Business Roundtable Gets President With an Honest Streak

If we are to avoid more busts, then there must be no more bubbles, says Obama.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing...
—Ecclesiastes

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I was rather pleased with President Obama's remarks yesterday before the Business Roundtable in New York City. Particularly impressive was his mentioning the need to end the "bubble to bust" dynamic that has brought the United States to the point of ruin. Clearly, the man "gets it." Structured finance is dead. Now, if only to disprove those who claim the President suffers a "messiah complex," all forward movement should rightly fail any attempt to resurrect Lazarus.

This is so key, and yet so few in positions of authority have courage to lay hold of truth revealing the practical nature of a contemporary battle the likes of which also precipitated this nation's revolutionary formation. A grotesquely leveraged financial system sacrificing posterity for short-term gain is, indeed, anathema to principle defining the United States of America. President Obama said so much with a measure of dignity and strength revealing he is both fit for office and up to the challenge. Take notice because this too is needed if today's grave challenge has any hope of being overcome. The game has only just begun.

—Tom Chechatka