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March 19, 2009

Obama: No More “Business as Usual” for Wall Street
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Meanwhile, at the White House, President Obama invoked the controversy
surrounding AIG to call for changes to the financial system.

President Obama: “As we get out of this crisis, as we work towards
getting ourselves out of recession, I hope that Wall Street and the
marketplace don’t think that we can return to business as usual. The
business models that created a lot of paper wealth but not real wealth
in this country and have now resulted in crisis can’t be the model for
economic growth going forward.”

Obama later traveled to California for a tour to promote his economic
stimulus plan. Speaking at a town hall-style event in Costa Mesa, Obama
said he takes responsibility for the AIG controversy.

President Obama: “I know Washington is all in a tizzy, and everybody’s
pointing fingers at each other and saying it’s the their fault, the
Democrats’ fault, the Republicans’ fault. Listen, I’ll take
responsibility. I’m the President. So—we didn’t draft these contracts,
and we’ve got a lot on our plate, but it is appropriate, when you’re in
charge, to make sure that stuff doesn’t happen like this. So we’re going
to do everything we can to fix it.”



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