April 19, 2009
White House economic adviser Larry Summers told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President Obama plans to join a push planned by congressional Democrats on “credit card abuses” as part of looking out for the little guy while rebuilding the nation’s financial system.
"We need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it," Summers said.
Summers told moderator David Gregory that Obama is concerned about “the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into.”
On other matters, Summers said he was “surprised” by the outpouring of conservative rage on Tax Day that took the form of mock “tea parties” around the country.
“You know, I don't know that much about politics, but I’ve been surprised by these tea parties a bit,” Summer said. “The President is the one proposing cutting taxes on virtually all Americans, so I'm not sure who these tea parties see as being King George."
After a series of notably upbeat statements on the economy from the administration, Summers was repeatedly cautious.
“It's gonna be a long road,” Summers said. “We’ve seen some more mixed statistics after a period when there were no positive statistics to be found. But it's a, it’s a long road, and it's going to take time.
Other highlights of the interview:
SUMMERS, answering Gregory’s question on whether he is worried that all of these recovery efforts on the part of administration are helping Wall Street and not Main Street: “What’s most important to the President is what’s most important, I think, for all your viewers, is that we get this economy going again. It's gonna be a long road. We’ve seen some more mixed statistics after a period when there were no positive statistics to be found. But it's a, it’s a long road, and it's going to take time. It's going to take creating jobs again. That's why the recovery bill was so important. It's going to take supporting the financial system because without flow of credit, you really can't even begin to get the economy going again. That's where our main focus is.
“As for the financial markets, I could tell you that the President is pushing very hard for a very strong program of regulation that is gonna correct many of the mistakes that were made last time around. He's going to be very focused, in a very near term, on a whole set of issues having to do with credit card abuses, having to do with the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into, he’s going to be pushing on issues relating to what's known as systemic risk, the concern that an institution gets itself into a situation where it becomes itself a source of risk to the whole, to the whole financial system.”
SUMMERS, ON PAUL KRUGMAN WARNING NOT TO COUNT THE RECOVERY BEFORE IT’S HATCHED: “You know, I disagree with Paul about a lot of things, but he is right to be raising cautions. That's why, when I just spoke about the economy, I said that after a period when, when everything was negative, there was now some mixture in the indicators. We don't know what, we don’t know, we can't know with certainty what's going to happen next, and there certainly are real risks ahead.”
GREGORY TRIES FOR A TAX PLEDGE: "Is the President pledging that he will not raise taxes on anybody …earning less than $250,000?"
SUMMERS: "The President made clear what his policy is, and the budget is an articulation of the President's policy, and what actually does is reduce tax burdens for those making $250,000. And it has contained, the stimulus bill contains a tax cut for 95 percent of all Americans."
GREGORY: "And he won't reverse that at any point to fund these priorities?'
SUMMERS: "I think I’ve made it very clear where the President is and where the President is going. I mean, he’s made it completely evident during the presidential campaign, since he took office, that the focus is going to be right there on raising the incomes of middle-income families.”
Gregory concluded by asking Summers his “goals for the capitalist system that emerges out of this financial crisis.”
SUMMERS: “We’re gonna need a less leveraged economy. That means three things: it means a much better regulated financial system, and that's what the President is already hard at work on, with Chairman Frank in the House and Chairman Dodd in the Senate. It means that individuals are going to have to save more, that’s why savings incentives are so important. That's why we need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it, so that our households are again saving, and families are again preparing to send kids to college, for their retirement, and so forth. And third, we are going to need a government, that ultimately gets back to the kind of place we had it in the 1990s, where it’s a contributor of savings to the economy rather than a drain. Those are all objectives we’re working towards in the long run. But, David, if we don't firmly establish recovery, we’re gonna be able to get to any of those things. And that's why the first focus has to be on making sure that we get an expansion going, and that's what all of us in the administration are working so hard to implement that recovery and reinvestment act, to put in place the financial stability program, to contain the damage in the housing market.”
Source:
Yahoo! News by Mike Allen, Harry Siegel Mike Allen, Harry Siegel
I just found this news item on Yahoo today. I hope that soon the credit companies will have to start taking responsibility for the rates and hidden fees they are charging people. It really isn't fair to consumers and I think they definately need to be more regulated. If it wasn't for my APR being jacked for no reason, I wouldn't even be filing BK.
White House economic adviser Larry Summers told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President Obama plans to join a push planned by congressional Democrats on “credit card abuses” as part of looking out for the little guy while rebuilding the nation’s financial system.
"We need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it," Summers said.
Summers told moderator David Gregory that Obama is concerned about “the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into.”
On other matters, Summers said he was “surprised” by the outpouring of conservative rage on Tax Day that took the form of mock “tea parties” around the country.
“You know, I don't know that much about politics, but I’ve been surprised by these tea parties a bit,” Summer said. “The President is the one proposing cutting taxes on virtually all Americans, so I'm not sure who these tea parties see as being King George."
After a series of notably upbeat statements on the economy from the administration, Summers was repeatedly cautious.
“It's gonna be a long road,” Summers said. “We’ve seen some more mixed statistics after a period when there were no positive statistics to be found. But it's a, it’s a long road, and it's going to take time.
Other highlights of the interview:
SUMMERS, answering Gregory’s question on whether he is worried that all of these recovery efforts on the part of administration are helping Wall Street and not Main Street: “What’s most important to the President is what’s most important, I think, for all your viewers, is that we get this economy going again. It's gonna be a long road. We’ve seen some more mixed statistics after a period when there were no positive statistics to be found. But it's a, it’s a long road, and it's going to take time. It's going to take creating jobs again. That's why the recovery bill was so important. It's going to take supporting the financial system because without flow of credit, you really can't even begin to get the economy going again. That's where our main focus is.
“As for the financial markets, I could tell you that the President is pushing very hard for a very strong program of regulation that is gonna correct many of the mistakes that were made last time around. He's going to be very focused, in a very near term, on a whole set of issues having to do with credit card abuses, having to do with the way people have been deceived into paying extraordinarily high rates that they wouldn't have paid if they knew what they were getting themselves into, he’s going to be pushing on issues relating to what's known as systemic risk, the concern that an institution gets itself into a situation where it becomes itself a source of risk to the whole, to the whole financial system.”
SUMMERS, ON PAUL KRUGMAN WARNING NOT TO COUNT THE RECOVERY BEFORE IT’S HATCHED: “You know, I disagree with Paul about a lot of things, but he is right to be raising cautions. That's why, when I just spoke about the economy, I said that after a period when, when everything was negative, there was now some mixture in the indicators. We don't know what, we don’t know, we can't know with certainty what's going to happen next, and there certainly are real risks ahead.”
GREGORY TRIES FOR A TAX PLEDGE: "Is the President pledging that he will not raise taxes on anybody …earning less than $250,000?"
SUMMERS: "The President made clear what his policy is, and the budget is an articulation of the President's policy, and what actually does is reduce tax burdens for those making $250,000. And it has contained, the stimulus bill contains a tax cut for 95 percent of all Americans."
GREGORY: "And he won't reverse that at any point to fund these priorities?'
SUMMERS: "I think I’ve made it very clear where the President is and where the President is going. I mean, he’s made it completely evident during the presidential campaign, since he took office, that the focus is going to be right there on raising the incomes of middle-income families.”
Gregory concluded by asking Summers his “goals for the capitalist system that emerges out of this financial crisis.”
SUMMERS: “We’re gonna need a less leveraged economy. That means three things: it means a much better regulated financial system, and that's what the President is already hard at work on, with Chairman Frank in the House and Chairman Dodd in the Senate. It means that individuals are going to have to save more, that’s why savings incentives are so important. That's why we need to do things to stop the marketing of credit in ways that addicts people to it, so that our households are again saving, and families are again preparing to send kids to college, for their retirement, and so forth. And third, we are going to need a government, that ultimately gets back to the kind of place we had it in the 1990s, where it’s a contributor of savings to the economy rather than a drain. Those are all objectives we’re working towards in the long run. But, David, if we don't firmly establish recovery, we’re gonna be able to get to any of those things. And that's why the first focus has to be on making sure that we get an expansion going, and that's what all of us in the administration are working so hard to implement that recovery and reinvestment act, to put in place the financial stability program, to contain the damage in the housing market.”
Source:
Yahoo! News by Mike Allen, Harry Siegel Mike Allen, Harry Siegel
I just found this news item on Yahoo today. I hope that soon the credit companies will have to start taking responsibility for the rates and hidden fees they are charging people. It really isn't fair to consumers and I think they definately need to be more regulated. If it wasn't for my APR being jacked for no reason, I wouldn't even be filing BK.
* Discharged 8/25/09!
Comment