rssNow is Not the Time for Made-Up Quotes
Monday, February 02, 2009 at 6:22 pm
- 6 Comments
Jim Cramer is looking at President Obama and seeing red.
Let me tell you something, we heard Lenin. There was a little snippet last week that was, ‘Now is not the time for profits.’ Look – in Lenin’s book, ‘What Is to Be Done?’ is simple text of what I always though was for the communists, it was remarkable to hear very similar language from ‘What Is to Be Done?’ which is we have no place for profits.
Of course, that isn’t what the president said.
This is what he said:
We’re going to be having conversations as this process moves forward directly with these folks on Wall Street to underscore that they have to start acting in a more responsible fashion if we are to together get this economy rolling again. There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses—now is not that time.
Now, it’s clear that the president was saying something that Wall Street doesn’t think is fair. As Cramer’s CNBC colleague Erin Burnett argued on Meet the Press yesterday, employees of bailout money recipients who are getting bonuses believe they earned that money, because they worked hard for it. The president thinks that they should be happy that taxpayers bailed them out, and consider that they wouldn’t be making any money without the bailout funds. Cramer doubtlessly agrees with those employees, and with Burnett, but does he really think the president is practicing 1920s-vintage communism by telling companies to cut off their bonuses as long as the money is coming out of the pockets of taxpayers?
Maybe we’re expecting too much from Jim Cramer.
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6 Comments
Comment posted February 3, 2009 @ 5:40 am
My company didn't take any TARP money, but our raises and bonuses have been withdrawn for this year.
So I don't have a lot of sympathy for Jim Cramer's position. In fact, I don't have a lot of respect for Jim Cramer.
Pingback posted February 3, 2009 @ 2:12 pm
[...] only is it mighty odd of Jim Cramer to be getting outraged about Barack Obama saying things Obama never said but I don’t think he knows very much about Lenin: Let me tell you something, we heard Lenin. [...]
Comment posted February 3, 2009 @ 2:37 pm
The bonuses are on top of $150,000 + base salaries. Buck up you p*ssies. 30% of the industry will be non-existent in the next two years cause you and your bosses made some incredible financial blunders. You've destroyed peoples retirements, college savings and in many cases lives. Quit belly aching. You didn't earn your salaries…it's criminally insane for you to think you should receive a bonus on top of that!
Comment posted February 3, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
“The bonuses are on top of $150,000 + base salaries.”
For traders, sure.
But I can guarantee you that there are plenty of finance industry employees (who also aren't getting raises or bonuses) who didn't play any part in the bad decisions and who don't make anywhere close to $150K.
Comment posted February 4, 2009 @ 12:10 pm
It seems to me that all of the so called 'experts' on CNBC have become unhinged. I've never seen such a group of self centered, pompus individuals. I'd expect it of FOX Noise but not from them. My all time favorite after the screaming Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett the smug is Larry Cudlow, who is just “Not Happy ” with the stimulus package. Please! It seems that CNBC has descended to the realm of inane rather than informative.
Comment posted February 4, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
It seems to me that all of the so called 'experts' on CNBC have become unhinged. I've never seen such a group of self centered, pompus individuals. I'd expect it of FOX Noise but not from them. My all time favorite after the screaming Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett the smug is Larry Cudlow, who is just “Not Happy ” with the stimulus package. Please! It seems that CNBC has descended to the realm of inane rather than informative.
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