The presidential finger-wagging at banks is weak and laughable

[bigtree]

The money is already out of the till and spent by the folks invited into the White House for an audience with President Obama. As they pay it back, whatever influence the president imagined he had over 'banks' with the unregulated, no-strings giveaway evaporates for good. Nice to see it finally dawn on him that the 'fat cats' cleaned the plates he set out for them with little more than a brush-up against our legs. Funny and sad that he's expecting them to do more now than just line up for their next government meal.


Bank executives meeting with Obama on Monday included JP Morgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon, Bank of America President and CEO Ken Lewis and Wells Fargo President and CEO John Stumpf. Three other executives — Goldman Sachs CEO and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO John Mack and Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons — were unable to attend because of bad weather and dialed in for the meeting.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/72217-obama-leans-on-bankers-to-lend-more


RICHARD DAVIS, CEO, U.S. Bancorp: We're in this together. And we understand that the bankers are not surprised by the public response. We are paying attention to it. We get the same letters from small business owners who want more availability to credit.

So, I think the productive conversation allowed us to align our thinking and be more in line with each other as we talk to the American public about being party to this recovery. We haven't done a very good job of saying that. And we're going to now.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec09/banks_12-14.html


At least the bankers traveled on commercial airlines, not private jets, the New York Daily News pointed out.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/12/14/2009-12-14_bankers_remember_to_take_commerical_planes_to_meet_with_obama_but_forget_to_chec.html


J.P. Morgan released a statement after the White House meeting, which Mr. Dimon attended. "The details matter, and the stakes are simply too high and the consequences too far-reaching to do this hastily and poorly," the statement said. "While we agree with many of the proposals, we share concerns with others that some regulatory proposals could restrict lending by banks, which will hinder economic growth and job creation."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126080843481590571.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_news


"It was very productive," said Richard Davis of U.S. Bank, who did most of the talking for Bank of New York's Bob Kelly and PNC's Jim Rohr. "It was a very productive meeting."

Ed Chen of Bloomberg News tried to get beyond this standard description. "What was the greatest areas of disagreement?" he inquired.

"There wasn't a lot of disagreement."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121402766_pf.html


In comments to reporters at the White House after Monday's talks, Mr Obama said: "America's banks 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."

He urged bankers to "explore every responsible way" to boost lending and to "take a third and fourth look" at loan applications from small and medium-sized businesses.




He said he was "getting too many letters" from creditworthy small businesses saying banks they have had long-term relationships are reluctant to give them loans.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8412852.stm

[DJ13]

1. Sadly, Obama doesnt seem to be as tough as his words are

We've seen it in every important issue he's dealt with so far.

Talk tough, but behind the scene cut deals that undermines the rest of us.

[bigtree]

4. this effort was compromised from the start

. . . with the no-strings giveaways. The need for the jawboning now is as clear an admission of the foolishness in expecting lenders to do more with the money than spend it on themselves.

[dkf]

2. Yet the banks don't want credit unions to be able to make more

business loans.

I seriously think the Government should look into giving out these loans anyway. What can we do to make this happen?

[Walk away]

3. Let's face it, FDR is not coming back.

And we are on our own.