In a press conference on Thursday President Obama described the Occupy Wall Street movement as something which “I think [the movement] expresses the frustrations that the American people feel that we had the biggest financial crisis since the great depression, huge collateral damage all across the country, all across main street. Yet, you're still seeing the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on abusive practices that got us into this mess in the first place. I think people are frustrated. The protestors are giving voice to a more broad based frustration about how our financial system works.”

The president’s words came after weeks of silence on the movement, and to many without a direct statement of support, are not enough. While President Obama did not endorse occupy wall street directly, his expression of understanding shows that demonstrators are being heard from the high places.

During the conference the president expressed urgency in passing his $450 billion jobs plan, and supported a plan drafted by Democrats in the Senate to use a 5% surtax on millionaires to help fund it, saying “Our economy really needs a jolt right now,” Obama then ripped into the GOP, saying that he’d tried to work with them for two years and now it was time to bring the issue “to the American people so they know what is going on.” Suggesting a possible end to the President’s readiness to relent to the GOP’s demands.