Rick Santelli's Revolution: CNBC Reporter Freaks Out, Wants To Be Che Guevara (VIDEO)

Everyone from Matt Drudge to Matt Drudge is freaking out over this video of CNBC's Rick Santelli, straight-up fomentin' a revolution on the trading floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He's assembled a small army of half-hearted, floor-trading broheims to cheer and hoot as he rails against President Obama's plan to not immediately foreclose on everybody and kick them out into the streets, because that rewards "bad behavior," and clearly what we should be doing is rewarding people who incentivized all the risky lending, because until the house of cards collapsed, things were looking pretty for everybody!

"You know," Santelli screeched, apropos of...something, "Cuba used to have mansions and a relatively decent economy. They moved from the individual to the collective. Now they're driving '54 Chevys."

So there you have it. Everyone should pick a side, because as soon as the closing bell rings, Rick Santelli and these pasty traders are going to march on Havana and reclaim Elian Gonzalez, I guess.

[WATCH.]

Comments

[jethrock]

12:21 PM on 03/01/2009

Backstabber: Is Rick Santelli High On Koch?

http://www.playboy.com/blog/2009/02/backstabber.html

Rick Santelli's Conspiracy to Torpedo Obama:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/28/202318/053/640/703118

CNBC Hoaxes America:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/28/22947/5824/608/703150

[StephenDavis]

11:13 AM on 02/28/2009

Rick is ridiculous and his comments make no sense. The reference to cuba? the trading floor represents a good cross section of america? they're the silent majority?

And CNBC decides to promote this guy? Wow...

[telist]

08:10 PM on 03/02/2009

HEY STEVEDAVIS, Tell us your idea of what the trading floor is like ! The Trading floor is an EXCELLENT cross section of America ! It amazes me how people have the nerve to talk about certain things they clearly know nothing about. Laughable ! So ignorant that it DISCREDITS this whole site. Sometimes a place where comments and ideas have nothing to do with the truth or THE REAL WORLD ! I can tell you what it it is REALLY like because I work there. And on the floor there is the most wide variety of people in any work place I have ever seen. All of whom interact with eachother. The traders themselves are self-made. IN NO OTHER PART OF THE WORKING WORLD IS THE TERM "SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST" MORE APPROPRIATE !! They have the unbelievable GUTS to put THIER OWN livelyhood on the line, providing the very nessesary function of adding liquidity to the market. Most I know come from hardworking, modest backrounds and have a RARE GIFT of being able to make a living in an enourmously complicated , aggresive and stressfull enviroment that 99% of people could never even stomach and understand. If you were ever faced with the type of guys that trade down there you would never dare insult them to thier face as you do so cowardly behind your keyboards . Join me in the real world and Try having respect for ALL people in addition to the politically important ones.

[tirzah100]

03:50 PM on 02/25/2009

Santelli would have never said that crap and aimed it at Bush or Cheney. It just would have never happened. He felt he could get away with it because......Well anyway, the truth of the matter is that for as far back as I can remember, men with short Johnsons act out like this when they feel inadequate. It makes them feel powerful. You will never catch a man with a big Johnson throwing a hissy fit. He doesn't need to.

[groberts0925]

10:33 AM on 02/23/2009

Here is the problem with Rick - He and his co-horts make money by widening the gap between rich and poor and Obama's plan is to diminish this gap and in that the community prospers as a whole. The republican sideshow is sad and it wreaks of desperation that the party may be disappearing in its elitist approach. When this country loses 7 trillion in the market cap does the gap decrease - certainly and the Ricko's get mad. It hurts us all and it has a trickle down effect, but they want their money first. They take a high risk and want it guaranteed by our money and no one says a thing! Rick talks about fairness and there is no such thing in the political economic arena. It is survival of the majority Rick - sorry bout that. We are so tired of shining your shoes and gettiing a coin thrown at us and then being told too bad we are where we are at. Go away and see how we can get through this.

[givesflack]

12:01 PM on 02/23/2009

See these type of people, Santelli et al, think that our Republic started with Reagan and their holy grail is the movie Wall Street. They think that saving the market is saving America and that helping the citizens of this country undermines the big business constitution that somehow we all pledged our allegiance to. They think they won their vacuous corporate revolution with our consent and that we are participants in a rigged Capitalist only enterprise that should reward risky behavior with big bonuses and huge bailouts and and blank checks (ex. Paulson) to write to themselves any time they chose to which is all the time. We pay big taxes in the form of atm fees, high interest on CCs, bloated costs for service, high commission fees etc($), etc($), etc($)... to these banks. They should have enough money to bail themselves out but I think

[givesflack]

12:07 PM on 02/23/2009

...they are either trying to take over permanently by emptying the treasury or think they deserve permanent decisions over how our money is spent which is the same thing. So when we Nationalize these banks we have to hold onto them and control them until we get all the money back and a commission too. Otherwise we conspire in finishing the job for the people who caused this problem.

[scots]

08:15 AM on 02/23/2009

the Cuba reference is for JFK trying to save that country from socialism/communism. Also JFK said that "don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Learn some history because this country like your ignorance to it is heading towards a sorry place. And incase you don't know the "Tea Party is in reference to the "Boston Tea Party" its about "Taxation without representation."
If you want Socialism then lets go ahead and nationalize everything and wait for your government bail out. Tell you what the people in Louisiana after Katrina waited for the government to be there and then what happened?

[KarenHurtz]

01:41 PM on 02/23/2009

Nationalization is gift - many of the people involved in wrecking the financial system knew what they were participating in fraud - all the way up to the fattest cats on the block, who arranged to make credit default swaps and similar Ponzi scheme "financial instruments." In any other context, the circumstances of the situation would be a prosecutor's case for conspiracy to defraud.

[Logictoprevail]

01:14 AM on 02/24/2009

I have a question: have you ever lived under a socialist / communist regime? If not, please do not pretend to know what it's like. It is 'heaven' for "freeloaders" who don't want to work, and 'hell' for hard working, honest contibutors. This is where 'nationalization' fits in, and it is most certainly not a gift! If the government can't run an "honest" regulatory agency as the SEC, why do you think it can run the banking system? Perhaps we need to think about getting rid of the sheeplike leadership of these big corporations that is enabled by popularism, and put "thinking & qualified" people in place. That would be the first step. Wait, that is not possible because they are in bed with the government...it's a club! Corruption is your underlying problem at all levels.

[Logictoprevail]

01:37 AM on 02/23/2009

Was anyone listening to Rick Santelli? He is on the money! Why do we have to pay others' mortgages just because they spent more than they could afford? Because they bought a house they could never afford? Barney Frank is the guilty party here, not the Bush admin. He should really be the first one in jail! Why do we have to pay for others' irresponsible behaviour? When will you all pull your heads out of the sand? I heard of this website, this is the FIRST time I visited it, and I can't believe all the comments I read! Are you really this misguided? Rick S was not bashing the President. He was simply trying to express some common sense views in this 95% bias ObamaMania media frenzy....what if he disagrees? Soooo?

[JessWonderin]

04:36 PM on 02/23/2009

wow . . . . just out of the can and lacking a bit of history ??. . . you DO know the FACTS about Bush de-regulation and oversight on Wall Street, - the Regan Revolution that gutted watchdog organizations and anti-worker legislation . . . . anyway, now you're out, I suggest you listen to something other than Rush, or Hannity and not linger too long at Drudge and freeperville . . . .

[JohnathanQuest]

01:42 PM on 02/24/2009

And don't forget how Clinton and ACORN sued lenders to give loans to people without the wherewithal to pay it back, and how McCain and Bush screamed for higher regulations for FM/FM in 2004 and 2005. Stop drinkin the Kool-Aid, please, both sides are corrupt and neither side cares about you, me, or America. Dccrooks says it best a couple posts down. Thanks for an excellent post, Dc. Get ready for The Storm, America. They've finally awakened the Sleeping Giant.

[KarenHurtz]

12:13 AM on 02/23/2009

The point that seems to have been ignored is that an NBC employee used their network to mock and insult the President. He wasn't fired, he wasn't reprimanded, and he wasn't required to issue an apology. Nothing.

Much to the contrary, NBC used the tape as a proxy to continue mocking and insulting the President over and over in a continuous loop on cable, broadcast it again on the Nightly News, and then again on Meet the press.

Does NBC have a vested interest in insulting the President and his plans for the country? Of course, NBC Universal is owned by General Electric, which also owns GE Capital, GE Commercial Finance, GE Money and GE Consumer Finance, so you tell me, what other reason could there be?

Big business owns the media and manipulates the government through political contribution payoffs to members of Congress. What a sorry state of affairs.

[John Monarch]

12:54 AM on 02/23/2009

NBC mocked and insulted Bush on a regular basis; what's the difference? Oh wait, you actually like this President so you think the office suddenly deserves respect. Santelli speaks for the common man, not the super wealthy. If Barney Frank and co. hadn't forced lenders to give mortgages to underqualifies or unqualified borrowers, we wouldn't be in this mess.

[givesflack]

12:13 PM on 02/23/2009

He speaks for the common man as a hydra head speaks in duplicitous fork tongue.

[telist]

11:33 PM on 03/09/2009

Karen, NBC mocks Bush all the time. If you asked anyone to watch msnbc for a day , you would have to be an idiot or full of it to think that they were not very pro-Obama. Are you serious about this argument ? And who wants Santelli to be fired or even reprimanded? You and and Die hard Obama fans that were are offended ? WHO CARES !! 90 percent of America loves him for for saying it. You dont like it? to bad ! You telling us that the networks are fixed is not news to anyone. You would have to be stupid to not understand that that's the way it is. You offer nothing new to think about on this whole topic, you just somehow cant see the obvious truth.

[dccrooks]

09:38 PM on 02/22/2009

Please stop the Republlcan/Democrat, conservative/liberal arguments!

The Republicans/conservatives: Sold and packaged horrible loans, got us into a bad war, allowed bank lobbyists to pay bankers too much to kill the economy, made home ownership too easy (while skimming off administrative fees) mostly through lobbyists.

Democrats/liberals: Sold and packaged horrible loans, got us into a bad war, allowed bank lobbyists to pay bankers too much to kill the economy, made home ownership too easy (while skimming off administrative fees) mostly through lobbyist.

We are the people folks. Stop fighting and realize that BOTH parties are stacking the deck against US!

Turn off Rush, turn off Olbermann!

To be fair: Santelli was against bank bailouts as well. He's not the problem...we are! Vote 3rd party!

[DecisionMan]

05:09 PM on 02/22/2009

I'm disappointed at the attacks against Rick Santelli. Those of us who watch him regularly know he is not a "ranter" and certainly is not in the mold of a Limbaugh or Hannity. Not at all.
In fact, he is likely the most rational and smart guy on the business channels, and frequently is at odds with the big mouth, hyped-up financial commentators.
Rick has a great view of the markets, and what the markets feel is necessary to correct the problem.
For over a year now he's been against the bailout for many reasons, among them the fact that sooner or later the market has to accept that banks are insolvent, let them fail, and start anew.
We cannot continue to put a bandaid on a terminal patient, or it will just be a long drawn-out process.
So as he says, sell off the bad assets, take the losses and if those losses put banks or homes under then so be it. That's the way it goes. Don't reward bad behavior or bad decisions.
So for all the few thousand posts before me, don't be stupid and criticize someone who you clearly know nothing about. After all, you don't like it when it happens to one of your favorites either.

[HuffAndPuffAndStuff]

07:40 PM on 02/22/2009

How dare you imply people here don't base their comments on facts. This is the most factual web site in the world, no one would dare just say something because they simply believed it to be true or wanted it to be true. Why, we don't even allow name calling here: no clowns, no freaks, no neo-cons, no Rethuglicans. None of that, only intelligent, and thoughtful conversation. And if you don't believe me, then you sir are worse than Hitler!

[engineerndng]

10:53 PM on 02/22/2009

love it

[KarenHurtz]

12:18 AM on 02/23/2009

"For over a year now he's been against the bailout for many reasons"

Oh really?

He's been against the bailout that started in September "for over a year now"?

Really?

The same guy that missed his chance to rant about $700 billion in TARP funds?

Really?

[vedder110]

09:52 PM on 02/24/2009

He missed his chance to rant about the TARP? Not really:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-1g0OZJIdk

[beemerbiker]

02:04 PM on 02/22/2009

Rick Santelli can rant all he wants. It is not going to change the reality of the situation. If he has been paying attention, the administration has pretty much said everybody is going to have to have some skin in the game. We might as well pull back all of the TARP money that has been payed out and let the whole thing collapse. Did anybody watch Frontline from last Tue. on PBS. I suggest you go to their website and view the show. It might help educate Rick, and the rest of you who think they are bailing out those "irresponsible borrowers" the true genesis of our GLOBAL financial problems.

[ChrisCudnoski]

02:34 AM on 02/22/2009

Everyone who considers themselves informed enough to post a comment here should hopefully have read Atlas Shrugged, if not twice, at least once. It too is about 900 pages so a lot of people pretend they read it when they really haven't, but if you have, you can certainly see that all the mistakes and blunders Mrs. Rand predicted are coming true at breakneck speed.

Hopefully we can save ourselves from the inevitable consequences of these reckless financial behaviors, and avoid the future told for us in Atlas Shrugged.

[dbassam]

09:30 PM on 02/21/2009

It is immoral for us to saddle our children and grandchildren with the debt of this generations mistakes. We should all be very ashamed.

[KarenHurtz]

12:25 AM on 02/23/2009

Yes it would be better if it were all paid off for them. Then they could be free to have everything free! After all, we're all going to pay off all our debts before we die and give that to them too, right?

[tl1g1]

07:40 PM on 02/21/2009

Rick-thats not right.You lumped all people who have lost their home into one box of property investors.
None of these people have children or have been in their only home for tens of years.Hell, they probably are not americans like you.
Is this the way CNBC feels?

[ObjectiveRealist]

06:07 PM on 02/21/2009

"Also, we want to get to our *task force* right now ..."

I thought the Hollywood writers' strike was over. This is the best that CNBC can afford? It's no wonder I won't watch it.

[Americanium]

06:02 PM on 02/21/2009

Bring on the Effing Depression already.

I am ready for it..That way we can rid society of some toxins.

[sloreader]

10:57 PM on 02/21/2009

It's already big enough to give a name... And a face... Between the dawning of the new millenium, GW, Baghdad, Bankrupt Banks and Uncle Bernie, for some reason I get the feeling we are all throwing sandags at a tsunami at this point regardless of our personal opinions. See you on the other side brother.