"I do think at a certain point youve 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 youre providing a good product or youre 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 childs college, or open a business, or save for retirement. So whats working fine for them wasnt working for ordinary Americans. And weve learned that clearly. It doesnt work out fine for the country. Its got to change. (Applause.)
Now, what were doing -- I want to be clear, were not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean,
I do think at a certain point youve made enough money. (Laughter.) But part of the American way is you can just keep on making it if youre providing a good product or youre providing a good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy.
Ive said this before. Ive 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 its 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 werent able to take out a mortgage.
So theres 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 its in our interest when those firms are strong and when theyre healthy.
But some of these institutions that operated irresponsibly, theyre 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 thats fair and honest and in the open, so that we dont have to go through what weve 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.