Below The Beltway

Or, at least that a few terms in the Illinois Senate, half a term in the U.S. Senate, and nine months in the White House make him qualified to tell banks how to do business:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Banks should return the favor they received in their recent taxpayer-financed bailout by lending more money to small businesses, President Barack Obama said Saturday.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said too many small business owners remain unable to get credit despite administration steps to jump-start lending, which was virtually frozen when the financial crisis took hold last year.

”These are the very taxpayers who stood by America’s banks in a crisis, and now it’s time for our banks to stand by creditworthy small businesses and make the loans they need to open their doors, grow their operations and create new jobs,” Obama said.

”It’s time for those banks to fulfill their responsibility to help ensure a wider recovery, a more secure system and more broadly shared prosperity,” said Obama.

Mr. President, did you ever think that the reason these banks aren’t making loans right now is that because, unlike you, they aren’t wearing rose colored glasses when they look at the state of the economy ? Maybe because they recognize that the risks of things getting worse are greater than the chances of them getting better ?

And you’re wrong about one other thing too — it’s not the bank’s “responsibility” to make loans just because you say so, it’s their responsibility to make a profit for their shareholders and safeguard the assets of their depositors.

So, you know, be quiet.