Obama to Challenge Banks

“Obama will meet Monday with top executives of some of the nation’s biggest lenders. The president is expected to say he wants to see more loans for the sake of economic recovery. He’ll also urge execs to curb compensation, to stop gouging customers with high credit card rates and hidden overdraft fees, and to support financial reform efforts. But some observers question that the administration can make its message stick. The reason: It no longer has much leverage over the banks because it so readily accepted repayment of bailout money — $116 billion in all.”