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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 and stomped off camera on Friday because a supporter of President Obama plans to pay shareholders a dividend before taxes are scheduled to go up at the end of the year.

During a discussion on CNBC's Squawk Box, senior economic reporter Steve Liesman observed that the government could "extract more from the wealthy and even from business" as a part a deal to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

Santelli interrupted by pointing to a Wall Street Journal op-ed that criticized former Costco CEO Jim Sinegal because the company he founded intends to pay out dividends before before the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year.

"He spoke at the Democratic National Convention!" Santelli shouted. "You know, doesn't that bug you a little bit? It's very depressing that people that claim the president's fairness, those wealthy people that he wants to go after? They escape it. They escape it."

Liesman replied by calling attention to a separate Wall Street Journal op-ed that "has a list of GDP by year and completely leaves out the eight years of the Bush administration."

"You know what? Don't give me the switcheroo!" Santelli yelled. "I'm not talking about that one. I'm talking about the one below it, Steve."

"I'm talking about the one above it," Liesman taunted. "I'm rising above it."

"Of course you are because it's so reprehensible!" Santelli exclaimed. "It's reprehensible that people go to Charlotte and say, 'fairness' and then they run to try to beat the tax man!"

"He's doing his job," Liesman noted.

"Shame on them!" Santelli howled as he threw his copy of The Wall Street Journal at the camera. "I can't even talk about it anymore!"

With that, the on-air editor turned and stormed off the air.

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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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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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While protesters gather on their state capitals across the country to show their support for the workers in Wisconsin, CNN thought they'd take some time out letting us all know that their astroturf tea party Republican re-branding effort just turned two.

Here's some of what CNN managed to ignore today from TPM -- Workers Of America Unite: Pro-Union Rallies Cropping Up Nationwide.

And from D-Day at FDL -- VIDEO: 100,000-Plus in Madison for Rally for Workers’ Rights.

CNN transcript below the fold.

Continue reading »

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Bloody Bill-I'm-always-wrong-about-everything Kristol continues his track record on Fox News Sunday this week when he predicts that the Republicans will play a game of chicken with President Obama and decide its better for them politically to block extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class if they can't keep them for the upper earners as well. As Jennifer Loven from the AP points out, that ain't gonna' happen. Even Chris Wallace seems stunned that Bill Kristol would think that's a good election strategy for the fall.

Kristol: Look, the President has a couple of interesting choices to make over the next two months. They're pushing, the FED to announce some quantative easing next week at its meeting to print more money. In fact they seemed to be toying with the idea, Treasury has a big meeting on Fannie and Freddie on August 17th, and they're toying with the idea of forgiving some mortgages for those who owe more than their house is worth, which would be an attempt at stimulus, very much like the mortgage proposal about a year and a half ago that was announced by Rick Santelli and actually launched the Tea Party. That was helping those that can't afford the houses they have.

And then... so we should see whether... that would be staying the course, government stimulus proposals. I don't think the markets will like it but they're toying with that and then in September they're going to have a big tax debate in Congress and the President I think will ulimately have to decide is he willing to accept the extension of all the current tax rates for a year or two, or is he going to go... or Republicans I think will not accept the part, the hike in taxes on the well-to-do and small businesses. I think the President if he did pivot, actually if he said enough of the stimulus for now and lets just at least not raise taxes, I think that's the one thing that could help him a little bit now politically over the next couple of months and I think the markets would welcome it.

Can you imagine if the President stood up in September and said look at this fresh data, it's too fragile of a recovery...

Wallace: Let me bring in Jennifer. Is there any possibility that this President would say ,you know what, we're going to keep all the tax cuts for the middle class and for the wealthy for a couple of years because this recession and this recovery is not going the way we thought it would?

Loven: Short answer, no. He's not going to accept that. They've been very clear about it and at this point to go back on that would cause him so much trouble with his own base and his own party, he has said he wants to extend them for the middle class, but extending them for the wealthy, no. It's not going to happen.

Kristol: Even if the choice is no extensions? Because I think Republicans will block the partial extensions.

Loven: I don't think so.

Kristol: You think he won't accept it?

Wallace: Why would Republicans block an extension for the middle class? You're going to be in a position of saying if we don't get it for the wealthy, we're not going to give a tax cut, or continue the tax cut to the middle class?

Kristol: We're in the position of saying elect Republicans and we'll give... we'll extend the current tax rates for everyone, so the middle class will get its lower tax rates and we won't put this huge burden on small business.

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Jon Stewart shows us that it might just be a really bad idea to stand him up for an appearance on his show. Or maybe Rick Santelli is actually better off that he didn't show up at all, because this could have gotten even uglier for him had he been there in person. Santelli apparently cancelled on him at the behest of his bosses. You remember his Howard Beale rant?

Santelli: President Obama, are you listening?

Stewart: Yeah man, Wall Street is mad as hell! And they're not going to take it anymore. Unless by it, you mean two trillion dollars of their own bail out money. That they will take.

Now Mr. Santelli was invited to come on this show and accepted the invitation and then on Friday canceled, or I guess the phrase would be bailed out.

How many people would have liked to see Santelli come on this program, are you listening? Are you listening, Rick Santelli? You see, Rick Santelli is angry that these loser home owners are going to get bailed out. He believes in personal responsibility, he believes in not rewarding the losers for missing all the warning signs. For God's sake, the guy works at CNBC. They're the best of the best.

If Rick Santelli is afraid to stand up to Jon Stewart then how can he stand up during an economic meltdown?

Stewart absolutely eviscerates Santelli and the rest of the gang of Wall Street and corporate apologists on CNBC. He shows clips of Cramer telling us that Bear Stearns is fine, "do not take your money out...Bear Stearns is not in trouble."

Bear Stearns went out of business six days later. And so on and so on. Once again a comedy show is willing to give us more "truthiness" as Stephen would say than our beltway media is willing to touch with a ten foot pole.

(John Amato contributed to the post)

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Countdown's Worst Persons with winners Rick Santelli, Rush Limbaugh and Rush Limbaugh again got a two-fer on Friday's show.

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Rick Santelli responds to statements about him during the White House press briefing by Robert Gibbs. Matthews gets a shot in on him at the end when he says his name has been iconized with Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.