United States President Barack Obama has lashed out once more at bankers and stock market traders still earning huge bonuses while millions of US citizens are unemployed.

In an interview with the US broadcaster CBS, to be broadcast on Sunday evening, Mr Obama said he “did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street."

He repeated that bankers were the cause of the economic crisis and noted that many of them continue to earn millions of dollars in bonuses. He said he was angry that the same bankers are now fighting tooth and nail against more outside control of the financial sector.

The US House of Representatives recently passed a bill that would give regulators the power to dismantle giant financial firms to prevent a collapse, and ensure that shareholders and unsecured creditors, not taxpayers, bear the losses. It would also reinforce the powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission to detect irregularities that could provide an early warning of fraudulent investment schemes.

The House approved the bill 223-202 Friday. However, not only did it receive no Republican votes but 27 Democrats also voted against it. Mr Obama said Republicans and financial industry lobbyists were doing all they could to block the passage of the bill, which comes before the US Senate in 2010. Opponents say it would stifle innovation.

Photo of President Barack Obama by EPA