English subtitles for clip: File:2010-10-23 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President: Over the past two years,
we've won a number of battles to

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defend the interests of the
middle class.

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One of the most important
victories we achieved was the

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passage of Wall Street Reform.

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This was a bill designed to rein
in the secret deals and reckless

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gambling that nearly brought
down the financial system.

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It set new rules so that
taxpayers would never again be

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on the hook for a bailout if a
big financial company went under.

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And reform included the
strongest consumer protections

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in history to put an end to a
lot of the hidden fees,

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deceptive mortgages, and other
abusive practices used to tilt

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the table against ordinary
people in their financial dealings.

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It was a tough fight.

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The special interests poured
millions into a lobbying

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campaign to prevent us from
reforming the system --

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a system that worked a lot
better for them than for middle

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class families.

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Some in the financial industry
were eager to protect a status

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quo that basically allowed them
to play by their own rules --

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and these interests held common
cause with Republican leaders in

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Washington who were looking to
score a political victory in an

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election year.

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But their efforts failed, and we
succeeded in passing reform in

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the hopes of ensuring that we
never again face a crisis like

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the one we've been through --
a crisis that unleashed an

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economic downturn as deep
as any since the Great Depression.

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Even today, we're still digging
out of the damage it unleashed

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on our economy.

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Millions of people are still out
of work.

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Millions of families are still
hurting.

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We're also seeing the
reverberations of this crisis

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with the rise in foreclosures,
and recently we've seen problems

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in foreclosure proceedings --
mistakes that have led to

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disruptions in the housing markets.

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This is only one more piece of
evidence as to why Wall Street

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reform is so necessary.

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In fact, as part of reform, a
new consumer watchdog is now

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standing up.

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It will have just one job --
looking out for ordinary

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consumers in the financial system.

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And this watchdog will have the
authority to guard against

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unfair practices in mortgage
transactions and foreclosures.

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Yet despite the importance of
this law,

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and despite the terrible
economic dislocation caused by

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the failures in our financial
system under the old rules,

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top Republicans in Congress are
now beating the drum to repeal

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all of these reforms and
consumer protections.

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Recently, one of the Republican
leaders in the Senate said that

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if Republicans take charge of
Congress,

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repeal would be one of the first
orders of business.

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And he joins the top Republican
in the House,

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who actually called for the law
to be repealed even before it passed.

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I think that would be a terrible
mistake.

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Our economy depends on a
financial system in which

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everyone competes on a level
playing field and everyone is

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held to the same rules --
whether you're a big bank,

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a small business owner,
or a family looking to buy a house

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or open a credit card.

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And as we saw, without sound
oversight and common sense

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protections for consumers, the
whole economy is put in jeopardy.

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That doesn't serve Main Street,
that doesn't serve Wall Street;

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that doesn't serve anyone.

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And that's why I think it's so
important that we not take this

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country backward -- that we
don't go back to the broken

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system we had before.

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We've got to keep moving
forward.

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Thanks.