As the U.S. economy starts to feel the blood flowing through its toes again, President Obama recently met with bankers to urge them to do more to stimulate greater circulation , but it's still not clear that they will administer the necessary transfusions of credit for a full recovery.
He reminded a dozen top bank CEOs at the White House that they received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry -- and now that they're back on their feet, we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy.
"I made very clear that I have no intention of letting their lobbyists thwart reforms necessary to protect the American people. If they wish to fight common-sense consumer protections, that's a fight I'm more than willing to have," the President told them.
While most of the heavy hitters from the financial community were there to got the message it remains to be seen how they translate that into positive action. Among the most notable, Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, of Goldman Sachs could not attend "due to inclement weather," the White House reported.
Mr. Blankfein and his firm, which is one of the biggest global investment banks, are the subject of an intriguing article in the January issue of Vanity Fair magazine. "Our return of the government's investment does not, in any way, end our obligations to the public interest," Blankfein reportedly wrote upon repaying the $10 billion that Goldman got in TARP funds. But, the article points out, "there are few concrete signs that Goldman is acting in accordance with that patriotic letter."
Instead, Goldman and other big players "are seeking exemptions to some proposed new (regulatory) requirements," according to the piece, that would shine a big spotlight on derivatives trading, which was a primary cause of the financial crisis. Obviously, Mr. Obama is going to have to get tougher.
And, That's That...
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