State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016Obama, Barack
General
State of the Union Addresses of Barack Obama, 2009-2016
Obama, Barack
Presidents -- United States -- Messages; United States -- Politics and government -- Sources
So if you are a big bank or financial institution, you're no longer
allowed to make risky bets with your customers' deposits. You're
required to write out a "living will" that details exactly how you'll
pay the bills if you fail, because the rest of us are not bailing you
out ever again. And if you're a mortgage lender or a payday lender or a
credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they
can't afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices, those days
are over. Today, American consumers finally have a watchdog in Richard
Cordray, with one job: to look out for them.
We'll also establish a financial crimes unit of highly trained
investigators to crack down on large-scale fraud and protect people's
investments. Some financial firms violate major antifraud laws because
there's no real penalty for being a repeat offender. That's bad for
consumers, and it's bad for the vast majority of bankers and financial
service professionals who do the right thing. So pass legislation that
makes the penalties for fraud count.
And tonight I'm asking my Attorney General to create a special unit of
Federal prosecutors and leading State attorney general to expand our
investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky
mortgages that led to the housing crisis. This new unit will hold
accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners,
and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many
Americans.
Now, a return to the American values of fair play and shared
responsibility will help protect our people and our economy. But it
should also guide us as we look to pay down our debt and invest in our
future.
Right now our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on a
hundred and sixty million working Americans while the recovery is still
fragile. People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year.
There are plenty of ways to get this done. So let's agree right here,
right now. No side issues. No drama. Pass the payroll tax cut without
delay. Let's get it done.
When it comes to the deficit, we've already agreed to more than $2
trillion in cuts and savings. But we need to do more, and that means
making choices. Right now we're poised to spend nearly $1 trillion more
on what was supposed to be a temporary tax break for the wealthiest 2
percent of Americans. Right now because of loopholes and shelters in
the Tax Code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than
millions of middle class households. Right now Warren Buffett pays a
lower tax rate than his secretary.
Do we want to keep these tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans? Or do
we want to keep our investments in everything else, like education and
medical research, a strong military and care for our veterans? Because
if we're serious about paying down our debt, we can't do both.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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