President Obama said yesterday his next priority will be cheaper mortgages.
“We’ll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs,” Obama said in his second presidential video and radio address.
“Soon my Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families.”
White House aides last week wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Obama will seek more than the $350 billion already set aside to rescue the financial system.
CNN reported yesterday that the Obama economic plan will be pushed back a week, to the second week in February.
The president yesterday said his administration “will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight and clear accountability so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results.”
He also took aim at Wall Street, saying his plan won’t allow corporate executives to siphon away tax dollars to fund big bonuses in the face of financial losses and deep job cuts.
“We learned this week that even as they petitioned for taxpayer assistance, Wall Street firms shamefully paid out nearly $20 billion in bonuses for 2008,” the president said.
“While I’m committed to doing what it takes to maintain the flow of credit, the American people will not excuse or tolerate such arrogance and greed.”
Along with laying his road map for restoring credit and providing affordable mortgages, Obama yesterday urged the Senate to approve his $825 billion economic-stimulus plan.