Protests against corporate greed and economic inequality are spreading across the United States.
Thousands of social justice activists gathered in Washington yesterday, as the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York last month expanded to protests in more than a dozen US cities.
They included Tampa, Trenton, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Norfolk, Chicago, St Louis, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
With support from labour unions boosting the protesters' ranks, organisers predicted momentum would continue to build.
As the protests spread, President Barack Obama blamed banks for the country's economic woes.
Mr Obama said that the anti-Wall Street protests were an expression of public anger over the antics of bankers and frustration over the flagging economy.
"I have seen it on TV and I think it expresses the frustration that the American people feel," Mr Obama said in a White House news conference.
He argued that people disliked top bankers and financial firms that caused the crisis trying to fight regulation.
"You're still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this problem in the first place," he said.
"I think people are frustrated and, you know, the protesters are giving voice to a more broad based frustration about how our financial system works."
Mr Obama argued that with his Wall Street reform bill, his administration had made serious efforts to crack down on irresponsibility in the financial sector that had helped caused the financial crisis.
He also denied that he was by nature hostile to Wall Street and big business.
"I have said before and I will continue to repeat, we have to have a strong, effective financial sector in order for us to grow," he said.
"I used up a lot of political capital and I've got the dings and bruises to prove it in order to make sure that we prevented a financial meltdown and that banks stayed afloat."
Vice-President Joe Biden likened the protest movement to the Tea Party, which sprang to life in 2009 after President Obama's election and has become a powerful conservative grass-roots force helping elect dozens of Republicans to office.
"The American people do not think the system is fair," Mr Biden said.
