Obama touts Wall Street reform, economic recovery in face of Republican opposition in weekly address

I believe that the free market is one of the greatest forces for progress in human history, and that the true engine of job creation in this country is the private sector, not the government.

But I also believe that the free market has never been about taking whatever you want, however you can get it. Alongside our innovative spirit, America only prospers when we meet certain obligations to one another, and when we all play by the same set of rules.

President Obama in this morning's weekly address pointed to indications of an improving economy'five million jobs added, a falling unemployment rate'and his signature Wall Street reform legislation to paint a picture of a slowly brightening financial picture for middle-class Americans.

He also lauded the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which next month will offer a new service to ensure that Americans will have a fair shake and can access'and correct'their credit scores, vital in so many areas of personal finance.

The companies that put your credit score together can make mistakes. They may think you had a loan or a credit card that was never yours. They may think you were late making payments when you were on time.  And when they mess up, you're the one who suffers.

Until this week, if you had a complaint, you took it to the company. Sometimes they listened.  Sometimes they didn't. But that was pretty much it. They were your only real hope.

Not anymore. If you have a complaint about your credit score that hasn't been properly addressed, you can go to consumerfinance.gov/complaint and let the consumer watchdog know.

Not only will they bring your complaint directly to the company in question, they'll give you a tracking number, so you can check back and see exactly what's being done on your behalf.

The CFPB, he told listeners, also scored major victories recently, forcing credit card companies to settle with Americans for $400 million.

But, of course, these kind of reforms have a common enemy: Republicans.

That's what Wall Street reform is all about ' looking out for working families and making sure that everyone is playing by the same rules.

Sadly, that hasn't been enough to stop Republicans in Congress from fighting these reforms. Backed by an army of financial industry lobbyists, they've been waging an all-out battle to delay, defund and dismantle these new rules.

I refuse to let that happen.

In conclusion, the president vowed to fight a return to the "an era of top-down, on-your-own economics." We've come too far for that, he said, and sacrificed too much.

To read the transcript in full, check below the fold or visit the White House website.