Obama picks 3 financial regulators

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Political Reporter

Saying there needs to be “a shift in ethics on Wall Street,” President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday introduced three new appointees he plans to put in charge of financial regulatory agencies.

Citing recent banking scandals, Obama said his appointees will work to correct them — but he conceded better regulators will not necessarily prevent another financial meltdown.

“We can have the best regulators in the world, but everybody from CEOs to shareholders to investors are going to have to be asking themselves, not only is this profitable, not only whether this will boost my bonus but is it right?” Obama said at a news conference at the Drake Hotel in Chicago.

Obama also defended his choice of conservative evangelical leader Rick Warren to speak at his inauguration, even though Warren has angered some of Obama's gay and lesbian supporters.

“It's no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans,” Obama said. “What I've also said is it is important for America to come together even though we have disagreements on certain social issues.”

Obama noted that Warren knew Obama disagreed with him on homosexuality and abortion but invited him to speak at his church anyway.

“And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign's been all about,” Obama said. “During the course of the entire inaugural festivities, there are going to be a wide range of viewpoints that are presented. And that's how it should be, because that's what America is about. That's part of the magic of this country is that we are diverse and noisy and opinionated.”

Obama's nominees introduced Thursday included: Mary Schapiro as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Gary Gensler as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and Dan Tarullo as a governor on the Federal Reserve Board.

Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel — who the Sun-Times reported Thursday spoke directly to Gov. Blagojevich about naming Obama's friend Valerie Jarrett to the U.S. Senate — watched Obama speak Thursday, but was the first one to leave the room after the news conference, taking no questions.