Santelli's Chicago Tea Party [video transcript and NRO's interview]

various | February 19, 2009

[Tolik]

The VIDEO that went viral

Full Transcript (thanks to http://freedomeden.blogspot.com/2009/02/rick-santelli-tea-party.html)
 

RICK SANTELLI: The government is promoting bad behavior. Because we certainly don't want to put stimulus forth and give people a whopping $8 or $10 in their check, and think that they ought to save it, and in terms of modifications... I'll tell you what, I have an idea.

You know, the new administration's big on computers and technology-- How about this, President and new administration? Why don't you put up a website to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages; or would we like to at least buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and give them to people that might have a chance to actually prosper down the road, and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water?

TRADER ON FLOOR: That's a novel idea.

(Applause, cheering)

JOE KERNEN: Hey, Rick... Oh, boy. They're like putty in your hands. Did you hear...?

SANTELLI: No they're not, Joe. They're not like putty in our hands. This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills? Raise their hand.

(Booing)

President Obama, are you listening?

TRADER: How 'bout we all stop paying our mortgage? It's a moral hazard.

KERNEN: It's like mob rule here. I'm getting scared. I'm glad I'm...

CARL QUINTANILLA: Get some bricks and bats...

SANTELLI: Don't get scared, Joe. They're already scaring you. You know, Cuba used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy. They moved from the individual to the collective. Now, they're driving '54 Chevys, maybe the last great car to come out of Detroit.

KERNEN: They're driving them on water, too, which is a little strange to watch.

SANTELLI: There you go.

KERNEN: Hey Rick, how about the notion that, Wilbur pointed out, you can go down to 2% on the mortgage...

SANTELLI: You could go down to -2%. They can't afford the house.

KERNEN: ...and still have 40%, and still have 40% not be able to do it. So why are they in the house? Why are we trying to keep them in the house?

SANTELLI: I know Mr. Summers is a great economist, but boy, I'd love the answer to that one.

REBECCA QUICK: Wow. Wilbur, you get people fired up.

SANTELLI: We're thinking of having a Chicago Tea Party in July. All you capitalists that want to show up to Lake Michigan, I'm gonna start organizing.

(Whistling, cheering)

QUICK: What are you dumping in, what are you dumping in this time? Housing...?

SANTELLI: We're going to be dumping in some derivative securities. What do you think about that?

QUINTANILLA: Mayor Daley is marshalling the police right now.

KERNEN: Rabble-rouser.

QUINTANILLA: The National Guard.

After Jason Roney of Sharmac Capital makes some comments, it's back to Santelli.
 

QUINTANILLA: You know, Rick, one of our producers says if Roland Burris steps down, man, "Senator Santelli," the junior senator from Illinois. It's a possibility. I'm just saying...

SANTELLI: Do you think I want to take a shower every hour? The last place I'm ever gonna live or work is D.C.

KERNEN: Have you raised any money for Blago?

SANTELLI: No, but I think that somebody's gonna have to start raising money for us.

QUICK: Hey, Rick? Can you do that one more time, just get the mob behind you again?

QUINATILLA: Have the camera pull way out.

QUICK: Yeah, pull way out. Everybody listen to Rick Santelli.

KERNEN: He can't... I don't think... You can't just do it at will, can you Rick? I mean, you have to say something.

QUICK: No, do it at will. Let's see.

SANTELLI: Listen, all's I know is, is that there's only about 5% of the floor population here right now, and I talk loud enough they can all hear me. So if you want to ask 'em anything, let me know. These guys are pretty straight forward, and my guess is, a pretty good statistical cross-section of America, the silent majority.

QUICK: Not so silent majority today. So Rick, are they opposed to the housing thing, to the stimulus package, to everything out there?

SANTELLI: You know, they're pretty much of the notion that you can't buy your way into prosperity, and if the multiplier that all of these Washington economists are selling us is over... that we never have to worry about the economy again. The government should spend a trillion dollars an hour because we'll get 1.5 trillion back.

WILBUR ROSS: Rick, I congratulate you on your new incarnation as a revolutionary leader.

SANTELLI: Somebody needs one. I'll tell you what, if you read our founding fathers, people like Benjamin Franklin and Jefferson,... What we're doing in this country now is making them roll over in their graves.

[Tolik]

Thursday, February 19, 2009

NRO Talks to CNBC's Rick Santelli   [Stephen Spruiell]

Earlier today, Kathryn posted a link to the video of CNBC's Rick Santelli giving voice to what he described as a groundswell of discontent over the president's new mortgage plan. I caught up with Santelli just moments ago and talked to him about what he says has been "kind of a crazy day."

National Review Online: Were you expecting anything like this reaction?

Rick Santelli: Not at all, not at all. It was just, after 48 hours of listening to hundreds of people trying to approach me on floors, on trains, everywhere, the opinions were almost unanimous, and I just tried to pick up that thread. The pits weren’t open at the time and the traders that were on the floor getting ready for the opening all started to gravitate to where I was talking, and it just took on a life of its own.

NRO: When we posted a link to the video, we were swamped with e-mails in support, including a couple from traders at the Board of Trade in Chicago, who have been saying right on. How have the e-mails that you’ve been getting, how have they been running?

Santelli: I’ll be honest with you, I think I’ve gotten somewhere between 850-900, and I think I had three that were negative.

NRO: What are that small group of critics saying? Where do they think you went wrong?

Santelli: They thought I was uncharitable, got up on the wrong side of the bed, had no compassion for people who are going through rough times, and that isn’t at all the issue. The issue is, you can’t pick out 8 or 9 percent and give them things that weaken the 90 or 92 percent who are carrying the water. You need to come up with legislation that may help the people that need it but not hurt the people that… listen, my 401k’s a 201k, my kid’s college tuition is going up 10 percent. This is tough for everybody. Maybe a tax break, maybe everybody who has a house gets something. They need to quit picking winners and losers, and they have to quit alienating the classes. You have to figure out a way to float all boats, and I think that’s where the administration has gone wrong, and I think that’s the nerve I hit.

NRO: You were also skeptical of the original bailout plan, specifically the way that it seemed to be a “Let’s rush through this and figure out the details later” kind of approach. Do you think your predictions on that have been borne out by events?

Santelli: I remember this all started roughly in the summer of ’07, and at that point, that Halloween that followed in ’07, I think I said something like, Frankenstein derivatives aren’t going to be resuscitated. These bad positions are going to hang around until they’re taken out. As an ex-trader—I traded for 20 years—bad positions don’t go away. There’s not enough money for many of these banks to sell them, because of what it does to their balance sheets. At the end of the day, whether it’s housing or whether it’s toxic derivatives, I just don’t think you can spend your way into correcting something that’s going to be painful and make it not painful. So I think I’ve been kind of spot-on in many ways as to the spending plans.

At the end of the day, it’s simple. A lot of the president’s advisers are saying that there’s a multiplier effect to the government money, and it’s over one. Now if that’s true, then the government should spend non-stop for the rest of our lives, because we’ll get a positive return. And it makes no sense.

NRO: Right. And now it seems we passed this bailout bill without specifying any of the details, it’s kind of become a blank check, and they say that Barack Obama can do something like 80 percent of his homeowner-assistance plan without even asking Congress. So how do you think that plays out in the future?

Santelli: I guess in the end, I believe in the founding fathers, and I believe that in America... the pursuit of happiness and to work hard and keep the fruits of your labor is something I believe in. And I’m not saying we should forget people who need help. But at the end of the day, Americans are strong and they’re charitable. I think what they have a problem with is that it’s force-fed via the government.

02/19 04:13 PM

[Tolik]

VIVA Santelli's Chicago Tea Party!

the following is a PARTIAL list of posts on the subject; I am sure there will be more!

if indexed properly, they will be found here: http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/santelli/index

TRADERS REVOLT: CNBC HOST CALLS FOR NEW 'TEA PARTY'; CHICAGO FLOOR MOCKS OBAMA PLAN

http://www.drudgereport.com ^
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 11:37:47 AM by kcvl

Per Drudge:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1039849853

CNBC Floor Commentator Outburst "Obama are you Listening?"(SILENT MAJORITY ALERT)

CNBC.com ^ | 2/18/2009 | Rick Santelli
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 8:35:24 AM by longtermmemmory

Freep This Poll (Are you ready to join the Santelli Chicago Tea Party?)
	02/20/2009 6:15:40 AM PST · by Man50D · 1 reply · 298+ views radiovoiceonline.com/live ^
‘Today’ Triple-Teams Santelli
	02/20/2009 5:07:52 AM PST · by governsleastgovernsbest · 40 replies · 1,508+ views FinkelBlog ^ | Mark Finkelstein After his top-of-Drudge-worthy remarks [video] yesterday on CNBC, you knew Rick Santelli would be on NBC’s Today this morning. Perhaps equally predictable was that the man who argued against making the 92% of responsible Americans paying their mortgages bail out the 8% who aren’t would be subject to the third degree. Or in this case, a triple team. Steve Liesman, also of CNBC, was there to take the other side, but he was clearly playing for the home team alongside Matt Lauer and Brian Williams, pinch-hitting for Meredith Vieira. Neither Lauer nor Williams hit Liesman, who favors the huge mortgage...
CNBC Poll about Rick Santelli - PLEASE VOTE
	02/20/2009 3:32:40 AM PST · by mek1959 · 29 replies · 1,508+ views CNBC ^ | 2/19/09 | CNBC As posted on the CNBC website: Link to Poll
NRO Talks to CNBC's Rick Santelli
	02/19/2009 8:40:52 PM PST · by Sir Gawain · 36 replies · 1,434+ views NR ^ Thursday, February 19, 2009 NRO Talks to CNBC's Rick Santelli   [Stephen Spruiell] Earlier today, Kathryn posted a link to the video of CNBC's Rick Santelli giving voice to what he described as a groundswell of discontent over the president's new mortgage plan. I caught up with Santelli just moments ago and talked to him about what he says has been "kind of a crazy day." National Review Online: Were you expecting anything like this reaction?Rick Santelli: Not at all, not at all. It was just, after 48 hours of listening to hundreds of people trying to approach me on...
Now, a tingle up our legs: Rick Santelli’s Trader’s Revolt
	02/19/2009 10:56:51 AM PST · by slomark · 16 replies · 966+ views IHateTheMedia.com ^ | 02/18/09 (Already published in news section, but admin pulled it and wanted it here. Oh well.) [Video included] Chris Matthews gets tingles up leg listening to Barack Obama. This morning, we at IHateTheMedia.com got tingles up our legs too, but not for the reasons Mathews gets as a result of his mancrush. Ours came when we watched CNBC’s Rick Santelli begin what is being called a “Traders’ Revolt” on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with fellow traders cheering him on. We absolutely love it, so we’ll justify playing it here for you to point out the kind of...
CNBC's Rick Santelli Hammers Obama on Subsidizing "Losers' Mortgages" - Video 2/19/09
	02/19/2009 10:26:54 AM PST · by Federalist Patriot · 24 replies · 764+ views Freedom's Lighthouse ^ | February 19, 2009 | BrianinMO This is just amazing! Rick Santelli of CNBC on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade this morning absolutely calls out President Barack Obama on his plan to essentially make taxpayers pay for people who took out bad mortgages. Santelli says: 'The government is promoting bad behavior... do we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages... This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage? President Obama are you listening? How about we all stop paying our mortgage! It's a moral hazard.' He even suggests what we may need is another "Boston Tea...

[Clint N. Suhks]

Excellent, excellent computation about a very important grass roots ground swell opposing this very bad mortgage bailout. God Bless Rick Santelli. I hope the mods put it on the sidebar.

[Clint N. Suhks]

compilation

[MrB]

Was it just me, or did someone think that Kernan sounded a little... well, gay, in the audio of that exchange?

[maxsand]

FILE YOUR EXTENSION...

[InsensitiveConservative]

He sounded nervous to me. Nervous like he might lose his job if he agreed so he tried to laugh it off which came off badly.

Or yah, maybe gay.

[Tolik]

Would you join Santelli's the Tea Party? (Freep THIS!)

Friday, February 20, 2009 11:12:11 AM · by Baynative

CNBC.com ^ | Feb 20 -09 | CNBC wire

CNBC's Rick Santelli leads the trader mortgage revolt. Would you want to join his "Chicago Tea Party?" Let us know:

CNBC Poll: Tell Us What You Think

	Would you want to join Rick Santelli's "Chicago Tea Party?"   * 199015 responses
	Yes 93%
	No 5%
	Not Sure 1.6%
Not a Scientific Survey. Results may not total 100% due to rounding.

I wonder if CNBC honchos will make proper conclusions: business people watching you are not flaming liberals!

[cookcounty]

The Chicgo Tea Party:

Dye the Chicago River RED!

Da Mayor dyes it green every St. Patty’s Day, so it has precedence.

RED for the RED ink. RED for the Chicago Alinsky REDicals that are destroying our nation!! Rise Up!!!

[Tolik]

Watch for the Palin-Santelli 2012 Signs   [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

I’ve had a case of deja vu today.

I’m noticing the tone. I’m seeing the enthusiasm. And I’m digging out from the sheer volume of e-mails I’ve been getting today about that CNBC dude. The reaction to Rick Santelli’s Chicago-trading-floor incident this morning echoes the emotional reaction my inbox had to Sarah Palin’s convention speech this summer.

I make no endorsements. It’s just an observation.

I think people are hungry for someone who is fed up with the way things are and who seem to believe in something enough to know there in an alternative worth fighting for. Some of the voices may be far from perfect, but Americans are looking for signs of the life of an alternative. And so if a representative pops up — someone who appears to have roots and energy, folks will cheer them on in the hopes there’s a candidate here. Maybe not a presidential candidate, but a leader of some sort. Someone who can offer a vision of something other than a culture of bailout.

Today, Rick Santelli was that sign of life.

02/19 08:47 PM

[Venturer]

We need a tea party in every town and city in the nation.

[madison10]

Naw, I want Mark Sanford, not Santelli.

[Quiet Boston Patriot]

Santelli was wonderful. Yesterday. Is it my imagination that today he sold out? (I’m not talking about recanting on the word “losers.”)

[Tolik]

Subsidize Bad Behavior?
TownHall ^ | February 20, 2009 | Lawrence Kudlow
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 12:27:41 PM by dbz77

President Obama’s massive mortgage-bailout plan is nothing more than a thinly disguised entitlement program that redistributes income from the responsible 92 percent of home-owning mortgage holders who pay their bills on time to the irresponsible defaulters who bought more than they could ever afford. This is Obama’s spread-the-wealth program in action.

Team Obama is rewarding bad behavior. It is enlarging moral hazard. It is expanding its welfarist approach to economic policy. And with a huge expansion of government-owned zombie lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Team Obama is taking a giant step toward nationalizing the mortgage market.

Reporting from the Chicago commodity pits, my CNBC colleague Rick Santelli unleashed a torrent of criticism over this scheme. Santelli said: “Government is promoting bad behavior . . . Do we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages? This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage? President Obama, are you listening? How about we all stop paying our mortgages! It’s a moral hazard.”

All this took place on the air to the cheers of traders. Santelli called for a new tea party in support of capitalism. He’s right.

.... What’s even more incredible is Team Obama’s stubborn refusal to have any faith in the free market.

.... All this is free-market economics 101. And I say, let free-markets work. Let’s remember that most folks -- even those with underwater mortgages, where the loan value is more than the home value -- do not walk away from their obligations. They don’t want to wreck their credit -- and their homes are their castles. That’s the American way.

But if we penalize the good guys and subsidize the bad ones, we are undermining the moral and economic fabric of this country.

[Tolik]

Santelli Debates Housing Plan, "Tea Party" Rant on the "Today" show on 2/20/2009:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/02/santelli_debates_housing_plan.html

CNBC's Rick Santelli tells the "Today" show "you have to treat everybody fairly." Santelli says Congress is "legislating [our] choice away."

[Tolik]

See my post #15 - he was just fine on the “Today” show this morning. But I can imagine that he will get some of the Palin/Joe the Plumber treatment as well. My best wishes to Santelli to stay strong.

[Tolik]

Rick Santelli Declares "Working Hard.....Accumulating Wealth is Not a Crime" - Video 2/20/09

Friday, February 20, 2009 2:34:18 PM · by Federalist Patriot

Freedom's Lighthouse ^ | February 20, 2009 | BrianinMO

Here is an outstanding discussion from Morning Joe this morning that included Rick Santelli and Mike Barnacle along with Joe Scarborough. They talked about Santelli's challenge yesterday of President Obama's approach to the housing crisis. Both Barnacle and Santelli absolutely hit the nail on the head! Barnacle conceded that "the language of catastrophe" was introduced by Democrats about 12 years ago when they began to push policies that espoused the belief that "every American deserves to own a home." As a result, thousands of mortgages were given to people who can't afford a house. Barnacle said the truth is that...

 

Watch for the Palin-Santelli 2012 Signs

Friday, February 20, 2009 1:12:24 PM · by redk

NRO ^ | 2/20/09 | Kathryn Jean Lopez

I’ve had a case of deja vu today. I’m noticing the tone. I’m seeing the enthusiasm. And I’m digging out from the sheer volume of e-mails I’ve been getting today about that CNBC dude. The reaction to Rick Santelli’s Chicago-trading-floor incident this morning echoes the emotional reaction my inbox had to Sarah Palin’s convention speech this summer.

[Tolik]

CNBC's Santelli Invited to the White House
Newsbusters ^
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 3:48:53 PM by Sub-Driver

CNBC's Santelli Invited to the White House By Jeff Poor Created 2009-02-20 15:45

Will wonders ever cease? First, a NBC network airs its Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor reporter making a call to action [1] against all the populism that has inundated the political dialogue over the past six months. Now, the same reporter, Rick Santelli, has been invited by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to the White House.

WH lashes out at CNBC's Santelli
Politico ^ | February 20, 2009 | JOSH GERSTEIN
Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 3:17:39 PM by rightwingintelligentsia

The White House is lashing out publicly and personally at a CNBC reporter whose attack on President Barack Obama’s anti-foreclosure plan caught fire on the Internet on Thursday.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs jumped at the chance to go after the CNBC journalist, Rick Santelli, when a question about his bracing critique was asked at Friday’s news briefing.

...  Gibbs insisted Santelli was misinformed when he said Obama’s program would amount to a transfer of money from prudent taxpayers to those who had taken reckless risks.

[Old Sarge]

Today, Rick Santelli was that sign of life.

That's why Santelli will be destroyed next week.

[HereInTheHeartland]

No one has come out with t shirts yet?

I Agree With Rick