephants]

14. Please do not purport to speak for the occupy movement, Mr. President.

It is not only about Wall Street and banks.

It is about corporate ownership of our government, Mr. President, both Parties.

It's about the kleptocracy and the plutonomy.

Government's rush to bailout the banksters big time is symbolic, but there is also government dragging its feet and pinching pennies when it comes to everything else.

[woo me with science]

18. Thank you. nt

[No Elephants]

22. You're welcome. Appreciated your posts, too.

[woo me with science]

25. Sometimes it is illustrative to talk back at the commercials.

if only to demonstrate that there is always just another inane corporate jingle to follow...

[No Elephants]

41. One can try, anyway, but commercials tend not to be good listeners.

:-)

[Inuca]

34. And where on earth did you

get the idea that he was speaking FOR them? He was asked a question and answered with a comment ABOUT what's happening. Not to mention that there others here equally upset that he is NOT speaking for/with them.

[Nihil]

38. There's no way he was going to be speaking FOR them ...

... considering that OWS oppose the very people who are buttering his bread
every day, have been doing so in the past and will be doing so in the future.

:shrug:

It's like when environmentalists seem "confused" that Obama bends over
so nicely to the coal/oil/gas industry, when pacifists are "bemused" that
Obama is yet another "Bomb the foreign land" president and the unemployed
wonder why they can't get his attention rather than the bribe-laden lobbyists.

:shrug:

[No Elephants]

43. Um... from what he said. That's where. And I don't recall seeing any posts here

suggesting that Obama should purport to speak for the movement, either.

Acknowledge its existence, maybe, but not purport to speak for it.

[ixion]

36. exactly

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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

[Zorra]

27. Add to this fact that the financial system controls the legislative system

and we've got a big winner here.

[No Elephants]

44. Not so easy to say who controls whom. It's a dance, IMO.

Not as though the elected officials aren't trying to solicit the campaign donors, is it?

Everyone understands the pact that is being made. No words need be spoken to sully the moment.

[UrbScotty]

28. I am so thankful we have a President who gives a damn.

Best President of my lifetime so far.

[Nihil]

37. You type so nicely for one so young ...

:P

[No Elephants]

40. Who was so much better? Not Clinton. Not in my opinion, anyway.

[panzerfaust]

39. Does he recognize that he is part of the frustration?

[Cal Carpenter]

45. LOL, we're a little past frustration

Preventing financial meltdown for the small number of uber-rich doesn't mean shit to the tens of millions who are struggling to keep or get jobs, keep their homes, feed and educate their children, or have any sense of security for the future.

Sorry Obama. Not even close.

[goforit]

46. This guy is pathetic.