MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Obama says he shares the “Occupy Wall Street” protestors’ frustrations

Demonstrators marched across the US including Washington DC

United States President Obama on Thursday called the “Occupy Wall Street” protests a reflection of a “broad-based frustration about how our financial system works” and pledged to continue fighting to protect American consumers.

The president, speaking at a press conference, said he had heard about and seen television reports on the recent protests on Wall Street, and noted that “I think it expresses the frustrations that the American people feel.”

“We had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression - huge collateral damage throughout the country, all across Main Street. And yet, you are still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to crack down on abusive practices that got us in the situation in the first place,” Mr. Obama told reporters. “I think people are frustrated.”

Thousands have gathered in downtown Manhattan over the last two-and-a-half weeks to protest greed, corruption, and economic inequality in the US economic system. The demonstrations, which started off as a relatively unheralded effort by a couple hundred mostly young people, have grown into what may be a burgeoning. On Wednesday, a diverse group of unions, having concluded that the demonstrators may have started something important, marched in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.

In recent days, demonstrators across the US have joined on the protests to express their anger over the wobbly economy and what they see as corporate greed. Many of those protesting reject both political parties, saying they've been corrupted by corporate money and are concerned primarily with helping the rich.

President Obama sympathized with the protesters' frustrations on Thursday but contended that the most effective way to fight corruption on Wall Street was through strict consumer protection measures.

“American people understand that not everybody's been following the rules,” he said. “These days, a lot of folks doing the right thing are not rewarded. A lot of folks who are not doing the right thing are rewarded. That will express itself until 2012 and beyond until people feel they are getting back to old-fashioned American values.”

“I think part of people's frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of practices that should not have been allowed weren't necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact,” he said. “And that's why it was important for us to put in place financial rules that protect the American people from reckless decision-making and irresponsible behaviour.”

He pledged: ”I'm going to be fighting every inch of the way here in Washington to make sure that we have a consumer watchdog that is preventing abusive practices by the financial sector”.