I was happy to return to my hometown, New York City, on Thursday and Friday with a focus on energy efficiency.  This gave me an opportunity to appreciate New York City in a different way as energy efficiency efforts are underway throughout the five boroughs -- both in policy and in practice.  In the morning, I met with Mayor Bloomberg to discuss New York’s ambitious plan to retrofit buildings to save energy.  This is one example of the work mayors are doing throughout the country to reduce their city's carbon footprint, improve air quality and put people back to work through energy efficiency upgrades.

Later, I visited my home borough of Queens, where I toured the Mason Tenders Training Center to see workers being trained in energy efficiency upgrading and weatherization.  The work they are learning to do -- caulking windows and doors, adding insulation, investigating HVAC systems, replacing energy inefficient light bulbs -- is the type of work that will lower home owners’ energy bills, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create good, green jobs.

Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley views retrofit plans on the rooftop of the West 135th St. Apartments in New York City. January 14, 2010.

Afterwards, I traveled to the West 135th St. Apartments in Harlem to visit the first Section 8 multi-family housing property to receive Recovery Act funding through the Green Retrofit Program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  Jonathan Rose Companies, a New York-based property owner and developer is receiving a $3.6 million loan to retrofit this 198-unit, 10 building historic property.  This loan will fund a comprehensive energy retrofit project that, when completed, will enhance quality of life for the residents, reduce energy costs, cut water consumption, improve indoor air quality, and create quality local jobs.

We see home energy upgrades and retrofits as a part of the President’s vision for a clean energy economy.  That is why I am leading the Administration’s work on Recovery Through Retrofit, which builds on the foundation laid in the Recovery Act to expand green job opportunities and boost energy savings by making homes more energy efficient.  In the U.S., 130 million homes are responsible for more than 20 percent of our carbon emissions.  Energy efficiency retrofits present the opportunity to increase energy efficiency, while also creating new businesses and good green jobs. 

You can learn more about Recovery Through Retrofit on our website.

Nancy Sutley is the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Ed. Note: BlogHer is soliciting questions on the Obama Administration and education from their readers for a live online video chat tomorrow here at WhiteHouse.gov.  Go join their thread, and come back at 11:30AM EST tomorrow for the chat with Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes.

This morning the President and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan paid a visit to Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia where they had a chat with about 30 6th grade students. The conversation put a face to the people they were trying to help with the President's latest investment of more than a billion dollars in next year's budget to amp up the President’s "Race to the Top" program – a competition to incentivize success that has already generated an overwhelming response from states, with over 30 states expected to compete for first-round funding.

You can learn more about Graham Road in the White House background release, but the school made a mark on its community by implementing a comprehensive strategy to turn around student achievement, adopting rigorous and high-quality student assessments, teacher evaluation and professional development, along with innovative and effective use of data systems to track student performance.  As a result, in 2008 all of the school's sixth-graders met Virginia's reading standards, and 96 percent met math standards, despite being one of the lowest income schools in the county. The expansion of Race to the Top comes with a plan to encourage precisely this kind of visionary change in schools that apply for the challenge.

President Barack Obama and Sec. of Education Arne Duncan, right, take questions during a group discussion with 6th grade students at Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, VA. January 19, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In his remarks after the meeting with students, the President explained how it all works, and the logic behind "Race to the Top":

Last year, we set aside more than $4 billion to improve our schools -- one of the largest investments in reform in our nation's history. But we didn't just hand this money out to states that wanted it; we challenged them to compete for it. And it's the competitive nature of this initiative that we believe helps make it so effective. We laid out a few key criteria and said if you meet these tests, we'll reward you by helping you reform your schools. 

First, we encouraged states to adopt more challenging standards that will actually prepare our kids for college and their careers. We also encouraged schools to adopt better assessments -- not just one-size-fits-all approaches -- to measure what our kids know and what they're able to do.

Second, we urged schools and school districts to make sure we have excellent principals leading our schools and great teachers leading our classes by promoting rigorous plans to develop and evaluate teachers and principals and by rewarding their success. 

Third, we urged states to use cutting-edge data systems to track a child's progress throughout their academic career, and to link that child's progress to their teachers so we know what's working and what's not working in the classroom. Fourth, we encouraged states to show a stronger commitment to turning around some of their lowest-performing schools.

And even before states have received a single dime of taxpayer money, many of them have committed to instituting important reforms to better position themselves for a Race to the Top grant. Forty-eight states have now joined a nationwide partnership to develop a common set of rigorous, career-ready standards in reading and math. Wisconsin has enacted legislation permitting schools to link student achievement to the performance of teachers and principals. In Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, California, we've seen changes in laws or policies to let public charter schools expand and succeed. These are public schools with more independence that are formed by teachers, parents, and community members.

So by rewarding some of these states submitting applications today, by extending the Race to the Top for states, by launching a Race to the Top among school districts, and by applying the principles of Race to the Top to other federal programs, we'll build on this success. We're going to raise the bar for all our students and take bigger steps towards closing the achievement gap that denies so many students, especially black and Latino students, a fair shot at their dreams.

This afternoon the President took a few hours to host a conversation with a small group of African American seniors and their grandchildren on the legacy of the civil rights movement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.   They all took a moment to look over the Emancipation Proclamation, which was hung in the Oval Office over a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King.

President Barack Obama views the Emancipation Proclamation with a small group of African American seniors, their grandchildren and some children from the Washington DC area, in the Oval Office. This copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, which is on loan from the Smithsonian Institution, was hung on the wall of the Oval Office today and will be exhibited for six months, before being moved to the Lincoln Bedroom where the original Proclamation was signed by Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, January 18, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

The President gave a few brief remarks afterward:

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody.  We have just had a wonderful conversation.  I want to just tell you a little bit about why we did this.  I think sometimes in celebration of Dr. King's birthday we act as if this history was so long ago. 

And the reason we brought together some elders and some young people very briefly was not just to visit the Oval Office and see the Emancipation Proclamation, which is going to be on loan to us, but it's also just to remind us that there were some extraordinarily courageous young people like Dr. Dorothy Height, like Mrs. Eleanor Banks and Romaine Thomas and her husband, and others who were actively involved in bringing about one of the great moments in United States history.

And so what we've done is we've heard some stories, shared -- Dr. Height has shared with us what it was like meeting Martin Luther King when he was a 15-year-old at Morehouse, visiting there.  We heard from Ms. Glanton, Willie Glanton, who is a great activist in Iowa, about the work that she's done there on behalf of the civil rights movement, reminding us that it wasn't just isolated in some areas.

I am especially proud to have the Harveys here -- Mr. Joseph Harvey and Ms. Mabel Harvey.  Mr. Joseph Harvey is 105, and Ms. Mabel Harvey here is the spry young one at 102.  (Laughter.)  And Ms. Harvey just now was whispering in my ear, as you guys were walking in, that this must be the Lord's doing, because we've come a mighty long way.  (Laughter.)  That's what she said.  And so that's wonderful to hear.   

We've heard from some young people who were sharing in these stories and understanding that this is a living history.  And I was very pleased to hear from Taylor Branch, author of one of the definitive biographies of the civil rights movement and Dr. King.  He shared, I thought, a really interesting idea, which is that not only is Dr. King's birthday a time to celebrate service, to reflect and study on how we had helped to perfect our union, but that it should be a day in which each of us individually also try to stretch out of our comfort zones and try to do something for others and to reach out and learn about things that maybe we've shied away from -- because part of what the civil rights movement was all about was changing people's hearts and minds and breaking out of old customs and old habits.

That's, I think, an important lesson for all of us on this day -- are the things that we can try to do that might have seemed impossible but we know are worth doing, and can we apply those principles that we know to be true in our own lives and our society.

So I'm just so grateful that we had this opportunity to share with everybody.  And I want to wish everybody around the country a day in which they reflect on the extraordinary contributions that ordinary people can make each and every day to make America the most hopeful country in the world.

Thank you very much, everybody.

First Lady Michelle Obama greets a young girl attending an event on the legacy of the civil rights movement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House January 18, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama meet with a small group of African American seniors, their grandchildren, and some children from the DC area, on the legacy of the civil rights movement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House January 18, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

All Americans should be heartened by the recent announcement that the Department of Justice, under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, is strengthening its commitment to fighting crimes of violence against Native American women.

As part of broader DOJ reforms to dramatically improve public safety in tribal communities, the Attorney General recognized that though there is no "quick fix," we "must continue our efforts with federal, state, and tribal partners to identify solutions to the challenges we face."  After holding listening sessions with tribal leaders across the nation, he directed all 44 U.S. Attorneys' Offices with federally recognized tribes in their districts to reinvigorate efforts to combat and prosecute violent crime, particularly against women and children. And he announced an additional $6 million to hire Assistant United States Attorneys—and additional victim specialists—to assist with the ever-growing Indian Country caseload.

After all, for Native American women, even "challenges" may be an understatement. On some reservations, violent crime is more than twenty times the national average—but women tend to suffer most. Some tribes face murder rates against Native American women of more than ten times the national average. And tribal leaders say there are countless more victims of domestic violence and sexual assault whose stories may never be told. As President Obama put it at the White House Tribal Nations Conference on November 5, "the shocking and contemptible fact that one in three Native American women will be raped in their lifetimes is an assault on our national conscience that we can no longer ignore."

The White House strongly supports efforts to strengthen the capability of law enforcement to address public safety needs on reservations, including the announced Justice Department reforms and the Tribal Law and Order Act. That's why at the Tribal Nations Conference, he commended Attorney General Holder for his efforts to ensure greater safety in tribal communities and thanked Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Chairman Byron Dorgan and Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin for their leadership on this important issue.

In his memorandum to U.S. Attorneys, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden explained why the federal government has a responsibility to address the endemic pattern of abuse, assault, and other violence that reservations across the United States face every day. Our unique legal relationship with Native American tribes mandates it. And the 1994 Violence Against Women Act authored by Vice President Biden calls for it. But our national conscience also demands justice.

Only now, we can finally come to expect it, too.

Lynn Rosenthal is the White House Advisor on Violence Against Women

Let it be clear up front that it is well worth considering the President's remarks today in full - by all means simply watch them in their entirety above or read the full transcript. 

As he began his remarks today focused on honoring the legacy and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, President Obama spoke first about the venue in which he spoke:

Now, it's fitting that we do so here, within the four walls of Vermont Avenue Baptist Church -- here, in a church that rose like the phoenix from the ashes of the civil war; here in a church formed by freed slaves, whose founding pastor had worn the union blue; here in a church from whose pews congregants set out for marches and from whom choir anthems of freedom were heard; from whose sanctuary King himself would sermonize from time to time.

The President spoke of the time and problems that Dr. King referred to as the "Challenge of a New Age" - a time when pivotal victories of the Civil Rights struggle had been won in the courts, but when racism still persisted, and when these rulings were still defied in the South:

So it's not hard for us, then, to imagine that moment.  We can imagine folks coming to this church, happy about the boycott being over.  We can also imagine them, though, coming here concerned about their future, sometimes second-guessing strategy, maybe fighting off some creeping doubts, perhaps despairing about whether the movement in which they had placed so many of their hopes -- a movement in which they believed so deeply -- could actually deliver on its promise.
So here we are, more than half a century later, once again facing the challenges of a new age.  Here we are, once more marching toward an unknown future, what I call the Joshua generation to their Moses generation -- the great inheritors of progress paid for with sweat and blood, and sometimes life itself. 

The President went on to discuss the lessons of hope and fortitude that this "Joshua generation" could learn from that "Moses generation": 

First and foremost, they did so by remaining firm in their resolve.  Despite being threatened by sniper fire or planted bombs, by shoving and punching and spitting and angry stares, they adhered to that sweet spirit of resistance, the principles of nonviolence that had accounted for their success.

Second, they understood that as much as our government and our political parties had betrayed them in the past -- as much as our nation itself had betrayed its own ideals -- government, if aligned with the interests of its people, can be -- and must be  -- a force for good.  So they stayed on the Justice Department.  They went into the courts.  They pressured Congress, they pressured their President.  They didn’t give up on this country. They didn’t give up on government.  They didn’t somehow say government was the problem; they said, we're going to change government, we're going to make it better.  Imperfect as it was, they continued to believe in the promise of democracy; in America's constant ability to remake itself, to perfect this union. 

Third, our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn't see progress when it came. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when folks just don't want to see that even if we don't get everything, we're getting something.  (Applause.)  King understood that the desegregation of the Armed Forces didn’t end the civil rights movement, because black and white soldiers still couldn't sit together at the same lunch counter when they came home.  But he still insisted on the rightness of desegregating the Armed Forces.  That was a good first step -- even as he called for more.  He didn’t suggest that somehow by the signing of the Civil Rights that somehow all discrimination would end.  But he also didn’t think that we shouldn’t sign the Civil Rights Act because it hasn’t solved every problem.  Let's take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching.  Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were -- which was progress. 

Fourth, at the core of King's success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals -- of freedom, of justice, of equality -- that spoke to all people, not just some people.  For King understood that without broad support, any movement for civil rights could not be sustained.  That's why he marched with the white auto worker in Detroit.  That's why he linked arm with the Mexican farm worker in California, and united people of all colors in the noble quest for freedom.

Of course, King overcame in other ways as well.  He remained strategically focused on gaining ground -- his eyes on the prize constantly -- understanding that change would not be easy, understand that change wouldn't come overnight, understanding that there would be setbacks and false starts along the way, but understanding, as he said in 1956, that "we can walk and never get weary, because we know there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice."

Even more broadly, he spoke to two of the defining principles both of the Civil Rights era and the entire history of this nation - hard work, and faith.

On hard work:

Progress will only come if we're willing to promote that ethic of hard work, a sense of responsibility, in our own lives. I'm not talking, by the way, just to the African American community.  Sometimes when I say these things people assme, well, he's just talking to black people about working hard.  No, no, no, no.  I'm talking to the American community.  Because somewhere along the way, we, as a nation, began to lose touch with some of our core values.  You know what I'm talking about.  We became enraptured with the false prophets who prophesized an easy path to success, paved with credit cards and home equity loans and get-rich-quick schemes, and the most important thing was to be a celebrity; it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you get on TV.  That's everybody.

And on faith:

It's faith that gives me peace.  The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts.  The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he's been rejected a hundred times.  The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she's teaching she can't reach, that that 10th one she's going to be able to reach.  The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake's wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community.  A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand.  A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.

So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age.  (Applause.)  Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment.  Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we're going to welcome the spring.  Through God all things are possible.  (Applause.)

May the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King continue to inspire us and ennoble our world and all who inhabit it.  And may God bless the United States of America.  Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  (Applause.)

"How can I help?"

That's what former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both asked as the devastating impact of the earthquake in Haiti became clear.  This question brought them to a place they both know well, the Oval Office. There they met with President Obama and agreed to lead a major fundraising effort for relief: the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

In the Rose Garden just after the meeting, President Bush touched on the work that's already being done and the best way for Americans to help:

The challenges down there are immense, but there's a lot of devoted people leading the relief effort, from government personnel who deployed into the disaster zone to the faith-based groups that have made Haiti a calling.

The most effective way for Americans to help the people of Haiti is to contribute money. That money will go to organizations on the ground and will be -- who will be able to effectively spend it. I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water -- just send your cash. One of the things that the President and I will do is to make sure your money is spent wisely. As President Obama said, you can look us up on clintonbushhaitifund.org.

President Clinton reaffirmed his optimism for Haiti's future, despite this enormous challenge for the country:

I believe before this earthquake Haiti had the best chance in my lifetime to escape its history -- a history that Hillary and I have shared a tiny part of. I still believe that. The Haitians want to just amend their development plan to take account of what's happened in Port-au-Prince and west, figure out what they got to do about that, and then go back to implementing it. But it's going to take a lot of help and a long time.

President Obama summed up the importance of the sustained attention and support the two former Presidents will champion:

In any extraordinary catastrophe like this, the first several weeks are just going to involve getting immediate relief on the ground. And there are going to be some tough days over the next several days. People are still trying to figure out how to organize themselves. There's going to be fear, anxiety, a sense of desperation in some cases.

I've been in contact with President Préval. I've been talking to the folks on the ground. We are going to be making slow and steady progress, and the key now is to -- for everybody in Haiti to understand that there is going to be sustained help on the way.

But what these gentlemen are going to be able to do is when the news media starts seeing its attention drift to other things but there's still enormous needs on the ground, these two gentlemen of extraordinary stature I think are going to be able to help ensure that these efforts are sustained. And that's why it's so important and that's why I'm so grateful that they agreed to do it.

As the President continues to work on immediate job creation, he discusses his proposal for a new fee on the largest financial institutions to ensure that every cent of taxpayer assistance gets paid back. Saying that, "we're not going to let Wall Street take the money and run," he then discusses the ongoing push to make sure banks can never put our economy at risk again. 

Earlier this afternoon the President gave another update on the situation in Haiti -- needless to say they still need help.

• Donate $10 to the Red Cross to be charged to your cell phone bill by texting "HAITI" to "90999." 
• Contribute online to the Red Cross.
• Find more ways to help through the Center for International Disaster Information.

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Haitian President René Préval in the Oval Office January 15, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

As we noted this morning, the President had the opportunity to talk with President Preval of Haiti, and that informed his remarks:

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon, everybody.  I wanted to just make a brief statement on the latest situation in Haiti so that the American people are fully up to date on our efforts there.

This morning I spoke with President Préval of Haiti, who has been in regular contact with our ambassador on the ground.  I expressed to President Préval my deepest condolences for the people of Haiti and our strong support for the relief efforts that are underway.

Like so many Haitians, President Préval himself has lost his home, and his government is working under extraordinarily difficult conditions.  Many communications are down and remain -- and many people remain unaccounted for.  The scale of the devastation is extraordinary, as I think all of us are seeing on television, and the losses are heartbreaking.

I pledged America's continued commitment to the government and the people of Haiti -- in the immediate effort to save lives and deliver relief, and in the long-term effort to rebuild.  President Préval and I agreed that it is absolutely essential that these efforts are well coordinated among the United States and the government of Haiti; with the United Nations, which continues to play a central role; and with the many international partners and aid organizations that are now on the ground.

Meanwhile, American resources continue to arrive in Haiti.  Search and rescue efforts continue to work, pulling people out of the rubble.  Our team has saved both the lives of American citizens and Haitian citizens, often under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

This morning, the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived, along with helicopters that will be critical in delivering assistance in the days to come.  They are preparing to move badly needed water, food, and other life-saving supplies to priority areas in Port-au-Prince.  Food, water, and medicine continues to arrive, along with doctors and aid workers.

At the airport, help continues to flow in, not just from the United States but from Brazil, Mexico, Canada, France, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, among others.  This underscores the point that I made to the President this morning:  The entire world stands with the government and the people of Haiti, for in Haiti's devastation, we all see the common humanity that we share.

And as the international community continues to respond, I do believe that America has a continued responsibility to act.  Our nation has a unique capacity to reach out quickly and broadly and to deliver assistance that can save lives. 

That responsibility obviously is magnified when the devastation that's been suffered is so near to us.  Haitians are our neighbors in the Americas, and for Americans they are family and friends.  It's characteristic of the American people to help others in time of such severe need.  That's the spirit that we will need to sustain this effort as it goes forward.  There are going to be many difficult days ahead. 

So, so many people are in need of assistance.  The port continues to be closed, and the roads are damaged.  Food is scarce and so is water.  It will take time to establish distribution points so that we can ensure that resources are delivered safely and effectively and in an orderly fashion.

But I want the people of Haiti to know that we will do what it takes to save lives and to help them get back on their feet.  In this effort I want to thank our people on the ground -- our men and women in uniform, who have moved so swiftly; our civilians and embassy staff, many of whom suffered their own losses in this tragedy; and those members of search and rescue teams from Florida and California and Virginia who have left their homes and their families behind to help others.  To all of them I want you to know that you demonstrate the courage and decency of the American people, and we are extraordinarily proud of you.

I also want to thank the American people more broadly.  In these tough times, you've shown extraordinary compassion, already donating millions of dollars.  I encourage all of you who want to help to do so through whitehouse.gov where you can learn about how to contribute. 

And tomorrow I will be meeting with President Clinton and President George W. Bush here at the White House to discuss how to enlist and help the American people in this recovery and rebuilding effort going forward. 

I would note that as I ended my call with President Préval, he said that he has been extremely touched by the friendship and the generosity of the American people.  It was an emotional moment.  And this President, seeing the devastation around him, passed this message to the American people.  He said, "From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the people of Haiti, thank you, thank you, thank you."

As I told the President, we realize that he needs more help and his country needs more help -- much more.  And in this difficult hour, we will continue to provide it.

Thank you very much.

This morning we woke up to a confusing contradiction.  Banking executives claiming that they simply can't afford to pay back taxpayers for their sacrifice in saving the industry while also increasing lending:

"The money to be collected is capital being pulled out of the banking system that could support ten times the amount in new lending.  That's because $1 in capital supports $10 or more in lending.  So the tax will pull not $90 billion in lending capacity out of the banking system, but nearly $1 trillion in potential lending."

On the same day, the front page of the Wall Street Journal blared "Banks Set for Record Pay," some $145 billion in bonuses and compensation at the very same firms.

Are we missing something?

Just to recap:

For months, Wall Street has told the American people they can't increase lending because there aren’t enough good loans to make – even as business owners with good credit apply every day and are denied the credit vital to recovery.

But now Wall Street executives and their special interest lobbyists have changed their tune: Now they say they won't be able to lend because they might have to pay the American people back for saving the financial sector from ruin.

But why didn't that logic apply when they were sitting in corporate broad rooms adding zeros to their bonus pools?

Let's do the math:
$145 billion = Estimated Bank Compensation and Bonuses in 2009, as reported by the Wall Street Journal
$1.45 trillion = the amount could hypothetically be available for lending based on the logic of the unnamed banking industry executives referenced above

The new signal seems clear: Wall Street is more interested in paying itself billions of dollars in bonuses than in paying back the American people.

There shouldn't be any confusion about where the President stands: The American people deserve to be repaid and that's exactly what's going to happen.

When the President announced the Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee yesterday, he warned that we might hear these complaints of dire impacts from Wall Street  -- less than 24 hours later it is already ringing true.

"We cannot go back to business as usual.  And when we see reports of firms once again engaging in risky bets to reap quick rewards, when we see a return to compensation practices that seem not to reflect what the country has been through, all that looks like business as usual to me.  The financial industry has even launched a massive lobbying campaign, locking arms with the opposition party, to stand in the way of reforms to prevent another crisis.  That, too, unfortunately, is business as usual.  And we're already hearing a hue and cry from Wall Street suggesting that this proposed fee is not only unwelcome but unfair -- that by some twisted logic it is more appropriate for the American people to bear the costs of the bailout, rather than the industry that benefited from it, even though these executives are out there giving themselves huge bonuses."

The taxpayers did not rescue the financial system because they wanted to.  They rescued the financial system because they had to stop its excessive risk and destructive power from pushing the economy from recession to depression.  Wall Street captured enormous benefits as a result of that rescue.  Now they are going to pay it back. 

Dan Pfeiffer is White House Communications Director