Obama Criticizes 'Burdens' of Market

Senator Obama said today that America must ensure that Wall Street's economic prosperity is shared with all Americans.

In remarks delivered at the Nasdaq market in Times Square this morning, Mr. Obama said the free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever one can, however one can.

"Like all of you, I believe in free trade," he said, addressing a business group, the Executive Council, which hosted the speech. "But we have to acknowledge that for millions of Americans, its burdens have been outweighing its benefits."

He called on executives in the audience to support his economic agenda and spoke about the Americans he's met who feel they have been sidelined by the global economy.

"I think we must admit that those who have benefited from the new global marketplace — and that includes almost everyone in this room — have not always concerned themselves with the losers in this new economy," he said.

Mr. Obama said the mortgage meltdown could result in nearly 2.5 million homeowners losing their homes. He proposed establishing a federal definition of mortgage fraud and creating a metric by which consumers could easily compare mortgage plans.

He said government must also investigate the relationship between rating agencies and their clients and proposed creating a credit card rating system to help consumers understand the level of risk they face when opening a new account.

Mr. Obama is scheduled to unveil a set of tax proposals tomorrow at the Tax Policy Center in Washington. He said today that he wants to modernize and simplify the tax code and give "a break to middle-class Americans, to seniors, and the homeowners who are feeling today's anxieties and uncertainty."