Fed Up: Wall Street Fights Back Against Obama
Here he goes again: Wall Street once again took it in the chin during President Obama's State of the Union speech on Thursday night.
"I have proposed a fee on the biggest banks," he announced. "I know Wall Street isn't keen on the 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."
That so-called "modest fee" could cost the street $90 billion.
Some Wall Streeters are fighting back, tired of being the bad guy for everything that's wrong with the economy.
"It got to a point where enough was enough," said Thomas Belesis, who heads a Wall Street investment company. "We're fed up."
Belesis just yesterday launched "Restore Wall Street," a group whose purpose is to fix Wall Street's tarnished image. He said the president's plan is misguided and won't produce jobs.
"Who's gonna risk their capital, so to speak, in these market conditions? And that unfortunately is going to cause people to veer away from hiring people and creating jobs," he said.
In New York City, Wall Street is a powerful economic engine. Though the financial industry provides six percent all jobs in the city, it contributes nearly a third of all tax revenue collected. Tax the industry more, and New York stands to lose hundreds of millions.
Still, some political observers said it was financial industry's recklessness that caused the economic meltdown, and Obama is right on target to single the industry out.
"They're a problem," said Doug Muzzio, a political expert at Baruch College. "They caused the recession. C'mon. Give the guy a break. He's right. He picked the right enemy here, if you will."
We want to know what you think – has President Obama been unfair to New York? Vote in our poll on the right and submit your thoughts in our comments section below!
"I have proposed a fee on the biggest banks," he announced. "I know Wall Street isn't keen on the 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."
That so-called "modest fee" could cost the street $90 billion.
Some Wall Streeters are fighting back, tired of being the bad guy for everything that's wrong with the economy.
"It got to a point where enough was enough," said Thomas Belesis, who heads a Wall Street investment company. "We're fed up."
Belesis just yesterday launched "Restore Wall Street," a group whose purpose is to fix Wall Street's tarnished image. He said the president's plan is misguided and won't produce jobs.
"Who's gonna risk their capital, so to speak, in these market conditions? And that unfortunately is going to cause people to veer away from hiring people and creating jobs," he said.
In New York City, Wall Street is a powerful economic engine. Though the financial industry provides six percent all jobs in the city, it contributes nearly a third of all tax revenue collected. Tax the industry more, and New York stands to lose hundreds of millions.
Still, some political observers said it was financial industry's recklessness that caused the economic meltdown, and Obama is right on target to single the industry out.
"They're a problem," said Doug Muzzio, a political expert at Baruch College. "They caused the recession. C'mon. Give the guy a break. He's right. He picked the right enemy here, if you will."
We want to know what you think – has President Obama been unfair to New York? Vote in our poll on the right and submit your thoughts in our comments section below!
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