Day after day CNBC hosts cry about free market capitalism, lower taxes and corporate bonuses. From Larry Kudlow to Dennis Kneale to Michelle Caruso Cabrera to Melissa Francis to Rick Santelli; they sit by and cheerlead for Wall Street excess. They are outraged when the government comes up with plans to try to keep people in their homes and prevent foreclosures. But when the government gives commercial banks and investment firms 750 billion dollars, that is just fine. CNBC is a cheerleader for Wall Street and Wall Street executives. Today, CNBC is complaining about a war on the rich because they will see a tax increase.
I listened to Francis, Kneale and Caruso Cabrera complain about CEO pay caps for banks that took TARP funding. They complained with a straight face about how does the government expect executives to live off $500,000 per year? This is ludicrous. The average American makes nowhere close to that type of money and is paying taxes so that these executives can stay in business after running their companies into the ground. No matter what lies banks tell; it is obvious that without government funding they were all bankrupt. All of the banks said that they didn’t need the money but has anyone given it back? No, and the truth is they can’t afford to right now because the US banking industry is insolvent.
I listen to Larry Kudlow call a stock market bottom day after day as the market sinks to new lows. He talks about stimulating the economy through business cuts and fails to acknowledge that Reaganomics started this deficit that we now have. Business tax credits and eliminating capital gains taxes only benefit the rich. According to NPR,” In 2006, the 400 richest Americans had an average income of $263 million, a 23 percent jump over the previous year, the Internal Revenue Service says. That same year, the very wealthy paid, on average, an effective tax rate of 17 percent — the lowest in 15 years.” Sometimes I wonder do rich people think that they should ever pay taxes?
What is CNBC’s solution to the auto industry? Let it fail. What about people who are losing their home? They need to be foreclosed on. How about an economic stimulus bill? That’s just more unnecessary spending. What about the banking industry? You have to bail them out because it imposes a “systemic risk” to the economy. What bout CEO’s paying executives huge bonuses or sponsoring stadiums and sporting events with taxpayer funds? You have to do that to keep your top talent. It’s class warfare pure and simple. If you help the middle class or lower middle class, that is called socialism. We are becoming Sweden or Cuba. If you help big business and wealthy executives, it is patriotic. You are doing the right thing for your country. i actually listened to an “economist” at CNBC argue that increasing unemployment benefits will cause many people to quit their jobs and just live off unemployment. Who can live a qualitative life off of unemployment in America in 2009?
The interviews with Wall Street CEO’s are a joke. They never ask any tough questions and then ask the CEO, what he or she thinks the government needs to do to help them? That’s like me burning my house down and then someone asking me what I think is the best way to rebuild my house. CNBC has no credibility. Recently CNBC tried to do an “objective: analysis of General Electric, the parent of CNBC. I own GE stock so I wanted to see what they would say. CNBC spent the entire time praising CEO Jeff Immelt for turning down his 12 million dollar bonus. CNBC did not mention that GE is expected to report a huge loss next quarter and the company has done nothing but go down since Immelt took over. This is just one example that shows how CNBC defends Wall Street while not caring at all about Main Street.
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If only there was a government watchdog, you know something like a commission on securities and exchanges that would investigate the blatant misinformation that CNBC and MSNBC (Scarborough told his viewers this morning to buy GE) has foisted on investors. Buyer beware, this stock is a turkey and you can bet that the GE/Universal cable talking heads will continue to push it even as it approaches $1.