1/21/10: Obama Continues to Target Banks

The most powerful man in the world, sucking from the teet of his teleprompter

You might think President Obama would be reeling from the humiliation of losing Ted Kennedy's Senate seat. Not so, apparently. A day after targeting small businesses, Angry Barry is setting his sights on big banks (again):

Embracing Depression-era policy and populist politics, a combative President Barack Obama chastised big Wall Street banks Thursday and urgently called for limits on their size and investments to stave off a new economic meltdown.

...

"We've come through a terrible crisis," the president said, pivoting the White House focus from health care to an economy that has been slow to recover during his first year in office. "The American people have paid a very high price. . . . That's why we're going to rein in the excess and abuse that nearly brought down our financial system."

Source: Denver Post

Nice pivot! Unfortunately, not even the Obama-friendly New York Times can put a definitively positive spin on this proposal:

The president’s proposals to place new limits on the size and activities of big banks rattled the stock market, but banking executives were perplexed as to how his plan would work. Indeed, many insisted the proposals, if adopted, would do little to change their businesses.

Moreover, it was unclear if the twin proposals — to ban banks with federally insured deposits from casting risky bets in the markets, and to resist further consolidation in the financial industry — would have done much if anything to forestall the crisis that pushed the economic system to the brink of collapse in 2008.

Mr. Obama appeared to be leaving crucial details to be hashed out by Congress, where partisan tussling has already threatened another reform the president supports — the creation of a consumer protection agency that would have oversight over credit cards, mortgages and other lending products.

Source: New York Times

Congress? Like, Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid? That kind of Congress? Well, that's just...

FANTASTIC!

Update (Jan 22, 2010) - Obama's plan is getting a poor response from the markets:

Commodity prices tumbled and global stocks posted their worst week in months on Friday as investors turned to safer assets after U.S. President Barack Obama's move to curb risk-taking by banks sparked widespread unease.

Source: New York Times