SOTU Comments

Our most urgent task upon taking office was to shore up the same banks that helped cause this crisis. It was not easy to do. And if there's one thing that has unified Democrats and Republicans, and everybody in between, it's that we all hated the bank bailout. I hated it -- (applause.) I hated it. You hated it. It was about as popular as a root canal. (Laughter.)



How did Obama hate the bank bailout? He now has a whipping boy that he can bea any time he wants?



In reality I think we were lied to about the bailout.





But when I ran for President, I promised I wouldn't just do what was popular -– I would do what was necessary. And if we had allowed the meltdown of the financial system, unemployment might be double what it is today. More businesses would certainly have closed. More homes would have surely been lost.



Well let’s see, unemployment is higher then you said it would be! It was not to go over 8% and now it is over 10% and the U6 number around 18%.



So I supported the last administration's efforts to create the financial rescue program. And when we took that program over, we made it more transparent and more accountable. And as a result, the markets are now stabilized, and we've recovered most of the money we spent on the banks. (Applause.) Most but not all.



It is Bush’s fault (as always). The problem is that the markets were correcting. I am sure he knows nothing about this. This is good that the banks returned the money with intrest. Can we get the car companies and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to do the same.







To recover the rest, I've proposed a fee on the biggest banks. (Applause.) Now, I know Wall Street isn't keen on this idea. But if these firms can afford to hand out big bonuses again, they can afford a modest fee to pay back the taxpayers who rescued them in their time of need. (Applause.)



So now that they returned the money . . . you want to tax them. Why? The people who should be taxed are car companies and Freddie and Fannie. Stop on your class hate. Please accept a Branson vacation packages and go have a nice time and leave us alone.