US Presidency
2010

But when we read in the past, and sometimes in the present, about enormous executive bonuses at firms even as they're relying on assistance from taxpayers or they're taking huge risks that threaten the system as a whole or their company is doing badly it offends our fundamental values. Not only that, some of the salaries and bonuses that we've seen creates perverse incentives to take reckless risks that contributed to the crisis. It's what helped lead to a relentless focus on a company's next quarter, to the detriment of its next year or its next decade. And it led to a situation in which folks with the most to lose stock and pension holders had the least to say in the process. And that has to change. Let me close by saying this. I have laid out a set of Wall Street reforms. These are reforms that would put an end to taxpayer bailouts; that would bring complex financial dealings out of the shadows; that would protect consumers; and that would give shareholders more power in the financial system.