"I do think at a certain point youÂ’ve made enough money"
I know you pseudo-conned type love to put everything into 2 second sound bytes but do try and take the time to understand the context of the above 11 words from a speech. Here is the very next line :
"But part of the American way is you can just keep on making it if youÂ’re providing a good product or youÂ’re providing a good service."
It was in this section of his speech:
We had a system where some on Wall Street could take these risks without fear of failure, because they keep the profits when it was working, and as soon as it went south, they expected you to cover their losses. So it was one of those heads, they tail -- tails, you lose.
So they failed to consider that behind every dollar that they traded, all that leverage they were generating, acting like it was Monopoly money, there were real families out who were trying to finance a home, or pay for their childÂ’s college, or open a business, or save for retirement. So whatÂ’s working fine for them wasnÂ’t working for ordinary Americans. And weÂ’ve learned that clearly. It doesnÂ’t work out fine for the country. ItÂ’s got to change. (Applause.)
Now, what weÂ’re doing -- I want to be clear, weÂ’re not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean,
I do think at a certain point youÂ’ve made enough money. (Laughter.) But part of the American way is you can just keep on making it if youÂ’re providing a good product or youÂ’re providing a good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy.
IÂ’ve said this before. IÂ’ve said this on Wall Street just last week. I believe in the power of the free market. And I believe in a strong financial system. And when itÂ’s working right, financial institutions, they help make possible families buying homes, and businesses growing, and new ideas taking flight. An entrepreneur may have a great idea, but he may need to borrow some money to make it happen. It would be hard for a lot of us to buy a house -- our first house, at least, if we werenÂ’t able to take out a mortgage.
So thereÂ’s nothing wrong with a financial system that helps the economy expand. And there are a lot of good people in the financial industry who are doing things the right way. And itÂ’s in our interest when those firms are strong and when theyÂ’re healthy.
But some of these institutions that operated irresponsibly, theyÂ’re not just threatening themselves -- they threaten the whole economy. And they threaten your dreams, your prospects, everything that you worked so hard to build.
So we just want them to operate in a way thatÂ’s fair and honest and in the open, so that we donÂ’t have to go through what weÂ’ve already gone through. (Applause.)
Remarks by the President on Wall Street Reform in Quincy, Illinois | The White House
So your argument is disingenuous at best. Typical of the pseudo-cons however.