WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- President Barack Obama Saturday said the financial reform bill being debated in the U.S. Senate is a step toward economic security for Main Street America.
In the president's weekly radio address, Obama said, "every American had a stake in Wall Street reform."
The president's speech was an effort to connect the dots between the excesses of big banks to the loss of jobs for average citizens and the shuttering of small businesses.
"Small businesses were some of the worst victims of the excessive risk-taking on Wall Street that led to this crisis. Their credit dried up. They had to let people go," Obama said.
Employing a populist theme, Obama said, the bill would "curb unscrupulous lenders, helping secure your family's financial future."
Anyone mistreated by a credit card company or misled by "pages and pages of fine print" had a stake in financial reform, he said.
"I heard from folks about the struggles they've been facing for longer than they care to remember," he said of his trip this week to Buffalo, N.Y.
"Put simply, Wall Street reform will bring greater security to folks on Main Street."
