Obama Wall St. Speech: Touts Reform On Lehman Anniversary

(AP) NEW YORK — Lecturing Wall Street on its own turf, President Barack Obama warned financial leaders not to use the recovering economy to race back into "reckless behavior" that could cause a new meltdown. He declared that a bailout-weary public will not break their fall again.
Obama insisted Monday that there is an urgent need for tighter financial regulation, and he cautioned his audience not to try to block it. He spoke on the first anniversary of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history and a stark reminder of the financial crisis that spread into a deep recession despite huge federal bailouts of major companies.
"It is neither right nor responsible after you've recovered with the help of your government to shirk your obligation to the goal of wider recovery, a more stable system, and a more broadly shared prosperity," Obama said in a stern bid to boost his regulation proposals.
The president's speech reflected public sentiment that taxpayers were immeasurably harmed from last year's financial collapse – and that, barring change, it could happen again. As investment giants return to profit, millions of Americans are still coping with unemployment, home foreclosures and retirement portfolios that got washed away in the storm.
For symbolic emphasis, Obama spoke from venerable Federal Hall on Wall Street.
"Unfortunately, there are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment," Obama told a quiet audience of leaders from the investment sector.
"So I want them to hear my words," Obama said. "We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess that was at the heart of this crisis. ... Those on Wall Street cannot resume taking risks without regard for consequences."
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Consensus: Wall Street Unrepentant, Still A Risk To America
"Too Big To Fail" Banks: We Need To Fundamentally Change This Corrupt System

Arianna appeared on Dylan Ratigan's MSNBC show "Morning Meeting" today to discuss the one-year anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers and the beginning of the financial crisis, and how Wall Street has steadfastly refused to learn from its brush with disaster. The major banks remain "too big to fail," which means the whole system is constantly in peril, and they have returned to the risky practices that created the crisis in the first place.
Arianna says: "We are still being held hostage. If we don't fundamentally change this corrupt system, we are basically going to be held hostage again."
She also discussed how this issue transcends the traditional political division of left and right: "This is not about left and right. In fact, on 'Morning Joe' you have Robert Reich agreeing with Pat Buchanan that something has to be done about Wall Street. So this is really something that is about the status quo versus the American public. And that's how we need to refocus the debate." LinkHere

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Robert Reich, Pat Buchanan Agree: We Should Have Let Some Big Banks Fail

Professor Robert Reich, former Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration, and Pat Buchanan had a rare moment of agreement this morning when they were discussing the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the financial crisis.
Reich lamented that the banks seemed to have learned nothing from the crisis as they have returned to the business practices that got them in trouble in the first place. Buchanan agreed, saying the banks are still "carrying these subprime mortgages in their colon. It's like a tumor."
Buchanan then asked Reich if he believed the government should have allowed a couple of the massive banks to fail like Lehman Brothers to teach them them the lesson that the government won't always consider them too big to fail. Reich found himself unexpectedly agreeing once more:LinkHere

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