US Economy: Obama finally hits back at the financial community: has he found his inner Populist?

The president brought down the hammer in pointed remarks aimed at the banking community. It was time to choose, he said. Going forward, he warned, you either can engage in commercial banking or in proprietary trading - but no longer both. Just to make sure nobody missed the passion behind his words, Mr. Obama threw a hard jab at what he termed "an army of industry lobbyists from Wall Street descending on Capitol Hill to try and block basic and common-sense rules of the road that would protect our economy and the American people."

The president topped it off with this Bush-like bring-it-on invitation to any interests seeking to block his plans for financial reform.

"So if these folks want a fight, it's a fight I'm ready to have," he said. "And my resolve is only strengthened when I see a return to old practices at some of the very firms fighting reform; and when I see soaring profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms claiming that they can't lend more to small business, they can't keep credit card rates low, they can't pay a fee to refund taxpayers for the bailout without passing on the cost to shareholders or customers -- that's the claims they're making. It's exactly this kind of irresponsibility that makes clear reform is necessary."

For more: Has Obama Found His Inner Populist? - Coop's Corner - CBS News