The real Barack Obama

Early in the Great Recession (still ongoing at this date, 15 March 2018) in the wake of the global financial collapse of 2007-2008, new POTUS Barack Obama, elected under the slogan “Change We Can Believe In”, met with his real constituents, the masters of the universe, the overlords of the lords of Wall Street, to bend the knee.  The date was 27 March 2009.

Present at the meeting besides POTUS 44 were Ken Chenault, of American Express; Ken Lewis, of Bank of America; Robert Kelly, of Bank of New York-Mellon; Vikram Pandit, of Citigroup; John Koskinen, of Freddie Mac; of Lloyd Blankfein, of Goldman Sachs; Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan-Chase; John Mack, of Morgan Stanley; Rick Waddell, of Northern Trust; James Rohr, of PNC Financial Services; Ronald Logue, of State Street; Richard Davis, of US Bank; and John Stumpf, of Wells Fargo.

According to Ron Suskind’s insider account, Confidence Men, this is what he told them:

“My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks. You guys have an acute public-relations problem that’s turning into a political problem. And I want to help. But you need to show that you get that this is a crisis and that everyone has to make some sacrifices. I’m not out there to go after you. I’m protecting you. But if I’m going to shield you from public and congressional anger, you have to give me something to work with on these issues of compensation.”

With that statement, POTUS 44 showed his true colors, who he really came to office to work for.  There would be no hope and no change, just more of the same.  So close are his ties to Wall Street that Citigroup picked his entire cabinet but for one member.

At the start of his first term, Obama had an amazing approval rating of 80+%.  For his first Congress, he had a virtual supermajority in both houses, with fifty-seven Democrats in the Senate and two hundred fifty-eight Democrats in the House of Representatives.  Obama failed to change things not because he could not do but because he had no desire to do so.  He really doesn’t give a flying fuck about the American people, and neither do the Democratic establishment.