QUINCY, Ill. — President Barack Obama hailed a Senate breakthrough Wednesday on legislation to regulate Wall Street, saying Americans must never again allow the financial practices that triggered an economic meltdown nearly two years ago.
In a campaign-style speech, the president told about 2,300 people in this Mississippi River town that he was pleased to learn that Senate Republicans apparently had agreed to let a financial regulatory bill reach the floor for debate.
“The time for reform is now,” he said.
Republicans later signaled they would drop their objections to moving ahead on the bill.
Obama capped his two-day, three-state Midwestern tour with one of his most sustained criticisms of Wall Street abuses. Some major firms, he said, had operated like casinos, setting up investment instruments in which they would win and some consumers would lose, no matter which way a commodity moved.
Some financial executives had acted as though they were playing with “Monopoly money,” he said, and stockholders should have more say in what these executives are paid and how they run their businesses.
Obama disputed claims that the legislation would lead to further public bailouts. He said he wants to make sure the taxpayer “is never again on the hook when a Wall Street firm fails.”
Obama also reaffirmed the goal of tripling U.S. ethanol production in 12 years. He made the remarks after touring the Poet Biorefining plant in Macon, Mo. A day earlier in Iowa, he toured a plant that builds wind turbines.
Obama’s visit to Missouri, Illinois and Iowa had the feel of a political campaign, with camera-friendly stops for pie and burgers. He hailed the health care overhaul and called for greater investments in renewable energy and in education that can lead to new jobs.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Obama said the trip reminded him of his early days in politics.
“It was a reminder that sometimes there’s a mismatch between the way politics are portrayed in Washington and how people are feeling,” the president said. “I think it’s a less toxic atmosphere.”
