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The Last Word's Lawrence O'Donnell got his shots in at Fox and their joke of a business channel and the likes of Stuart Varney, who was previously claiming that the election of President Obama was responsible for the dip in the stock market the day after the election. With the markets reaching a record high this week, as O'Donnell rightfully noted here, those talking heads are just as clueless now about why the market went up as they were when it went down last year.

I'm not sure who actually watches the Fox Business Channel, but sometimes I wonder if they exist solely as an attempt to make CNBC look respectable in comparison.

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I don't make a habit of watching CBNC, and this disgusting display by one of their anchors, corporate CEO suck-up Maria Bartiromo is one of the reasons why. Mediaite posted this segment, and apparently the author over there didn't find anything wrong with Bartiromo's behavior and just quoted the fact that she decided to go off on Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin for not making a deal yet with Republicans during these so-called "fiscal cliff" negotiations and had the Wall Street traders cheering for her once she was done.

Roxpert over at Daily KOS had a, shall we say, slightly different reaction to this interview, which I share: WATCH!: CNBC's Maria Bartiromo attacks Ben Cardin...:

This is an example of why conservative corporate media is stoking the flames raging in America that causes some people to become unhinged. She interviewed Senator Ben Cardin this afternoon, and hardly let him speak as you'll see after the squiggle...

Maria's behavior toward Senator Cardin was over the top. CNBC has a slogan called "Rise Above" to try to be an activist network and get a compromise fiscal cliff agreement. Of course, to corporatist conservatives like Bartiromo, the DEMS are the ones in the way of any agreement and she hates, HATES, that senators actually would like to raise taxes on the rich as this video clip shows clearly...

How many times did Maria interrupt Senator Cardin, mid-sentence? How could she get away with asking him to step down if we can't get an agreement? How does she get off questioning his competence? The people of Maryland may have a different idea.

As they noted, she really owes the Senator an apology for her behavior, but I don't expect we'll get one any time soon. Bartiromo and her ilk care about protecting one thing and that's the ultra-wealthy in our society and it's a shame Cardin didn't do a better job at pushing back at her, but when you're interrupted and cut off at every turn, that's not too easy to do. He did about as well as anyone might hope for given how hostile her questioning was toward him and with how much he was even allowed to speak.

I'm also sick and tired of any of these talking heads like Bartiromo pretending that Republicans have actually put tax loopholes on the table, when they've refused to specify a single one that they would vote for. Bartiromo is being paid pretty well to make sure the interests of the 1 percent in this country are protected, and she's got that feigned outrage down pat just like a ton of Republicans we sadly get treated to on the air these days. If anyone isn't sure what a hissy fit looks like about the fact that it's possible their taxes might go up, all you have to do is watch the clip above.

Bartiromo is being paid a salary of $1 million a year and has a net worth of about $22 million. It's a shame that information isn't run in the chyron under her name on the air every time she opens her mouth so the viewers would be made aware of her conflict of interest with her so-called "reporting" every time she starts carping about taxes on the rich going up. It's her own taxes she's complaining about.

You can watch the whole interview at CNBC's site here if you've got the stomach for it.

This has to be one of the most disgusting things I've watched in a long time. If anyone was wondering what network out there might be worse than the hacks on Fox over this "fiscal cliff" fearmongering, I think you just got your answer -- CNBC.

Anchor Accuses Top House Progressive Of Tanking Markets By Appearing On CNBC:

At around 3:30 PM Eastern Tuesday, CNBC anchor Michelle Caruso-Cabrera noted a sell-off in the stock market, an entirely unremarkable occurrence in the course of the financial network’s daily coverage. But what separated this particular sell-off from others, according to Caruso-Cabrera, was that it could be traced directly to the appearance of one of the House’s top progressives on her show.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) tanked the market, she said, by refusing to budge on his contention that Medicare cuts should be off the table in negotiations surrounding the so-called fiscal cliff. Democrats accused the anchor of trying to “shame” them into cutting entitlement cuts by directly blaming Grijalva’s words for the market’s decline.

Grijalva, co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus, appeared on CNBC to talk about the debt talks and his view that it was unfair to talk about Medicare and other entitlement programs when Republicans remain publicly unwilling to significantly increase government revenues.

Caruso-Cabrera said Grijalva’s words were literally hurting the economy in real time. It’s something that’s happened before when members of Congress appear on the air, she added.

“Representative? You know what, as we’re talking the market is selling off once again,” she told Grijalva. “Every time members of Congress come on, and I’ve got to tell you sir, I think you’re contributing to the fears that we’re going off the fiscal cliff because it doesn’t sound like there’s any compromise in what you’re saying. Do you care that markets are selling off dramatically when it looks like you guys can’t come to a deal?”

As the interview ended, Caruso-Cabrera noted that the market had gone down “80 points” on the day at that point. Read on...

Update: Here's more from Digby: And they don't even have to be virgins.

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CNBC on-air editor Rick Santelli, who is credited with helping to launch the tea party movement, flew into a rage on Tuesday after he was asked to defend his apparent suggestion that the most recent jobs report had been doctored to help President Barack Obama get re-elected.

Former GE CEO Jack Welch on Friday spawned a "jobs truthers" front after he tweeted that an unemployment rate of 7.8 percent was "unbelievable," and added that the "Chicago guys" in Obama's campaign headquarters "will do anything..can’t debate so change numbers."

"I would never send a tweet like Jack Welch and I respect Jack," Santelli said on Friday. "That's why last month, I said that it would be below 8 percent right before the election. That's why I said it. I don't say things I can't prove, that was my prediction. I will leave it at that."

"I can't prove that it was fudged," the CNBC on-air editor insisted, refusing to distance himself from conservative skepticism about the jobs report. "I do find that that's the common question on the trading floor. It is what it is."

During a Monday panel on CNBC's Squawk Box, senior economics reporter Steve Liesman noted that no economists "are saying this number was cooked or otherwise the subject of a conspiracy. They say it happens and it's not out of line with what's been going on, for example, in the payroll numbers."

"All I can tell you is, there was no doubt in my mind a month ago that it would be under 8 percent!" Santelli shouted. "There was no doubt in my mind five minutes before the number that it would be under 8 percent! Take it any way you want!"

"Rick, what you're implying with your comment...," Steve Liesman said before being interrupted by a raging Santelli.

"I'm not implying anything!" he continued shouting from the trading floor. "And it turned out that way! I'm a market whisperer!"

"Why say it?" Liesman asked.

"Because it was true!" Santelli yelled at the camera. "And I like people to get the benefit of my 32 years in the market! There was no doubt it would be under 8, it is under 8! ... Draw your own conclusions, Steve! Connect the dots!"

"I am connecting the dots," Liesman replied. "I'm asking you to be honest about the dot connecting that you're implying."

"I'm honest!" Santelli screamed, even louder this time. "[I said,] under 8, it was under 8! What else do you want? What else do you need? A fact is a fact is a fact! ... If you are looking for a conspiracy -- and I'm not -- you would only need to change certain numbers!"

"There's been the last three Septembers, they've had this number surge," Liesman calmly explained. "If this is a conspiracy, Rick, it goes back three years."

(h/t: Mediaite)

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Friday morning's collective freakout by conservatives over the latest jobs report which pushed the unemployment figure down to 7.8% was almost as bewildering as it was unsurprising. This is what these people do now when confronted with unpleasant realities. Stuart Varney at Fox Buisness News hinted at a conspiracy, saying "Oh how convenient ... five weeks before the election."

And then there was Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric with this widely retweeted and ridiculed tweet as soon as the numbers came out:

Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will do anything..can't debate so change numbers

— Jack Welch (@jack_welch) October 5, 2012

That tweet by Welch really seemed to get the ball rolling on this craziness, though CNBC’s Rick Santelli had already taken the ball and gladly run with it too. Watch his antics here this morning, as he treated the report like a joke, the numbers a complete fiction. Santelli was later even more explicit, though he said he couldn't prove the numbers were fudged, "they are what they are".

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Mitt Romney is a coward. In his zeal to collect 50.1 percent of the vote, which may or may not yield the electoral college votes he would need to be elected President, he's bear-hugging the likes of Donald Trump. In gratitude, Mr. Trump launched into a three-minute rant about Barack Obama's birth certificate on CNBC this morning, and when that wasn't enough, Trump switched to the question of Barack Obama's college transcripts, claiming that they would reveal the President's true place of birth.

Yeah, the college transcripts are the new "thing we cannot get" to conservatives and their fearful base. Not because they want to see grades, but because they want to know his place of birth. Unfortunately, even if they had the transcripts they would prove nothing, because no college I know of investigates the veracity of information like birthplace on a college application. Further, college transcripts are protected by privacy laws so Trump knows he can go on and on about this without consequence or ever actually seeing them.

In other words, raise doubt based on documents one knows can only be made public by the person the documents concern. If I were to ask whether Mitt Romney was really born in the United States or whether he was born in Mexico, would anyone care? Of course not, because everyone knows Mitt was born in the United States. Right? But have we ever seen his birth certificate? His college transcripts? Do we know as fact that he was born here? Have we seen hospital records?

As surrogates come forward trying to make excuses for Mitt Romney's defense and embrace of Donald Trump's irrational, hate-filled birther rants, a picture emerges of a man who is terrified of his conservative base, who is so amoral and wanton that he will sell his support to the highest bidder, and who is not fit to step into any elected office, much less the Oval Office.

It's funny how Mitt Romney likes firing people until it comes to the guy who gets to say "You're fired" on television every week.

Steve Benen lists Romney's leadership failures since he emerged as the frontrunner. If Romney can't stand up to Trump, he's not likely to stand up to any other bully on the national or international stage either. Then again, maybe he doesn't have to, since Grover Norquist just wants a guy who can hold a pen to sign legislation Norquist wants.

Mitt fits that description perfectly. No ideas. No character. No leadership. But he can hold a pen. And bow to Donald Trump.

Transcript after the jump:

Continue reading »

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SNL's Bill Hader returned this week with another parody of Gov. Rick Perry, this time having a bit of fun with his performance at the CNBC GOP primary debate where he couldn't remember the three agencies of government he'd like to see eliminated.

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I've been reading for years that members of Congress on average do a whole lot better than the average person out there with how their stock portfolios perform, so this doesn't come as any surprise to me. In an interview with CNBC's Eamon Javers, former convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who's out there pushing his new book, accused members of Congress of insider trading.

Somehow I doubt we can count on members of Congress to do anything about the conflict of interests with their stock portfolios any more than we can count on them to clean up the system of legalized bribery it takes to get them elected into office in the first place.

Congress Members Took Part in Insider Trading: Abramoff:

As many as a dozen members of Congress and their aides took part in insider trading based on foreknowledge of market moving information on Capitol Hill, disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff told CNBC in an interview. [...]

The former lobbyist said the amounts members of Congress earned trading off their inside knowledge ranged from as little as $2,000 to, as much as "several hundred thousand dollars," that was claimed by one member of Congress.

Abramoff declined to name the members of Congress.

"It was more, 'Look at me, I'm a real great stock trader,'" Abramoff told CNBC of the congressional bragging. "All of a sudden somebody from a background maybe in law, maybe in some other unrelated business area, all of a sudden is picking winners and losers in the market." [...]

At the time, Abramoff, who was involved in an extensive corruption ring, didn't think much of it. But after years in prison to reflect on the culture of corruption in Washington, Abramoff says he thinks trading based on inside Congressional knowledge is wrong.

"These people should not be using whatever information they gain as public servants to benefit themselves, any more than they should be taking bribes," he said.

Generally, however, legal analysts say that Wall Street insider trading laws do not apply to Congress. As an open and public institution, the legal assumption has long been that any member of the public can have access to information about how Congress works. In practice, though, that's simply not true, as powerful members of Congress come into contact daily with market-moving tidbits. That gap between the law and the reality has made Capitol Hill a virtual free-fire zone for insider trading. Over the years, academic studies have found that members of the House of Representatives beat the market by as much as six percent per year and members of the Senate do even better than that.

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Here's some of how CNBC hosts John Harwood and Maria Bartiromo opened up the GOP debate in Rochester, MI tonight:

HARWOOD: The candidates will have 60 seconds to respond to questions, 30 seconds for follow-ups and rebuttals. Those will be at the discretion of the moderators.

We also want you, the candidates, to help us out a little bit, by answering the questions as directly and specifically as you can. I know you want to. You have proven that. But just in case you get off topic, maybe by accident, we may have to interrupt you.

BARTIROMO: Throughout the evening tonight we will be joined by an all-star lineup of the smartest people on CNBC.

First up tonight, Jim Cramer, the host of "Mad Money."

Jim, welcome.

CRAMER: Thank you, Maria.

Their lineup also included mister king of the "tea partiers" himself, Rick Santelli. For a little reminder of how either of those two should be treated here is John Amato's post on Jon Stewart making mincemeat of Cramer from March of 2009 on The Daily Show.

And as Think Progress reminded us in their live blog of the debate tonight:

Moderator Jim Cramer asks a question premised on his position “at the front lines” of the stock market. For the record, following his stock advice is slightly worse than picking stocks by flipping coins.

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Repeating his questions to Mitt Romney and Rick Perry on whether companies can both be profitable and create jobs, CNBC's Jim Cramer followed up by asking former Speaker Newt Gingrich if companies can do both as well. Gingrich responded by slamming the media and Occupy Wall Street protesters for not understanding American history and Newt's view that apparently it's corporations that have made the United States the greatest country in the world.

GINGRICH: Look, obviously, corporations can and should do both and what is amazing to me is the inability of much of our academic world, much of our news media and most of the people in Occupy Wall Street to have a clue about history.

In this town, Henry Ford started as an Edison Electric supervisor who went home at night and built his first car in the garage. Now, was he in the 99 percent or the 1 percent? Bill Gates drops out of college to found Microsoft. Was he in the 99 percent of the 1 percent. Historically, this is the richest country in the history of the world because corporations succeed in creating profits and jobs and it's sad that the news media doesn't report accurately how the economy works.

BARTIROMO: Mr. Speaker, What is the media reporting inaccurately about the economy?

GINGRICH: What?

BARTIROMO: What is the media reporting inaccurately about the economy?

GINGRICH: I like humor disguised as a question. That's terrific. I have yet to hear a single reporter ask a single Occupy Wall Street person a single rational question about the economy that would lead them to say for example who's going to pay for the park you're occupying if there's no businesses making a profit?

(Publisher's Note: Please don't forget about our Sollidarity Pizza funder)