Remarks by the President on Wall Street Reform

11:50 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Everybody, please have a seat.  Thank you very much.  Well, thank you.  It is good to be back.  (Applause.)  It is good to be back in New York, it is good to be back in the Great Hall at Cooper Union.  (Applause.) 

We’ve got some special guests here that I want to acknowledge.  Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is here in the house.  (Applause.)  Governor David Paterson is here.  (Applause.)  Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.  (Applause.)  State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is here.  (Applause.)  The Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.  (Applause.)  Dr. George Campbell, Jr., president of Cooper Union.  (Applause.)  And all the citywide elected officials who are here.  Thank you very much for your attendance.

It is wonderful to be back in Cooper Union, where generations of leaders and citizens have come to defend their ideas and contest their differences.  It’s also good to be back in Lower Manhattan, a few blocks from Wall Street.  (Laughter.)  It really is good to be back, because Wall Street is the heart of our nation’s financial sector.

Now, since I last spoke here two years ago, our country has been through a terrible trial.  More than 8 million people have lost their jobs.  Countless small businesses have had to shut their doors.  Trillions of dollars in savings have been lost -- forcing seniors to put off retirement, young people to postpone college, entrepreneurs to give up on the dream of starting a company.  And as a nation we were forced to take unprecedented steps to rescue the financial system and the broader economy.

And as a result of the decisions we made -- some of which, let’s face it, were very unpopular -- we are seeing hopeful signs.  A little more than one year ago we were losing an average of 750,000 jobs each month.  Today, America is adding jobs again.  One year ago the economy was shrinking rapidly.  Today the economy is growing.  In fact, we’ve seen the fastest turnaround in growth in nearly three decades.

But you’re here and I’m here because we’ve got more work to do.  Until this progress is felt not just on Wall Street but on Main Street we cannot be satisfied.  Until the millions of our neighbors who are looking for work can find a job, and wages are growing at a meaningful pace, we may be able to claim a technical recovery -- but we will not have truly recovered.  And even as we seek to revive this economy, it’s also incumbent on us to rebuild it stronger than before.  We don’t want an economy that has the same weaknesses that led to this crisis.  And that means addressing some of the underlying problems that led to this turmoil and devastation in the first place.
Now, one of the most significant contributors to this recession was a financial crisis as dire as any we’ve known in generations -- at least since the ’30s.  And that crisis was born of a failure of responsibility -- from Wall Street all the way to Washington -- that brought down many of the world’s largest financial firms and nearly dragged our economy into a second Great Depression.

It was that failure of responsibility that I spoke about when I came to New York more than two years ago -- before the worst of the crisis had unfolded.  It was back in 2007.  And I take no satisfaction in noting that my comments then have largely been borne out by the events that followed.  But I repeat what I said then because it is essential that we learn the lessons from this crisis so we don’t doom ourselves to repeat it.  And make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass -- and that’s an outcome that is unacceptable to me and it’s unacceptable to you, the American people.  (Applause.)

As I said on this stage two years ago, I believe in the power of the free market.  I believe in a strong financial sector that helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings.  That’s part of what has made America what it is.  But a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it.  That’s what happened too often in the years leading up to this crisis.  Some -- and let me be clear, not all -- but some on Wall Street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged there’s family looking to buy a house, or pay for an education, open a business, save for retirement.  What happens on Wall Street has real consequences across the country, across our economy.

I’ve spoken before about the need to build a new foundation for economic growth in the 21st century.  And given the importance of the financial sector, Wall Street reform is an absolutely essential part of that foundation.  Without it, our house will continue to sit on shifting sands, and our families, businesses, and the global economy will be vulnerable to future crises.  That’s why I feel so strongly that we need to enact a set of updated, commonsense rules to ensure accountability on Wall Street and to protect consumers in our financial system.  (Applause.)

Now, here’s the good news:  A comprehensive plan to achieve these reforms has already passed the House of Representatives.  (Applause.)  A Senate version is currently being debated, drawing on ideas from Democrats and Republicans.  Both bills represent significant improvement on the flawed rules that we have in place today, despite the furious effort of industry lobbyists to shape this legislation to their special interests.

And for those of you in the financial sector I'm sure that some of these lobbyists work for you and they’re doing what they are being paid to do.  But I’m here today specifically -- when I speak to the titans of industry here -- because I want to urge you to join us, instead of fighting us in this effort.  (Applause.)  I’m here because I believe that these reforms are, in the end, not only in the best interest of our country, but in the best interest of the financial sector.  And I’m here to explain what reform will look like, and why it matters.

Now, first, the bill being considered in the Senate would create what we did not have before, and that is a way to protect the financial system and the broader economy and American taxpayers in the event that a large financial firm begins to fail.  If there’s a Lehmans or an AIG, how can we respond in a way that doesn’t force taxpayers to pick up the tab or, alternatively, could bring down the whole system.

In an ordinary local bank when it approaches insolvency, we’ve got a process, an orderly process through the FDIC, that ensures that depositors are protected, maintains confidence in the banking system, and it works.  Customers and taxpayers are protected and owners and management lose their equity.  But we don’t have that kind of process designed to contain the failure of a Lehman Brothers or any of the largest and most interconnected financial firms in our country.

     That’s why, when this crisis began, crucial decisions about what would happen to some of the world’s biggest companies -- companies employing tens of thousands of people and holding hundreds of billions of dollars in assets -- had to take place in hurried discussions in the middle of the night.  And that’s why, to save the entire economy from an even worse catastrophe, we had to deploy taxpayer dollars.  Now, much of that money has now been paid back and my administration has proposed a fee to be paid by large financial firms to recover all the money, every dime, because the American people should never have been put in that position in the first place.  (Applause.)

But this is why we need a system to shut these firms down with the least amount of collateral damage to innocent people and innocent businesses.  And from the start, I’ve insisted that the financial industry, not taxpayers, shoulder the costs in the event that a large financial company should falter.  The goal is to make certain that taxpayers are never again on the hook because a firm is deemed “too big to fail.”

Now, there’s a legitimate debate taking place about how best to ensure taxpayers are held harmless in this process.  And that’s a legitimate debate, and I encourage that debate.  But what’s not legitimate is to suggest that somehow the legislation being proposed is going to encourage future taxpayer bailouts, as some have claimed.  That makes for a good sound bite, but it’s not factually accurate.  It is not true.  (Applause.)  In fact, the system as it stands -- the system as it stands is what led to a series of massive, costly taxpayer bailouts.  And it’s only with reform that we can avoid a similar outcome in the future.  In other words, a vote for reform is a vote to put a stop to taxpayer-funded bailouts.  That’s the truth.  End of story.  And nobody should be fooled in this debate.  (Applause.)

By the way, these changes have the added benefit of creating incentives within the industry to ensure that no one company can ever threaten to bring down the whole economy.

To that end, the bill would also enact what’s known as the Volcker Rule -- and there’s a tall guy sitting in the front row here, Paul Volcker -- (applause) -- who we named it after.  And it does something very simple:  It places some limits on the size of banks and the kinds of risks that banking institutions can take.  This will not only safeguard our system against crises, this will also make our system stronger and more competitive by instilling confidence here at home and across the globe.  Markets depend on that confidence.  Part of what led to the turmoil of the past two years was that in the absence of clear rules and sound practices, people didn’t trust that our system was one in which it was safe to invest or lend.  As we’ve seen, that harms all of us.

So by enacting these reforms, we’ll help ensure that our financial system -- and our economy -- continues to be the envy of the world.  That’s the first thing, making sure that we can wind down one firm if it gets into trouble without bringing the whole system down or forcing taxpayers to fund a bailout.

Number two, reform would bring new transparency to many financial markets.  As you know, part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others who were making huge and risky bets, using derivatives and other complicated financial instruments, in ways that defied accountability, or even common sense.  In fact, many practices were so opaque, so confusing, so complex that the people inside the firms didn’t understand them,  much less those who were charged with overseeing them.  They weren’t fully aware of the massive bets that were being placed.  That’s what led Warren Buffett to describe derivatives that were bought and sold with little oversight as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”  That’s what he called them.  And that’s why reform will rein in excess and help ensure that these kinds of transactions take place in the light of day.

     Now, there’s been a great deal of concern about these changes.  So I want to reiterate:  There is a legitimate role for these financial instruments in our economy.  They can help allay risk and spur investment.  And there are a lot of companies that use these instruments to that legitimate end -- they are managing exposure to fluctuating prices or currencies, fluctuating markets.  For example, a business might hedge against rising oil prices by buying a financial product to secure stable fuel costs, so an airlines might have an interest in locking in a decent price.  That’s how markets are supposed to work.  The problem is these markets operated in the shadows of our economy, invisible to regulators, invisible to the public.  So reckless practices were rampant.  Risks accrued until they threatened our entire financial system.

And that’s why these reforms are designed to respect legitimate activities but prevent reckless risk taking.  That’s why we want to ensure that financial products like standardized derivatives are traded out in the open, in the full view of businesses, investors, and those charged with oversight.

And I was encouraged to see a Republican senator join with Democrats this week in moving forward on this issue.  That's a good sign.  (Applause.)  That's a good sign.  For without action, we’ll continue to see what amounts to highly-leveraged, loosely-monitored gambling in our financial system, putting taxpayers and the economy in jeopardy.  And the only people who ought to fear the kind of oversight and transparency that we're proposing are those whose conduct will fail this scrutiny.

Third, this plan would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever.  (Applause.) And that's absolutely necessary because this financial crisis wasn’t just the result of decisions made in the executive suites on Wall Street; it was also the result of decisions made around kitchen tables across America, by folks who took on mortgages and credit cards and auto loans.  And while it’s true that many Americans took on financial obligations that they knew or should have known they could not have afforded, millions of others were, frankly, duped.  They were misled by deceptive terms and conditions, buried deep in the fine print.

And while a few companies made out like bandits by exploiting their customers, our entire economy was made more vulnerable.  Millions of people have now lost their homes.  Tens of millions more have lost value in their homes.  Just about every sector of our economy has felt the pain, whether you’re paving driveways in Arizona, or selling houses in Ohio, or you're doing home repairs in California, or you’re using your home equity to start a small business in Florida.

That’s why we need to give consumers more protection and more power in our financial system.  This is not about stifling competition, stifling innovation; it’s just the opposite.  With a dedicated agency setting ground rules and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system, we will empower consumers with clear and concise information when they’re making financial decisions.  So instead of competing to offer confusing products, companies will compete the old-fashioned way, by offering better products.  And that will mean more choices for consumers, more opportunities for businesses, and more stability in our financial system.  And unless your business model depends on bilking people, there is little to fear from these new rules.  (Applause.)

Number four, the last key component of reform.  These Wall Street reforms will give shareholders new power in the financial system.  They will get what we call a say on pay, a voice with respect to the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives.  And the SEC will have the authority to give shareholders more say in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger role in determining who manages the company in which they’ve placed their savings.

Now, Americans don’t begrudge anybody for success when that success is earned.  But when we read in the past, and sometimes in the present, about enormous executive bonuses at firms -- even as they’re relying on assistance from taxpayers or they’re taking huge risks that threaten the system as a whole or their company is doing badly -- it offends our fundamental values.

Not only that, some of the salaries and bonuses that we’ve seen creates perverse incentives to take reckless risks that contributed to the crisis.  It’s what helped lead to a relentless focus on a company’s next quarter, to the detriment of its next year or its next decade.  And it led to a situation in which folks with the most to lose -- stock and pension holders -- had the least to say in the process.  And that has to change.  (Applause.)

Let me close by saying this.  I have laid out a set of Wall Street reforms.  These are reforms that would put an end to taxpayer bailouts; that would bring complex financial dealings out of the shadows; that would protect consumers; and that would give shareholders more power in the financial system.  But let’s face it, we also need reform in Washington.  (Applause.)  And the debate -- the debate over these changes is a perfect example.

I mean, we have seen battalions of financial industry lobbyists descending on Capitol Hill, firms spending millions to influence the outcome of this debate.  We’ve seen misleading arguments and attacks that are designed not to improve the bill but to weaken or to kill it.  We’ve seen a bipartisan process buckle under the weight of these withering forces, even as we‘ve produced a proposal that by all accounts is a commonsense, reasonable, non-ideological approach to target the root problems that led to the turmoil in our financial sector and ultimately in our entire economy.

     So we’ve seen business as usual in Washington, but I believe we can and must put this kind of cynical politics aside.  We’ve got to put an end to it.  That’s why I’m here today.  (Applause.)  That’s why I’m here today.

And to those of you who are in the financial sector, let me say this, we will not always see eye to eye.  We will not always agree.  But that doesn’t mean that we’ve got to choose between two extremes.  We do not have to choose between markets that are unfettered by even modest protections against crisis, or markets that are stymied by onerous rules that suppress enterprise and innovation.  That is a false choice.  And we need no more proof than the crisis that we’ve just been through.

You see, there has always been a tension between the desire to allow markets to function without interference and the absolute necessity of rules to prevent markets from falling out of kilter.  But managing that tension, one that we’ve debated since the founding of this nation, is what has allowed our country to keep up with a changing world.  For in taking up this debate, in figuring out how to apply well-worn principles with each new age, we ensure that we don’t tip too far one way or the other -- that our democracy remains as dynamic and our economy remains as dynamic as it has in the past.  So, yes, this debate can be contentious.  It can be heated.  But in the end it serves only to make our country stronger.  It has allowed us to adapt and to thrive.

And I read a report recently that I think fairly illustrates this point.  It’s from Time Magazine.  I’m going to quote:  “Through the great banking houses of Manhattan last week ran wild-eyed alarm.  Big bankers stared at one another in anger and astonishment.  A bill just passed… would rivet upon their institutions what they considered a monstrous system… such a system, they felt, would not only rob them of their pride of profession but would reduce all U.S. banking to its lowest level.”  That appeared in Time Magazine in June of 1933.  (Laughter and applause.)  The system that caused so much consternation, so much concern was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, also known as the FDIC, an institution that has successfully secured the deposits of generations of Americans.

In the end, our system only works -- our markets are only free -- when there are basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excesses, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system.  And that is what the reforms we’ve been proposing are designed to achieve -- no more, no less.  And because that is how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers, that it works for investors, and that it works for financial institutions -- in other words, that it works for all of us -- that’s why we’re working so hard to get this stuff passed.

This is the central lesson not only of this crisis but of our history.  It’s what I said when I spoke here two years ago.  Because ultimately, there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street.  We will rise or we will fall together as one nation.  (Applause.)  And that is why I urge all of you to join me.  I urge all of you to join me, to join those who are seeking to pass these commonsense reforms.  And for those of you in the financial industry, I urge you to join me not only because it is in the interest of your industry, but also because it’s in the interest of your country.

Thank you so much.  God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

END
12:16 P.M. EDT

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Remarks by the Vice President Announcing Recovery Act "Retrofit Ramp-Up" Awards on Eve of Earth Day

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Secretary Salazar, Carol Browner is here, Secretary Ray Mabus, Ben Cardin -- I miss seeing you guys every day, Ben.  Dennis Cardoza, I’m told Emanuel Cleaver is here.  I see Marcy is here, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.  Ed Markey, who has gained his congressional Ph.D. on this issue.  I don’t know anybody who knows more about it than he does.  And we also have the -- Mayor Michael Bell, the mayor of Toledo here, Mayor Phil Gordon, the Mayor of Phoenix, and Mayor Michael McGinn of Seattle.  And you’re all welcome.  And I’m sure there’s other very distinguished guests here as well that I have overlooked and I apologize.

Let me start off by saying, and I mean this sincerely, I was a senator a long time.  As a matter of fact, as I left the Senate, as Ben may remember, the Senate historian came in and said -- thinking that he was going to make me feel better -- he pointed out that only 17 senators in American history ever served as long as I did.  And I could feel my heart sinking into my stomach.  I said, “If my father were here, he’d define that as a misspent adulthood.”  (Laughter.) 

But all kidding aside, I have been around awhile.  I served a long time with Gaylord Nelson, who -- he and his wife, Carrie, were great friends.  They were real pioneers back in those early days when I got there, talked about the environment.

I was put on the Public Works Committee when I first got there.  And the first -- the first recommendation I made is we change the name, the Environment and Public Works Committee.  And Mayor Jennings Randolph, or Jennings as he liked to be called, told me that if I made that recommendation again, I was off the committee.  (Laughter.)  You think I’m joking, I’m not.  There’s a lot that’s changed, a lot that’s changed.

And I expected when I took this job I’d have some real opportunities to impact on the formation of policy.  But one of the things I didn’t expect, I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to work with such a tutor.  And I’m not being solicitous.  To have an opportunity to work with the Secretary of Energy on something that I cared a great deal about when I was a senator, to have a man of Secretary Chu’s caliber and his depth of his knowledge and his commitment has genuinely been sort of an ongoing tutorial for me.  And I want to publicly thank you, Mr. Secretary.  (Applause.)

And as that old joke goes, the Secretary has forgotten more about this subject than I’m ever going to know.  But I am as passionately committed to this transition he refers to as I think anyone, as is the President.  I hadn’t planned on doing what I’m about to do today, but today’s announcement by General Motors that it’s paid back -- it’s paid back its TARP loan in full -- in full is a huge accomplishment.

The President of the United States took a lot of heat for that effort, to keep that company alive while it was transitioning.  And I would just like to point out that I am proud to be associated with the guy who saw the necessity to do this.  And this has even exceeded our expectations.  We’ve worked hard to help turn around the nation’s auto industry and give the car companies a chance to be viable without government assistance.  And we helped GM -- we helped out GM so that they could retool, so that they could become a leader in the 21st century.

And we know that building energy-efficient cars with better gas mileage and cleaner emissions is going to be a big part of us being able to succeed, not only the auto industry, but also succeed in our quest for a better environment.  Today, GM paid back the loan in full five years ahead of schedule.  And now GM is in a better position to make them -- make what the market demands, energy-efficient vehicles for a cleaner world.  And that leads me to Earth Day, the reason why we’re here today.

I also want to point out -- I want to thank, by the way, Lisa Jackson, our EPA administrator.  She couldn’t be here today, but we all appreciate the tremendous work that she’s doing having once again -- we now have again an Environmental Protection Agency again.  (Applause.) 

And a happy almost Earth Day to all of you.  I say that because tomorrow is actually the day that officially marks the occasion.  But the truth is we’re here kicking off an entire earth week.  And I hope our administration has kicked off an entire earth administration.  Over the next few days, officials from across our administration will participate in more than a dozen events to celebrate Earth Day.  We’re getting everyone in the administration involved.  And today, the day before Earth Day, we kick off a week for an administration that for -- literally for every day it’s Earth Day for us.  Because this implicates every aspect of our country’s self-interest, from foreign policy to economic policy to environmental policy to health care policy.  This impacts on every aspect -- every aspect of what kind of country we’re going to leave our kids.

And 40 years ago, when Gaylord conceived and celebrated the first Earth Day, the world looked pretty different.  Some of us can remember the public health and environmental catastrophes that propelled Earth Day, the Earth Day movement in the first place, the Cuyahoga River literally catching on fire from all the oil and dumped trash that was in it.  Days of heavy smog in New York City so thick that people actually were dying from being unable to breathe the air.  The list goes on and on and on.  Our planet was sick.  It’s not healthy yet.  But our planet was sick and in need of desperate help.  It’s still in need of real help.       

Because of Gaylord Nelson, and millions of Americans like some of you that are here today who joined him, we begin to make things a little bit better.  Forty years later, the first Earth Day -- from the first Earth Day, the people of the first Earth Day celebration would look around and look out at all of you and they’d be very proud of what all of you have done.  They’d see recycling bins in your houses.  They’d see business spending money to make their facilities more energy efficient.  They’d see men and women heading to work to build and install wind turbines and solar panels and other components for the new energy future.  They’d see an administration building on his legacy, Gaylord’s legacy, protecting and restoring the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf Coast; designating millions of acres of wilderness; saving 1.8 billion barrels of oil by reducing Greenhouse gases by raising fuel efficiency and emissions standards on cars and trucks, pulling us on the right track and by doubling the renewal energy that will be generated in this country.

Since the beginning of the environmental movement, we’ve been trying to transform the way we use energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels to tap into the vast, untapped, renewable energy sources and to use energy more efficiently.  The fact is we’ve been trying for 40 years, and we’ve made some progress.  But we’re now poised to make significantly greater strides, in our view, than ever because of the unprecedented investment in the Recovery Act and the leadership of the President and the Secretary of Energy. 

Even before we took office, the President and myself and our economic team planned to use parts of what we knew had to be -- we didn’t name it the Recovery Act then, but we knew we were going to have to have a Recovery Act.  There were significant parts of that Recovery Act to make investments that would create good jobs today, but while planting the seeds for great industries of tomorrow with clean energy being at the forefront and the heart of all of it.

The world already is transforming, as the Secretary said, to a new energy economy.  And the question is, are we going to lead it or are we going to continue to try to catch up?  We are going to be left behind.  We need to catch up.  With around $80 billion in clean energy investments, the Recovery Act is the largest single investment in clean energy in our history.  If you just took that piece out of the Recovery Act and passed it as a stand-alone bill, it’s the largest investment ever made in the history of the country in clean energy. 

But we’re not just doing this with government funds.  We’re using government to provide the seed money to grow private industries.  And some of the initiatives that you mayors have going with the private sector in your communities is a model for what we should be doing.  Twenty-three billion dollars in renewable energy generation and advanced energy manufacturing, which will likely leverage more than $43 billion in additional investment; $2.4 billion in battery technology, matched by another $2.4 billion in private capital to help build energy-efficient cars of the future.

In January of ’09, there were two advanced battery factories in America.  By 2015, there will be 30.  The smart grid, $3.4 billion in government investment led to $4.7 billion in private investment to help get us to a stronger, more efficient, more reliable energy grid; $2.3 billion, which is likely to leverage $5.4 billion in private capital to put us back on track to double our capacity to manufacture the components of a new, green economy in America from wind turbines to solar panels to create energy that’s renewable.  Renewable resources to batteries and smart grid systems to store that -- and transmit that energy, to technologies like advanced lighting that help conserve energy.

We’re going to start making that stuff here in America with American workers.  We’re going to be coming up to you guys in the House and the Senate and asking for 48C to be bumped up to $5 billion so we could be making this stuff in America. 

And today, we’re announcing another important Recovery Act program, the “Retrofit Ramp-Up.”  Now, I wonder what sometimes our constituents think when we come up with these names.  (Laughter.)  The “Retrofit Ramp-Up.”  We all in this room know what it is.  We may be the only ones who know exactly what it means.  (Laughter.)  But it’s a kind of a buzz word, retrofits.  But what we’re really talking about here is simple.  It’s about making our homes and our office buildings more efficient and more comfortable and more affordable, replacing windows and doors.  I have visited, along with some of the people in the front row, new window and door factories making incredibly -- incredibly energy-efficient windows and doors, which can save billions of dollars over time.  Putting in new air conditioning or heating units that are much more efficient.  Sealing up cracks and openings where air can leak into and out of your home.  That’s retrofitting -- small stuff, but big, big, big savings.

In fact, retrofitting existing homes has the potential to cut more than $21 billion a year annually in our energy cost.  There are more than 100 million homes in America.  In the last year, only 40,000 took advantage of the energy-saving retrofits.  It’s not that homeowners don’t want to lower their energy bills; it’s just that they found that the process was too difficult, from accessing energy audits to finding skilled retrofit workers to simply being able to afford it. 

Now, last fall the Middle Class Task Force, which the President asked me to chair, and the Council on Environmental Equality released a report that called the recovery retrofit -- explaining how we’re working to overcome the challenges that got in the way of homeowners taking advantage of this.  And these grants that we’re announcing today are grants to 25 communities nationwide, and are a major step in the direction of making this much easier to do, much more efficient, and much more likely to happen.

This program is all about developing innovative models that can be expanded throughout the country.  And there are a couple that are particularly important things about these grants that we should mention.  First, these grants are focused on encouraging entire neighborhoods, entire neighborhoods to take advantage of the retrofits all at the same time.  Right now, most retrofit work programs are on a house by house basis.  The construction crew may come into a neighborhood, upgrade one home one week, and then they have to come back to work in a neighborhood home a few weeks later, maybe the same neighborhood. 

Well, the Retrofit* Ramp-up* award winners are taking a different approach.  Now, that -- the same construction crew would upgrade all the homes on the same block at the same time.  That saves contractors time and money.  They can pass the savings on to their customers.  And it’s just a much more efficient way to operate.  And these communities aren’t just relying on these grants.  They’ll use this as seed money to leverage an additional $2.8 billion over the next three years.  That’s a total of five dollars for every dollar -- every dollar of grant money.  And they’re doing this by building partnerships between local governments, utility companies, financial institutions, and nonprofits.  Whole communities are coming together to get this going, and when we look around you’ll see it.  And you’ll see more and more of it as the months go on.          

I know there are some people from the Philadelphia mayor’s office that are here today.  This has been one of Mayor Nutter’s hobby horses.  Well, their city has a plan to work with private lenders to connect homeowners to easy access, affordable loans to pay for retrofit work.  The Mayor of Toledo, Mike Bell, is here.  Toledo’s program will provide career training, job placement, and mentoring for people actually going to be doing this work.  The Mayor of Phoenix, Phil Gordon, is here.  Just about -- just talk about partnerships, his city is partnering with Arizona State University Community Colleges, local utility companies, and five local banks to carry out a comprehensive retrofit program focusing on buildings surrounding Phoenix’s new light rail line. 

Investing in retrofits is a triple win.  It’s a win for consumers who save money on their energy bill.  It’s a win for the environment because we’re using less energy, which cuts down on harmful emissions from greenhouse gases.  And, finally, it’s a win for the American economy, because it creates green jobs, jobs that can’t be outsourced. 

Now, with so many worthy applications, not everyone got funds today.  But the Department of Energy is still working to find more opportunities to get cities to get involved in programs like this.  But it’s not just cities.  We also want to encourage millions of Americans across the country to retrofit their homes.  That’s why the President has made it a priority to pass legislation creating a new energy-efficient rebate program that we call “Homestar.”

And, by the way, I was home the last two weekends going to Home Depot both times, one, to buy a 30-inch hedge clipper, because my wife was very dissatisfied with our hedges.  (Laughter.)  You all think I’m kidding.  (Laughter.)  I am not kidding.  (Laughter.)  Anyway -- anyway, and the other one was to take my almost four-year-old grandson, Hunter, who said, “Pop, I don’t got a tape measurer.”  So he had to get a tape measurer.  He’s stolen four of mine.  He can’t find them.  But we went to get another tape measurer.  (Laughter.)  But all kidding aside, they asked about the program, the guys working the aisles, the women working the aisles, they asked about the program.

Under this program homeowners will be eligible for rebates worth up to $1,005 for simple home upgrades like replacing an old water heater, putting in those new windows that I talked about.  If you decide to do a comprehensive retrofit of your whole house, you’d be eligible for a rebate up to $3,000.  Homeowners won’t have to fill out forms, send it in the mail, and wait for the check to arrive.  They’ll get rebates up front from the hardware store or the contractor.

The Homestar rebate program is going to create tens of thousands of jobs in industries like construction, manufacturing, and I might add, sales.  These people, there are going to be people in Home Depot and -- I shouldn’t just be talking about Home Depot -- but, you know, a lot of other places.  (Laughter.)  Lowes, that's the other one in my neighborhood.  (Laughter.)

Anyway -- (laughter) -- they’re jobs, and people need jobs -- jobs in manufacturing, in all those areas where people have suffered very badly because of this recession.

At the same time, we’re going to reduce our energy consumption, and families are going to save hundreds of dollars on the utility bills.  And that makes a big difference.

You know, in the -- it’s a commonsense idea that has bipartisan support.  So we’re calling on Congress to get this bill on the President’s desk as soon as possible.  But of course to really get this right, to really free ourselves from the grip of foreign oil, to really preserve our planet for generations to come, we need a comprehensive energy climate bill.  That's something that Chairman Markey has been working on and my good friend, John Kerry, along with Lindsay Graham and others in the Senate side.  I am hopeful, I am hopeful.

We’re grateful to the House for passing the bill last year.  And I want to thank all the House members because that was not an easy vote at the time to take.  But you were dead right.  The bill was a good, solid bill.  You passed a bill and we continue working with both Democrats and Republicans to get it passed through the Senate.

You know, it’s a political cliché to say we’re trying to change the world.  But, you know, it’s most -- in it’s most literal sense, that's what we’re trying to begin to do here today.  We’ve got to change the world. 

Does anybody think we can lead the world in the 21st century with the energy policy we’ve had in the last century?  Does anybody think we can leave a planet to my grandchildren and their grandchildren that is sustainable without a fundamental change in the way we do business? 

But this is a case where, as the Secretary pointed out, not just for the United States but for the world, this can become a win-win situation.  You know, it used to be when the construction trades and the building trades would support us, when we’d say, “green” that meant, oh, god, the snail darter, we’re not going to have a building, we’re not going to build a dam, we’re not going to -- people are beginning to understand green means a cleaner economy, and green means jobs, green.  Green means economic advancement across the board.

You know, making the world itself better, the air we breathe, the water we drink, the mountains our children will climb, the lakes they’ll swim in, that's why Gaylord Nelson started Earth Day 40 years ago, and that's why you’re all here today. 

And I want to thank you all for helping us literally change the world.  So thank you all folks.  And may God bless you all and may God bless protect our troops.  Keep it up.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

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WEEKLY ADDRESS: President Obama Says We Must Move Forward on Wall Street Reform

WASHINGTON – In his weekly address, President Barack Obama said that in the wake of the economic crisis Wall Street reform is too important an issue for inaction.  The plan moving through Congress will end bailouts, hold Wall Street accountable, and protect consumers, taxpayers and the economy from the kind of abuses that helped bring about the economic crisis.  Every day without reform, those abuses, and the system which allowed them, remain in place.  It is time to move forward with real reforms for Wall Street.

The audio and video will be available online at www.whitehouse.gov at 6:00 am ET, Saturday, April 17, 2010.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
The White House
April 17, 2010

There were many causes of the turmoil that ripped through our economy over the past two years.  But above all, this crisis was caused by failures in the financial industry.  What is clear is that this crisis could have been avoided if Wall Street firms were more accountable, if financial dealings were more transparent, and if consumers and shareholders were given more information and authority to make decisions.

But that did not happen.  And that’s because special interests have waged a relentless campaign to thwart even basic, common-sense rules – rules to prevent abuse and protect consumers.  In fact, the financial industry and its powerful lobby have opposed modest safeguards against the kinds of reckless risks and bad practices that led to this very crisis. 

The consequences of this failure of responsibility – from Wall Street to Washington – are all around us: 8 million jobs lost, trillions in savings erased, countless dreams diminished or denied.  I believe we have to do everything we can to ensure that no crisis like this ever happens again.  That’s why I’m fighting so hard to pass a set of Wall Street reforms and consumer protections.  A plan for reform is currently moving through Congress.

Here’s what this plan would do.  First, it would enact the strongest consumer financial protections ever.  It would put consumers back in the driver’s seat by forcing big banks and credit card companies to provide clear, understandable information so that Americans can make financial decisions that work best for them. 

Next, these reforms would bring new transparency to financial dealings.  Part of what led to this crisis was firms like AIG and others making huge and risky bets – using things like derivatives – without accountability.  Warren Buffett himself once described derivatives bought and sold with little oversight as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”  That’s why through reform we’d help ensure that these kinds of complicated financial transactions take place on an open market.  Because, ultimately, it is a marketplace that is open, free, and fair that will allow our economy to flourish.

We would also close loopholes to stop the kind of recklessness and irresponsibility we’ve seen.  It’s these loopholes that allowed executives to take risks that not only endangered their companies, but also our entire economy.  And we’re going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make – not taxpayers.  Simply put, this means no more taxpayer bailouts.  Never again will taxpayers be on the hook because a financial company is deemed “too big to fail.”

Finally, these reforms hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders new power in the financial system.  They’ll get a say on pay: a vote on the salaries and bonuses awarded to top executives.  And the SEC will ensure that shareholders have more power in corporate elections, so that investors and pension holders have a stronger voice in determining what happens with their life savings.

Now, unsurprisingly, these reforms have not exactly been welcomed by the people who profit from the status quo – as well their allies in Washington.  This is probably why the special interests have spent a lot of time and money lobbying to kill or weaken the bill.  Just the other day, in fact, the Leader of the Senate Republicans and the Chair of the Republican Senate campaign committee met with two dozen top Wall Street executives to talk about how to block progress on this issue.

Lo and behold, when he returned to Washington, the Senate Republican Leader came out against the common-sense reforms we’ve proposed.  In doing so, he made the cynical and deceptive assertion that reform would somehow enable future bailouts – when he knows that it would do just the opposite.  Every day we don’t act, the same system that led to bailouts remains in place – with the exact same loopholes and the exact same liabilities.  And if we don’t change what led to the crisis, we’ll doom ourselves to repeat it.  That’s the truth.  Opposing reform will leave taxpayers on the hook if a crisis like this ever happens again.

So my hope is that we can put this kind of politics aside.  My hope is that Democrats and Republicans can find common ground and move forward together.  But this is certain: one way or another, we will move forward.  This issue is too important.  The costs of inaction are too great.  We will hold Wall Street accountable.  We will protect and empower consumers in our financial system. That’s what reform is all about. That’s what we’re fighting for.  And that’s exactly what we’re going to achieve.

Thank you.

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