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8:36 AM PT: Jake Tapper asks another OWS question, specifically on why there haven't been any Wall Street prosecutions. Tapper also asks about Solyndra and Fast & Furious. Obama's answer on the Wall Street question, says that part of the problem is that a lot of what happened with the financial crisis was legal, even though it was immoral. "A lot of practices that should not have been allowed weren't necessarily against the law." He says that's why Dodd-Frank was important. On the Solyndra/F&F question, Obama expressed "complete confidence" in AG Holder. On Solyndra, he points out that it came out of a loan guarantee program that began before he took office. "If we are going to compete the 21st century, we've got to dominate cutting edge technologies" including clean energy. "The loan guarantee program is designed to meet a particular need in the marketplace, he says, especially with China and Europe providing massive subsidies, to keep jobs and technology here in the U.S. He says that inherent in the program is that there is risk: some companies will fail, and Solyndra was one of those companies, but he has "confidence" that the decisions were made completely on the merits.
8:40 AM PT: Next question is whether Obama thinks the U.S. government has the right to dictate how much profits American companies can make. The simple answer: no. How does he plan to stop banks from levying monthly debit card fees? He says we need a consumer financial protection bureau to require completely transparency so consumers know exactly what they are dealing with and are protected from hidden fees.
8:45 AM PT: More on Solyndra. Obama defends the idea that American companies should get some support from the government when it comes to clean energy, given what European counties and China are doing. Sometimes companies are going to fail, he says, but that is by design. It's just the way the program works, he says.
8:49 AM PT: Bill Plante, wonders if Obama is campaigning or negotiating on the jobs bill. "I'm always willing to negotiate," Obama says. But "they've got to do something." If Republicans come to him and say "we've got this great idea for putting teachers back in the classroom" or "we've got this great idea to invest in infrastructure and create construction jobs" then he's eager to sit down and talk. But that's not what's happening, he says. All Republicans want to do are things like patent reform and trade deals, he says, but those ideas aren't enough to strengthen the economy right now. "The response from Republicans has been no, although they haven't given a good reason why." Obama mocks Republican "ideas" for job creation. "Eliminate the EPA?" he asks. Does anybody think that will create jobs?
8:54 AM PT: Ha, Obama points out how insane the GOPistas are for opposing a jobs bill, pointing out that 'job creators' actually do better when people have money in their pockets. Someday maybe these idiots will figure out that Keynesianism is an integral part of market-based economics, not some Marxist plot to undermine America.