Obama is celebrating the first anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers. He went to New York to mark the occasion.
(Too bad the anniversary didn't fall on 9/11. Then perhaps Obama would have worked a visit to the World Trade Center site into his schedule. Maybe not.)
From Jeff "Enchanted" Zeleny, the New York Times:
President Obama came to Wall Street on Monday to tout how the nation’s economic outlook has improved from a year ago, but he called on Congress to pass stronger financial regulations this year, as he offered a sharp admonition that “there are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment.”
“Instead of learning the lessons of Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are choosing to ignore them,” Mr. Obama said in a speech at Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan. “They do so not just at their own peril, but at our nation’s.”
The president offered no new policy proposals during a lunchtime speech but sought to use the one-year anniversary of the fall of Lehman Brothers as a moment to mark how the country’s financial system has moved beyond the brink of collapse. As he urged lawmakers to adopt new regulations for Wall Street, he asked executives to accept tougher oversight.
“I want everybody here to hear my words,” Mr. Obama said. “We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis, where too many were motivated only by the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses. Those on Wall Street cannot resume taking risks without regard for consequences, and expect that next time, American taxpayers will be there to break their fall.”
Mr. Obama’s appearance on Wall Street comes a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers touched off a series of extraordinary government interventions in the nation’s business sector. The anniversary also marks the moment that Mr. Obama became steeped in the financial crisis, which dominated the closing chapter of his campaign with Senator John McCain of Arizona.
How dramatic! Obama goes to Wall Street!
I want to know if Obama will mark July 30, 2010, the first anniversary of the Beer Summit.
It was a momentous day in American history.
Obama might not want to acknowledge that anniversary, since it was his inexcusable statement, "the Cambridge acted stupidly," that set the entire Beer Summit in motion.
An anniversary speech would be especially awkward since the White House denied that Obama even made the statement. Robert Gibbs said, "Let me be clear, he was not calling the officer stupid."
Of course, that's positively goofy given the fact that the transcript of Obama's remarks are posted on the White House website. Here.
No. I don't think Obama will be celebrating the Beer Summit anniversary and delivering any lectures. Obama sees the fall of Lehman Brothers as an opportunity to score political points and whip up some class-based outrage.
The Beer Summit, with all its racial baggage, isn't something the allegedly post-racial Obama would want to revisit.
Note to self: Hold a Beer Summit 1st anniversary party on July 30, 2010.
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