Obama Prods 'Fat Cat' Bankers on Reform, Loans

Less than 24 hours after jabbing at "fat cat bankers," Barack Obama rounded up every one of them he could find and prodded them to lend more, modify mortgages, and get behind financial reform methods. "America's banks received extraordinary assistance from American taxpayers to rebuild their industry, and now that they're back on their feet we expect an extraordinary commitment from them to help rebuild our economy," the president said.

Obama also urged the bankers to curb executive compensation and stop gouging customers with high rates and hidden fees. The Roosevelt Room was somewhat sparsely populated, however, because weather had prevented top execs including Lloyd Blankfein and John Mack from flying in. They joined the meeting by video conference. Vikram Pandit was too busy handling Citigroup’s just-announced TARP repayment to attend. (More Barack Obama stories.)