Bloomberg: Obama Wall Street Attacks Hurting NYC

NEW YORK [CBS] — President Barack Obama met with House and Senate leaders to push bills to regulate the finance industry. But with Wall Street paying $8 billion a year in New York City taxes officials fear this rage against Wall Street will be another blow to new our already crippled economy.

Obama’s crusade against Wall Street has gone political. The Obama-controlled Democratic National Committee has begun an ad campaign to rally support for a crackdown.

“Wall Street’s risk and greed cost us trillions,” one ad claims.

This as the president met with congressional leaders on Wednesday to demand reforms.

“An unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail them out when things go sour is simply not acceptable,” Obama said recently.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others fear that rage against Wall Street will go too far, hurting an industry as important to our state as oil is to Texas or corn is to Iowa.

“My goal is to see that strong, forwarded-looking legislation passes that makes sure the mistakes that Wall Street made don’t happen again,” Sen. Charles Schumer said.

“But at the same time many want to prevent it from being vindictive, punitive or harmful to New York.”

Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, said the business community is worried about the president’s desire to break up big companies and curtail their activities.

“There’s a line in the bill that would make credit rating agencies, which employ thousands of people in New York. It would make them cannon fodder for trial lawyers,” Wylde said. “Make it much easier to sue them on a very unfair basis.”

CBS 2 HD gauged how some New Yorkers feel.

“I think a lot of the Wall Street and a lot of the businesses need to have everybody see their books,” said Vincent D’Elia of Hell’s Kitchen.

“You do more sanctions on Wall Street they’re going to get around them. Wall Street is going to be Wall Street. You’re not going to fix Wall Street,” added Martin Grumet of the Upper East Side.

“Everybody’s losing money. There has to be something done,” Veronica Julia of the Lower East Side said.

Banks and other financial services companies generate one quarter of all the taxes collected here, so anything that hurts their revenue really puts the squeeze on the City’s economy.

The president also wants tighter controls on hedge funds and risky mortgage loans.