President Barack Obama is calling on banks to be more proactive in aiding the U.S. economy through the increase of small business lending. After receiving tremendous government assistance, the President is encouraging banks to give back to the taxpayers who bailed them out last year.
The President addressed the issue in a White House meeting with the chiefs of leading financial firms. Among other topics of conversation, he stressed that banks have no power to prevent financial regulatory reform and urged them to discontinue the employment of lobbyists. Efforts to thwart reform are counter-intuitive to the financial sector in general, which Obama believes will benefit from more up-to-date conventions.
Legislation passed in the House on Friday that demands the streamlining of financial regulations.
Bank Executives, for their part feel President Obama should stop reducing their concerns if he would like their help in rebuilding the economy. The two parties are odds as the government insists that banks take greater responsibility in efforts to repair the economy and credit crisis they had such a heavy hand in creating.
Resentment stemming from lack of return the nation has seen from the banks following the bailout continues to mount. In an interview on “60 Minutes” on Sunday, the President said "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."
The Fat Cats are fighting back; however, refusing to return to what they see as the sort of irresponsible lending that first led to the credit crisis. The parties appear to be at a stand still, with bankers informing the administration that loan applications are down, along with a number of factors beyond their control are preventing them from lending.
The biggest gripe of financial executives is the increased regulation which they say discourages them from lending and requires that they hold larger capital, decreasing the amount of money they are free to lend to emerging businesses.
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