Obama Takes Financial Reform Push to Wall Street

President Obama has taken his campaign for financial reform on the road. On Thursday, he headed straight for the New York financial district.

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Speaking at Cooper Union College in lower Manhattan, just a short distance from the New York Stock Exchange, the president called for limits on the size of banks and the risks they can take, greater transparency into the trading of complex derivatives securities, changes to executive compensation, and stronger consumer protections on mortgages and other loans.

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""It is essential that we learn the lessons of this crisis, so we don't doom ourselves to repeat it,"" Obama said. ""Make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass.""

But it doesn't appear Wall Street-ers were swayed by the president's rhetoric.

Bill McCoach, who works for the mutual fund company Quaker Funds, told _CNN_, ""My big concern is the over-regulation of an already regulated industry. Even in an industry that could use a little more scrutiny, it still can be overdone.""

According to _CNN_, Frank Clemente, a stock broker, was particularly displeased that Obama criticized the financial industry after having accepted political contributions to his presidential campaign from Goldman Sachs, whose CEO was reportedly in the audience.

""He took their money before, so it's kind of hypocritical to attack them now,"" Clemente told the news agency, referring to the recent subprime fraud charges brought against the Wall Street firm by the federal government.

The Senate is expected to vote on a sweeping financial reform bill within the next couple of weeks. A version of the bill has already passed the House.