The Go-Slow Approach
Day 69
March 29, 2009
"'Show some restraint. Show that you get that this is a crisis and everybody has to make sacrifices.' They agreed and they recognized it. Now the proof in the pudding is in the eating."
—President Obama in an interview with CBS's Face the Nation, on what he told bank CEOs at a recent meeting
"I think the President and I feel like we've got a lot on our plates right now, and let's push that one down the road a little bit."
—Robert Gates, Defense Secretary, in an interview with Fox News Sunday, on the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy
President Obama dishes about his Friday meeting at the White House with top bankers on the Sunday talk-show circuit, telling CBS that he made some progress in explaining the symbolic importance of avoiding excessive compensation. Bankers leave the meeting saying that an Administration proposal to jump-start lending is encouraging.
The President also touches on automakers and Pakistan and Iraq in the wide-ranging interview, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates, much to the dismay of gay-rights activists, dismisses any immediate action from the Administration on "Don't ask, don't tell."
Meanwhile, in advance of his trip to London next week for the G-20 meeting, the President pens an op-ed in the Financial Times calling for leaders to come together for the sake of the global economy.