Striking a populist tone, Obama called for a fee on the biggest U.S banks to “recover every single dime” the government spent rescuing the financial sector from its worst crisis since the Great Depression.
“My determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people,” Obama told reporters at a White House event.
Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress are seizing on the chance to cast Wall Street as its political foil in a congressional election year when their party is worried Republicans might weaken its majority status.
Obama, who has labeled financial executives “fat cats” for the huge bonuses they have received, is taking an increasingly tougher line against the industry.
Democrats hope that will resonate with an American public furious at multimillion-dollar bonuses being handed out by banks as the middle-class struggles with double-digit unemployment.
The fee is also aimed at helping to reduce the ballooning U.S. budget deficit.
