Obama: "We Want Our Money Back, and We're Going to Get It"

[Clio the Leo]

The President to Wall Street: "We Want Our Money Back, and We're Going to Get It"
Posted by Jesse Lee on January 14, 2010 at 3:59 PM EST

Discussing Wall Street executives' reaction to his proposed new fees on major banks, the President delivered a simple message: "Instead of sending a phalanx of lobbyists to fight this proposal, or employing an army of lawyers and accountants to help evade the fee, I suggest you might want to consider simply meeting your responsibilities."

Specifically, the President was announcing a proposal for a new Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee to be imposed on the debt of the largest financial firms until the American people are fully compensated for the extraordinary assistance they provided to Wall Street -- read the full fact sheet. Describing TARP as "a distasteful but necessary thing to do," the President explained that despite many dire predictions, most of that money has been recouped – but that "most" is not enough:

(Video here)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1wDDfApitE&feature=sub

He explained that the new fee would only affect the largest firms, those with more than $50 billion in assets, but that it would be in place as long as it takes to make the money back.

He also explained how this fee ties into the larger new foundation he seeks to establish for our economy:

<snip>

He closed on an underlying principle: "Ultimately, it is by taking responsibility -- on Wall Street, here in Washington, all the way to Main Street -- that we're going to move past this period of turmoil."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/14/president-wall-street-we-want-our-money-back-and-were-going-get-it

[Arkana]

1. I would say this is good news,

but I'm just waiting for the first person to post some variant of "OBAMA IS A BANKERDLCCORPO-SELLOUTIST".

[GOTV]

8. Don't you think people will wait to see if Obama actually gets this passed?

I mean no one said that about Obama when he described what he wanted for health care. You didn't see posts like that until he started to fail to produce for us.

Of course, if, as this idea goes through the congress, these taxes start getting changed to tax cuts,
and Obama continues to act powerless and defends the new banking tax cuts as the best that he can do people will rightfully criticize him.

The question is, will all of DU join together in condemnation or will a sizable minority continue to praise Obama in spite of a lack of results in this area?

[ima_sinnic]

17. +1000 they can't wait to drop their divisive talking points

criticizing critics of Obama's inaction in certain areas before that failure occurs suggests they are here simply to disrupt. They don't care about Obama's success as a president, only that Democrats are weakened and divided.

[Orsino]

19. It sounds like another promise that he can't keep.

But it sure sounds good.

[GOTV]

33. I agree. If he couldn't get the PO past the insurance lobby, how will he get this past the bankers?

[grytpype]

35. Leftbaggers, get off this board.

Seriously.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. This is very good.

I can only wish he'd been this forceful with HCR.

K&R

[Clio the Leo]

4. ....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x124544

[ima_sinnic]

18. it's a little late, isn't it? (nt)

[DJ13]

3. Oooo, the finger wag

They're in trouble now.

Just nationalize the bastards and break them up.

[progressoid]

32. Hey now,

they are also getting a stern tongue lashing.

[Enrique]

5. maybe he can win it back from them on the golf course

I hear he just got a birdie with a two-iron.

[Cha]

11. Too bad you never have anything intelligent to add.

[Mithreal]

27. Thanks for the laugh, it relieved some stress.

It's hard work to do humor that doesn't irritate someone.

[jgraz]

6. Gobama! Just like you did with those CEO pay packages!

Oh wait...

[GOTV]

7. Obama: Any bill I sign MUST include [...] a public option

[Igel]

34. I guess you could have put the ellipsis in a worse place.

"Any plan I sign must include . . . your family."

"Any plan I sign must include . . . benefits."

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. America truly is the land of the stupid

It is deeply depressing that it seems so many Americans will hear this and figure that Obama and Washington are really playing tough with Wall Street. The fact of the matter is that ANY tax that is levied against these banks will be passed on to their customers. In short, this is simply another tax on us being passed off as a tough stand against Wall Street. If Obama wanted to really reform Wall Street he would push for much tougher regulations and possibly a break-up of these "too big to fail" institutions. He isn't. Also, he would do what is being done in Europe and aim these taxes at Wall Street executives and not the banks for whom they work.

I believe this announcement is a pre-planned bit of bullshit designed solely to make it appear that Obama is addressing the outrages on Wall Street at PRECISELY the same time as billions of dollars are being rained down on the folks that brought us to this point in the form of bonuses. This was not a response to Wall Street bonuses, it is a planned strategy to distract Americans from the bonuses and Washingtons refusal to effect real change concerning these banks and the risks they take.

[amborin]

23. yes, and it's pocket change for the bankers, whose obscene profits & bonuses are from taxpayer bailo

uts

[firedupdem]

10. Rec'd. n/t

[slipslidingaway]

12. From the Troubled Asset Relief Program ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubled_Assets_Relief_Program#Protection_of_taxpayer_investment

"Recoupment

1.This provision was a big factor in the eventual passage of the EESA. It gives the taxpayer the opportunity to “be repaid.” The recoupment provision requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to submit a report on TARP’s financial status to Congress five years after its enactment.

If TARP has not been able to recoup its outlays through the sale of the assets, the Act requires the President to submit a plan to Congress to recoup the losses from the financial industry. Theoretically, this prevents TARP from adding to the national debt. The use of the term “financial industry” in the provision leaves open the possibility that such a plan would involve the entire financial sector rather than only those institutions that availed themselves of TARP.<2>"

[golfguru]

16. Poll: Who benefits most from gov't response to financial crisis:

[slipslidingaway]

21. Interesting, but what will the people do ...

:shrug:

Welcome to DU.

:)

[JoeyT]

29. The saddest part of that graph

is that the three largest groups are pretty much the same people.
They could have just combined that whole side and made it 76%.

I swear some people on here keep telling me the American people like corporatism, but it never seems to materialize in any polls.

[slipslidingaway]

13. Can't know the facts without a fact sheet - Ezra Klein

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/01/cant_know_the_facts_without_a.html

"The White House's official fact sheet on the new bank tax is here (pdf). It's a reminder that this isn't some mega-populist innovation on Obama's part: "The EESA statute that created the TARP requires that by 2013 the President put forward a plan 'that recoups from the financial industry an amount equal to the shortfall in order to ensure that the Troubled Asset Relief Program does not add to the deficit or national debt.'"

Obama is offering his plan a bit early, but he's legally required to offer a plan like this by 2013. The fact sheet, however, makes a valiant effort at spinning this as a radical decision. "The President has no intention of waiting that long," it thunders."

[slipslidingaway]

14. The new bank tax, and beyond - more from Klein

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/01/the_new_bank_tax_and_beyond.html

"The White House proposed its "fee" on the 50 or so largest banks today. As Felix Salmon summarizes, it's "a 0.15% tax on bank liabilities excluding deposits (which already come with an FDIC fee attached). It would be paid by roughly 50 firms, including GE Capital, and would raise something on the order of $90 billion over 10 years. That’s an average of $180 million per firm per year."

If what you're trying to do is recoup the TARP losses, this is a smartly designed tax. But we should be more ambitious than than that. The financial industry's share of the national dollar has grown even as the tax laws dictating their contribution to the American economy have weakened. Under George W. Bush, of course, tax rates on the richest Americans fell precipitously. And under Bill Clinton, the tax rate on capital gains fell from 28% to 20% (and then Bush brought it down to 15%). Meanwhile, Wall Street got richer and richer and richer...

The tax Obama is proposing will raise $90 billion over 10 years, and refund the direct losses taxpayers suffered in the bailout. But that wasn't the only cost of the financial crisis. The recession -- which has cost the federal budget far more -- was also triggered by Wall Street. We're not even here, not by a long shot.

But this isn't about getting even. It's about good policy. Restoring the 1996 tax rates on the rich, and on large capital gains, would improve the nation's finances without harming anything of value. It would raise far more than $90 billion and it wouldn't sunset after 10 years. The tax Obama is proposing is not ideal from the point of justice -- Wall Street owes us far more than that -- but it's also not ideal from the point of federal finances and tax equity."

[Odin2005]

15. Aww, Summers looks disappointed that his buddies got criticized.

:nopity:

[bertman]

25. You mean "Larry the Hutt"? He's eyeing a small child that he can snap up and devour.

[inthebrain]

20. THe new "fee" barely even puts a dent in the bonuses paid out by the top five banks

90 billion in ten years.

Are we really serious about this? Goldman Sachs is paying out 20 BILLION in bonuses THIS YEAR!!!!!

[slipslidingaway]

22. But it sounds good and this statement has been played several times ...

today by the corporate media.

;-)

[applegrove]

24. That is how Obama rolls! Good for him.

[Thrill]

26. I saw clips of him saying that. Its no doubt one of the funniest statements.

I've ever heard from a politician.

[jeanpalmer]

28. We can never get it back

We've given them too much. Just through AIG alone, $53 billion was funneled to the big banks. The credit card giveaway to the banks is worth hundreds of billions a year. And then the Fed buying up $1.3 trillion in mortgages was a huge gift. Plus nothing has been done to stop their scams -- more hundreds of billions. The bonus scam is still going full tilt.

This is a token gesture.

[JoeyT]

30. It's a token gesture at best.

It's probably more along the lines of a "Now just a minute, everyone put down those pitchforks and put out those torches..." gesture.
Of course we'll just cut their taxes in other areas to make it easy for them to pay it.
You know, just like we did to help them pay back the bailouts.

[HopeOverFear]

31. K&R

and WOW at all the ignoreds. :smh: