English subtitles for clip: File:2010-04-17 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President: There were many causes
of the turmoil that ripped through 

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economy over the past two years.

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But above all, this crisis
was caused by the failures in

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the financial industry.

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What's clear is that this
crisis could have been avoided

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if Wall Street firms
were more accountable,

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if financial dealings
were more transparent,

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and if consumers and
shareholders were given more

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information and authority
to make decisions.

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But that didn't happen.

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And that's because special
interests have waged a

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relentless campaign
to thwart even basic,

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common-sense rules -- rules
to prevent abuse and protect consumers.

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In fact, the financial industry
and its powerful lobby have

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opposed modest safeguards
against the kinds of reckless

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risks and bad practices that
led to this very crisis.

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The consequences of this
failure of responsibility --

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from Wall Street
to Washington --

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are all around us:
8 million jobs lost,

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trillions in savings erased,
countless dreams diminished or denied.

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I believe we have to do
everything we can to ensure that

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no crisis like this
ever happens again.

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And that's why I'm fighting
so hard to pass a set of Wall

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Street reforms and
consumer protections.

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A plan for reform is currently
moving through Congress.

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Here's what this plan would do.

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First, it would enact the
strongest consumer financial

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protections ever.

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It would put consumers back in
the driver's seat by forcing big

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banks and credit card
companies to provide clear,

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understandable information
so that Americans can make

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financial decisions
that work best for them.

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Next, these reforms would bring
new transparency to financial dealings.

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Part of what led to this crisis
was firms like AIG and others

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making huge and risky bets --
using things like derivatives --

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without accountability.

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Warren Buffett himself once
described derivatives bought and

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sold with little oversight as
"financial weapons of mass destruction."

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That's why through reform we'd
help ensure that these kind of

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complicated financial
transactions take place on an

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open market.

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Because, ultimately, it is a
marketplace that is open, free,

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and fair that will allow
our economy to flourish.

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We'd also close loopholes
to stop the kind of recklessness

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and irresponsibility
that we've seen.

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It's these loopholes that
allowed executives to take risks

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that not only endangered
their companies,

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but also our entire economy.

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And we're going to put in place
new rules so that big banks and

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financial institutions will pay
for the bad decisions they make

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-- not taxpayers.

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Simply put, this means no
more taxpayer bailouts.

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Never again will taxpayers be
on the hook because a financial

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company is deemed
"too big to fail."

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Finally, these reforms hold Wall
Street accountable by giving

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shareholders new power
in the financial system.

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They'll get a say on pay: a vote
on the salaries and bonuses

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awarded to top executives.

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And the SEC will ensure that
shareholders have more power in

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corporate elections, so that
investors and pension holders

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have a stronger voice in
determining what happens with

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their life savings.

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Now, unsurprisingly, these
reforms have not exactly been

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welcomed by the people who
profit from the status quo --

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as well their allies
in Washington.

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This is probably why the special
interests have spent a lot of

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time and a lot of money lobbying
to kill or weaken the bill.

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Just the other day, in fact, the
Leader of the Senate Republicans

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and the Chair of the Republican
Senate campaign committee met

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with two dozen top Wall Street
executives to talk about how to

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block progress on this issue.

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Lo and behold, when he
returned to Washington,

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the Senate Republican
Leader came out against

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common-sense reforms
that we've proposed.

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In doing so, he made the cynical
and deceptive assertion that

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reform would somehow
enable future bailouts --

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when he knows that it would
do exactly the opposite.

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Every day we don't act, the same
system that led to bailouts

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remains in place -- with the exact
same loopholes and the

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exact same liabilities.

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And if we don't change
what led to the crisis,

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we will doom ourselves
to repeat it.

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That's the truth.

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Opposing reform will leave
taxpayers on the hook if a

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crisis like this
ever happens again.

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So my hope is that we can put
this kind of politics aside.

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My hope is that Democrats and
Republicans can find common

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ground and move
forward together.

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But this is certain: one way or
another, we will move forward.

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This issue is too important.

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The costs of inaction
are too great.

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We will hold Wall
Street accountable.

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We will protect and empower
consumers in our financial system.

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That's what reform is all about.

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That's what we're fighting for.

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And that's exactly what
we're going to achieve.

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Thanks so much.