Rick Santelli’s rant (video/transcript)

April 13, 2009

On February 19th, Rick Santelli ranted from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on CNBC’s Squawk Box in response to barry’s mortgage bailout plans. Here is the transcript and video. Afterward, barrymedia said it was preplanned because of the immediate response by grassrooters.You decide.

It seems the barrymedia were a little upset that the internet it seems works for nonbarryites and dissension regarding anything barry does is met with stiff opposition and public ridicule. Thing is the majority of Americans agreed with him. According to a Rasmussen Poll taken that week – 55% of the American people felt that the plan was rewarding bad behavior. It wasn’t so much planned as it was perfectly in tune with the public’s outrage, who also know how to use the internet.

TRANSCRIPT: courtesy of America’s Independence Day Tea Party which “was founded in 2008 by two individuals with no connection or affiliation with any political party, candidate, or candidates committee.”

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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 marshaling 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.

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