Obama Did Not Say What I Thought He Said, or Did He?

I watched some of the very puzzling 60 Minutes interview with President Obama. I so wanted his explanations to make sense. Steve Kroft seemed to repeat the Prez's poll numbers endlessly, as if that was the only issue worth asking about. Then I thought I heard something that made my brain hurt.

I checked the transcript, and here's the part of the exchange I needed played back:

KROFT: One of the things that surprised me the most about this poll is that 42%, when asked who your policies favor the most, 42% said Wall Street. Only 35% said average Americans. My suspicion is some of that may have to do with the fact that there's not been any prosecutions, criminal prosecutions, of people on Wall Street. And that the civil charges that have been brought have often resulted in what many people think have been slap on the wrists, fines. "Cost of doing business," I think you called it in the Kansas speech. Are you disappointed by that?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think you're absolutely right in your interpretation. And, you know, I can't, as President of the United States, comment on the decisions about particular prosecutions. That's the job of the Justice Department. And we keep those things separate, so that there's no political influence on decisions made by professional prosecutors. I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn't illegal.

That's exactly why we had to change the laws. And that's why we put in place the toughest financial reform package since F.D.R. and the Great Depression. And that law is not yet fully implemented, but already what we're doing is we've said to banks, "You know what? You can't take wild risks with other people's money. You can't expect a taxpayer bailout. We're gonna ask you to set up a living will, so that if you are going down, we've already figured how to break it up, without harming the rest of the economy."

[...]  [emphasis mine]

Wait, if there were settlements signed, usually without admission of any wrongdoing, then only the settlements' terms clear the companies of criminality!

He's basically saying what the SEC usually says: Hey, we can't prosecute, because we don't have the time, resources, or people to do it. Therefore, company X, sign here, here, and here, and go with our blessing. All we want it a check.

This is a surprisingly tone-deaf statement, especially with the Occupy Wall Street movement proving at last that, yes, people are paying a tiny bit of attention.

Got to hand it to the companies that get charged, they simply pay the government to complete their coverups for them. Nice.

And as long as we've "changed the laws," we can now prosecute a greater volume of no one at a much faster pace! We can sell these settlements just like the Medieval church sold indulgences. No crime involved: Just sign here, here, and here.