(Community Matters) President Obama w/ Steve Kroft, on a double-length “60 Minutes” last night:
PRESIDENT OBAMA: “The problem is, is that our politics has gotten to the point, where we can’t have an honest conversation about the greatest income inequality since the 1920s. And we can’t have an honest conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying that somehow we’re being divisive. No, we’re being honest about what happened and we’ve got to be honest about how we move forward.” …
KROFT: “[T]here’s a general perception that the Stimulus was not enough. That it really didn’t work.”
OBAMA: “Let me stop you there, Steve. First of all, there’s not a general perception that the stimulus didn’t work. You’ve got John McCain’s former economist and a whole series of prominent economists, who say that it created or saved three million jobs and prevented us from going into a Great Depression. That works. So that’s not true. It is true that some people have argued, given the magnitude of the crisis we were in, we should have done an even larger Recovery Act.” …
KROFT: “Why do you think you deserve to be re-elected? What have you accomplished?”
OBAMA: “Not only saving this country from a Great Depression. Not only saving the auto industry. But putting in place a system in which we’re going to start lowering health care costs and you’re never going to go bankrupt because you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick. Makin’ sure that we have reformed the financial system, so we never again have taxpayer-funded bailouts, and the system is more stable and secure. Ending Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Decimating al Qaeda, including Bin Laden being taken off the field. But you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do. And we’re– we’re going to keep on at it.”…
KROFT, on deficit negotiations: “You gave up a lot. You said you wanted a balanced approach. You didn’t get it. You cut a trillion dollars and set up the framework to cut another trillion plus, and the Republicans gave up nothing. I mean, there are people in your own party who think that you were outmaneuvered … [y]ou were stared down by John Boehner and Grover Norquist and capitulated.”
OBAMA: “Right. Steve, you’ve got to get your story straight, though. … [T]he first argument was that I don’t compromise at all. Now you’re saying I gave up too much. … Both stories can’t be true. (LAUGH) Right?” …
KROFT: “Even among some of your supporters, strongest supporters, there is a sense — a little sense of disappointment. That they thought that you were going to be bolder.”
OBAMA: “That’s opposed to my critics, who think I’ve been this radical socialist. (LAUGH) If my goal was to maintain the extraordinary popularity that I had right after I made my convention speech in 2004, then I would have never left the Senate. I would have been sitting on 70% approval ratings. I wouldn’t have been leading this country, but people would be really attracted, because I wouldn’t have had to make any choices and make any decisions and exercise any responsibility. I took a different path. And as Michelle reminds me, ‘You volunteered for this thing.'”
KROFT: “Have you and Michelle ever had a conversation about whether you should really seek a second term? … [H]ave there been any doubts in your mind about not running again?”
OBAMA: “No. Not because our quality of life might not be better if I were not President. Not because Michelle is so enamored with me being President. But because we both think that what we’re doing is really important for a lot of people out there.” …
KROFT: “You’re being judged now on your performance.”
OBAMA: “No, no, no. … I’m being judged against the ideal. And, you know, Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, ‘Don’t judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.'” …
KROFT: “What do you make of this surge by former Speaker Gingrich?”
OBAMA: “He’s somebody who’s been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates. And, you know, but Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who’s good at politics, as well. He’s had a lot of practice at it. You know, I think that they will be going at it for a while.”
from Politico’s Playbook
Community Matters 
The President is sadly mistaken if he believes that Dodd-Frank has “reformed the financial system.” It has not. Attempts at true reform, including things like the SAFE Banking Act were never supported by the Administration and especially the Treasury Department. It is because of this lack of true reform why so many people see the country headed in the wrong direction. Instead of continously defending people like Tim Geithner, the POTUS should follow the lead of people in his own party like Sherrod Brown and push for significant financial market reform. Until that happens, we run the risk of following the path of Japan after the bursting of their asset bubble – more than a decade of sluggish economic performance. It was a shame that Steve Kroft did not push the POTUS on this issue and it is even more disappointing that the POTUS has continued down this path.