Obama: Wall Street protests symptom of 'frustration'

US President Barack Obama
© AFP Saul Loeb

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama said Thursday that anti-Wall Street protests in New York and beyond were an expression of public anger over the antics of bankers and frustration over the moribund economy.

“I have seen it on TV and I think it expresses the frustration that the American people feel,” Obama said in a White House news conference, when asked about the “Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

Obama argued that people disliked top bankers and financial firms which caused the crisis trying to fight regulation.

“You’re still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place,” he said.

“I think people are frustrated and, you know, the protesters are giving voice to a more broad based frustration about how our financial system works.”

Obama argued that with his Wall Street reform bill, his administration had made serious efforts to crack down on irresponsibility in the financial sector that had helped caused the financial crisis.

He also denied that he was by nature hostile to Wall Street and big business.

“I have said before and I will continue to repeat, we have to have a strong, effective financial sector in order for us to grow,” Obama said.

“I used up a lot of political capital and I’ve got the dings and bruises to prove it in order to make sure that we prevented a financial meltdown and that banks stayed afloat.”