The Obama White House is quickly learning the folly of picking fights with private citizens who also happen to buy microphones by the barrel. When the administration attacks Rick Santelli, Jim Cramer, and Rush Limbaugh from the podium in the press briefing room, all three feel compelled to defend themselves vigorously in the face of such high-profile assaults. And, high-profile assaults grant them an even greater audience to whom to defend themselves and repeat their criticisms of Obama. Rush Limbaugh’s audience is up. Rick Santelli is a household name. And, Jim Cramer, with the added moral authority of being a bonafide liberal, continues to lay into the White House:
President Obama’s team, unlike Bush’s team, demonstrates a thinness of skin that shocks me. When I somewhat obviously and empirically judged that the populist Obama administration is exacerbating the crisis with its budget and policies, as evidenced by the incredible decline in the averages since his inauguration, I was met immediately with condescension and ridicule rather than constructive debate or even just benign dismissal. I said to myself, “What the heck? Are they really that blind to the Great Wealth Destruction they are causing with their decisions to demonize the bankers, raise taxes for the wealthy, advocate draconian cap-and-trade policies and upend the health care system? Do they really believe that only the rich own stocks? What do they think we have our retirement accounts in, CDs? Where did they think that the money saved for college went, our mattresses? Do they think the great middle class banks at the First National Bank of Sealy and only the wealthiest traffic in the Standard & Poor’s 500?”…
Cramer concludes with the fact that he agrees with many of Obama’s far-reaching social goals and potential programs, but that doesn’t stop him from questioning his priorities in this crisis:
But all the initiatives he wants to rush, like tax hikes, changes in health care, tinkering with the mortgage deduction — good grief, right now in the midst of the worst housing downturn ever — and the tough cap-and-trade rules, will derail any chance we have of turning this economy around. Instead, they put the Second Great Depression smack on the nation’s table. The markets thought he could stop it; hence the giant relief rally when he was elected. But in fewer than 50 days of his ascendancy, the markets’ hopes were totally dashed and the averages are now forecasting the worst decline since the Great Depression. As someone who listens to what the averages are screaming, I think they are accurately predicting the future.
Well, Jim, as they say: You can’t let a good crisis go to waste.
