Obama slams Wall Street on bonuses
President calls the $18.4 billion in bonuses paid last year 'shameful' msnbc.com news services updated 7:19 p.m. ET, Thurs., Jan. 29, 2009
President Barack Obama issued a withering critique Thursday of Wall Street corporate behavior, calling it "the height of irresponsibility" for Wall Street employees to be paid more than $18 billion in bonuses last year while their financial sector was crumbling. "It is shameful," Obama said from the Oval Office. "And part of what we're going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint, and show some discipline, and show some sense of responsibility." The president's comments, made with new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at his side, came in swift response to a report that employees of the New York financial world garnered an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses last year. The figure, from the New York state comptroller, drew prominent news coverage. Yet Obama's stand also came just one day after he surrounded himself with well-paid chief executives at the White House. He had pulled in those business leaders and hailed them for being on the "front lines in seeing the enormous problems in our economy right now." The president said the public dislikes the idea of helping the financial sector, only to see the hole get bigger because of lavish spending. The comptroller's report found that Wall Street employees got paid about the same amount of bonuses as they did in the boom time of 2004. Obama said he and Geithner will speak directly to Wall Street leaders about the bonuses, which threaten to undermine public support for more government intervention. The House just approved an economic stimulus plan that would cost taxpayers more than $800 billion; the Senate is considering its own version. Separately, Congress also passed a $700 billion plan last year to shore up the financial sector. "We're going to be having conversations as this process moves forward directly with these folks on Wall Street to underscore that they have to start acting in a more responsible fashion if we are to, together, get this economy rolling again," Obama said. "There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses," Obama said. "Now is not that time." Obama's scathing rebuke of Wall Street came as he was trying to push through Congress an economic recovery plan he says will "save or create more than 3 million new jobs over the next few years." Earlier Thursday, the Labor Department reported that almost 4.8 million Americans, an all-time high, were receiving unemployment benefits. That number is likely to grow as a slew of major U.S. companies have announced mass layoffs this month. Companies have announced about 130,000 layoffs in January, according to an Associated Press tally. The U.S. has been mired in a recession since December 2007. It is on track to be the longest downturn since World War II. Obama's economic stimulus legislation is headed for the Senate after a surprisingly partisan vote in the House in which Republicans united in opposition and 11 mostly conservative Democrats defected. During Senate debate next week, the measure is expected to pick up at least some GOP support. The $819 billion measure has attracted criticism from Republicans and, privately, from some Democrats for spending billions on Democratic favorites like education despite questions as to whether these expenditures would actually create new jobs. But with unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, the banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said the legislation was desperately needed. Obama said Geithner has already had to step in to stop one company from taking delivery of a new corporate jet it planned to buy even after receiving billions of dollars of support from the government. That bank, Citigroup, canceled the deal earlier this week.Obamas strong words overshadowed the other part of his message, that he wants to roll out, in the coming weeks, new plans to regulate Wall Street and get more credit flowing to consumers again. The president considers such steps to work in tandem with the economic stimulus measures unfolding in Congress. The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Obama Wall St Bonuses "Shameful"by voc3706,478 views
What has been given to you? LOL
Bring home our troops war mongers
The height of responsibility is NOT WAR
End the Fed and the inside 911 wars will go with them
Wake up America - Listen to America not DEMORepublican war mongers
Allamericom 1 year ago
google obama speech hypnosis.
rachelabombdotcom 2 years ago
he talks the talk but it's all BS from B.O.
NHMntnHIGH 3 years ago
I guess I understand your meaning. I'm no fawning Obama fan, I simply prefer criticism that is honest to ad hominem attacks. The difference between GWB and Obama in this case will be that GWB appointed anti-regulation regulators which inherently leads to these sorts of problems while Obama will seemingly appoint actual regulators.
seanmg 3 years ago
I'm not questioning. I am stating that he is not a "thinker." Period. Oration and talking are not necessarily the same thing. I am addressing the manner in which he is speaking that is indicative of this thought process. Considering Obama spews the same garbage rhetoric as governor bush and his minions, he would have to be intentionally lying or ignorant. I submit that it is a combination of both.
biped19 3 years ago
I addressed your questions in my original post. The only thing it requires is not to have a defensive reaction for the pop star president.
biped19 3 years ago 2
I don't recall you providing examples of how Barack Obama is a product of our failed education system as evidenced by the manner in which he "talks." I mean--we know he's no slouch academically so I'm very interested to know what criterion you are using. Do you know the components of good oratory?Are you questioning his logic, dialect , rhetoric or intelligence? Make your argument before you state your conclusion.
seanmg 3 years ago
I fail to see the humor in your post.
biped19 3 years ago
Right, the failed education system that only allows brilliant regular people like him and rich idiots like GWB to go to Yale and Harvard.
seanmg 3 years ago
Obama is Not a "thinker" as many claim. He is a good oratator and a young polished politician. You can her it in the way he talks. Obama is another product of our failed education system.
biped19 3 years ago