Suze Orman To Bush: "You Owe The American People Every Penny Of Your Fortune And Your Family's Fortune"

In a long profile by WWD's Jacob Bernstein, Suze Orman sounds off on George Bush and blames the ex-president for the financial crisis (near the bottom of the first page):

Sitting in a green room after her TV interviews, she lambasts everyone from Alan Greenspan to Larry Summers to the former president of the United States, who holds an especially dark place in her heart. "Commander in Chief?" she says of George W. Bush, with a mix of disbelief and scorn. "You blew up every single financial vessel we had and if you think you aren't personally responsible, well, the blame starts at the top. There is no higher top than you, SIR! If I were you, I would feel so absolutely horrific that I would take every penny I had and distribute it to anybody and everybody to help them in whatever way I could. You owe the American people every penny of your fortune and your family's fortune."

Orman also calls being impersonated by SNL's Kristen Wiig the “greatest honor of my career" and that often during her show she is forced to stop and think, "Ugh. I’m playing Kristen Wiig."

Read the full profile here at WWD.com.

Watch Kristen Wiig impersonate Suze Orman below:

Comments

[fanifesu]

Republicans bankrupted this country, nuff said.

[usedtobesupermom]

None of the perpetrators involved in this scandal should be allowed to keep their ill gotten wealth.
This disaster was 30 years in the making. IT WAS NO ACCIDENT! It actually started with Reagan.
It's complicated also, not just regarding Wall Street. Reagan was responsible for the transfer of $3 trillion from the middle class & working poor to the wealthiest. He weakened worker protection laws,was anti-union, he did away with the "Usury Law" too. He was good to our military though. They didn't have to fight tooth &nail for their benefits.
What we have today is the result of 30 years of the so-called Conservative Republican agenda. see truthout.org & read Reagan: The Great American Socialist by Ravi Batra & How to Destroy the Government In Three Easy Steps by Joe Brewer- This is a good playbook & explains how it was done. It makes sense.

[kassandranobody]

I agree usedtobesupermom
The american people are finally getting it after 30 years
I was really pissed off at bush- but i have decided to to be happy that he completely destroyed every single part of our govenment- because he did the heavy demolition that all the repubs wanted-
But now we can build from the bottom up- the repubs were not counting on a guy who actually means what he says,(what kind of politicialn is that?)
We now have a real chance for better schools , better institutions. And that is what these jellyfish cons are afraid of - government might actually work if you have someone smart in charge who actually wants to do the right thing for people and the country.

I still think bush and his friends are traitors- and should be treated as such- and they should not be allowed to profit
We are all victims and any money these people make in the future - should go to their victims- us the American People

[singularfan]

People have been living off credit cards and home refiances for years now. I know that Suze knows this. You can't blame all that on Bush.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

"No one new net job was created in the United States in 8 yeras", Ron Paul, the last real Republican.

[superstition]

No, Reagan, Phil Gramm, and plenty of others, too.

[rapscallion01]

all democrats fault starting with clinton,

[alanearth]

everything is bush's fault.

[nevadagirl]

Now you're gettin' it.

[MysticInd]

You need to do your research on credit cards and credit card lobby; then you need to know how the housing bubble started, yeap by Greenspan at the urging of President Bush; then we get to the trillions in Collateral debt swaps and add in Credit default swaps of which Pres. Bush laughed and said when he thought the mic wasn't on... Yeah they got drunk on Wall Street. You may want to look at Crisis in Credit to understand what all went on; Meanwhile the middle class has been earning less and less; those at minimum wage that was just raised to 7.25/hr should have been at 9.90/hr with inflation; as chavez said of obama may I say to you.

[fanifesu]

All of this occurred under his watch, he's to blame, but you'll be the first to blame Obama right? You want him to fix 8 years of stupidity in 40 days?

[rapscallion01]

we just want to see some little result of fixing this than spending our way out of it.

[BMSstudy]

8 years of reducing overseas intelligence functional­ity/effect­iveness versus 8 months?

[cu]

RIGHT ON !!!

[init]

The (S and L) savings and loan scandal? Suze is correct. However Sy Hersh has yet to make his case. May explain why everyone is timid as HELL!

[Bettysdad]

The idea of any Republican taking responsibility for harming the majority is patently absurd.

The Republican party exists to transfer as much money from the vast majority as possible to the tiny majority at the top.

W is the most successful REPUBLICAN President in history, which by definition makes him the worst AMERICAN President ever.

[Artemis34]

LOL! Betty's Dad, you are so right. I almost forgot that looting was in their party platform!

[singularfan]

If I had all my eggs in the Obama/Democrat Party basket the way Suze does, I would be hating Bush too. Because someone will need to be blamed for the current governments fanatically irresponsible spending. I think her comments are purely political. She has to know better now. Bizarre!

[Kaviraj]

Repub dittohead talk, iow ignorant. what Obama spent so far was organised by the previous admin.

[nunzia]

what planet are you living on?

[MNTom]

She is actually a regested republican.

[PuffDragon]

Bush is out of office and this isn't an election year. Which sane person would cry "politics" in response to Suze' remarks about Bush??

The Bush's built their fortune from sales to Nazi Germany, and later off the backs of working people. They do indeed owe their money back to the people.

[BrickSykes]

I agree with Ms. Orman's conclusion. The Bush Family's entire combined fortune came to them from their manipulation of the US Government. Selling Influence was a close second. They clearly OWE their lives to the US Taxpayer, PERIOD!

Brick

[GGAB]

It's too bad that we always have someone to blame. Hello who is president now? If Suzie knows how to save this country, then maybe she should get a job in the White House and show them how it's done. Suzie put your money where your mouth is.......

[JEdgarH]

Hello--this president has only been in office for 8 weeks. It's ridiculous to blame him for this mess. And didn't you just say "It's too bad that we always have someone to blame." Practice what you preach.

[GGAB]

Get off the couch and get a job. Talk about a brick...bu­t if the shoe fits....

[MissingAmerica]

I have to admit that she's right about W. It was his lack of leadership and oversight and his penchant for war and his "war on terrorism" that put us here. It has even been admitted that the bulk of the schemes which are coming out in the open now started because people like Madoff were comfortable that the federal government would never be paying attention to what they were doing and, sadly, they were right. If people think Obama is doing a bad job, one can only say, "give the man a chance." He inherited a disaster the likes of which this country has never seen, so we need to give him some time and cut him some slack. It won't be taken care of overnight.

[tokenconservative]

Suze Orman has the fiduciary sense of a four-year old; I don't disagree with her statement, I just think that it serves more as a testament to the Bush administration's success than failure if Suze Orman is legitimately attempting to criticize them. Her books are written for the penny investor who gets stuck in her get rich quick scheme, and someone needs to teach her what the word "leverage" means.

[noradunn]

You're thinking of Jim Cramer.

[superstition]

Get rich quick, eh? That must be a new tack, because from what I've seen of her in her TV show, she's all about fiscal responsibility.

[Kaviraj]

The Bush administration's success????? in destroying everything, i agree. In having a positive impact, the greatest failure of all presidents to date.

[workedlate]

nice post......­...no doubt about it...suzie is the queen of communism.­...she sells her put your money in a savings account for 30 years and then try and retire as thought it is some genius plan. the only person making money off of suzie is suzie. This statement just shows she might be delusional. I am so sick of these people getting on TV and selling horrible advice and then opening there mouth's as if they are experts on economics now.

[SEQUOIABISON]

Bravo Suze, Bravo, well said.

[mamacat]

Bush, the worst prez in the history of this country, bar none.

[Bettysdad]

Yes, but also the greatest, most successful REPUBLICAN president ever.

[juliaizen]

The rule of the thieving, lying, serial killing money-junkies is over. Americans deserve to have their resources applied to building schools, hospitals, day-care centers, maternity vacations, health care, retirement plans, jobs, etc. Folks like Bush, Cheney, Madoff, etc., with a sense of entitlement to endlessly satisfy their depraved appetites at our expense, need to be held on a very short leash, and to be held accountable for the pain and suffering they have wielded upon the American people, and upon the world. Jesus said that our real treasure lies within. Because of ruling-class slime like Bush and friends, we are going to find it. Hallelujah!

[spinmas]

This is sooooo true, but alas the southern state white folks where I live and other southern states don't believe this. They were and are fine with the 10 billion per month we have spent and are spending in Iraq. Listen its the down trodden who are fighting WARS as voluntter's while the well heeled sits back and watches. they say we need to tighten our belts, at the same time infrastructure is crumbling, we don't manufacture much. we invented solar panels and the rest of the world is ahead of us in the production of this, I hate to say it, but It starts with white people being so doocile and going along. I knew after returning to college in upstate ny that when they started talking about trnasforming the USA into a "service and information" economy that we were in trouble, what that actually meant was turned into a third wold country! So now its here, wars are raging and the south says we can't spend any money, even though we have run deficets in the past.

[whyisthis]

Leave it to a woman to tell it like it is. Ms. Orman you are priceless. BTW the south has been a 3rd world replica since forever. Mill owners and preachers replaced by auto industry non union masters and of course, PREACHERS. The souther reps are determined to grind all of us under their whips and bibles. Keep your eyes open!!! Go Suzi!!!

[Eriq]

Yes, and isn't it shocking that a white, SOUTHERN democrat president--Bill Clinton--left the country with its coffers full, and NO deficit. And it only took a white, SOUTHERN (sort of) republican president--George W. Bush--only a few years to spoil those coffers and leave the country in the worst shape it has ever been in.

Goes both ways.

[UbiVeritas]

While blaming Bush may make Suzi and others feel righteous and superior, the truth is that the blame for the financial crisis is widespread, and includes repubs, dems, indys, men, women, blacks, whites, browns, rich, poor, straights, gays, athiests, the devout, etc etc etc.

LOTS of people thought they could get rich by leveraging assets beyond what was reasonable, and LOTS of people lived beyond their means. THis crisis was caused by HUMANS. Blame them.

[lillibelle]

Especially humans who are career politicians. We desperately need term limits in the House & Senate to force the sewage waste out from time to time. Furthermore, what about doing away with the IRS loopholes and going with Steve Forbes' flat tax? FInally, the estate tax should never be abolished so that fake fortunes earned at our expense dies with the greedy you-know-whats. That's my two cents.

[atila]

I don't think so,regular folks never had the information or the power that B ush and his g ang had,two w ars,tax cuts and deregulation wasn't cased by you or me(unless you voted for B ush twice)...

[lillibelle]

The Clinton fortune is now far greater than the Bush family's. Not bad for someone who never worked in the public sector. Furthermore, Clinton/Gore deregulated the banks. Don't get me wrong, Bush was terrible. Does anyone remember when he was asked about his exit policy for the war? Clearly, that thought had never dawned on him and he replied, "Oh, that's for the next guy to figure out." It was clear W was used to having someone else clean up his messes. Enough said. There is lots of blame to go around.

[acacia72]

It took at least eight years to trash the economy, that was the easy part. Here's a little analogy;

Baby bush threw the glass of milk on the floor which shattered and spewed broken glass and milk everywhere. That was a lot easier than it will be for Obama to clean it up.

Americans need to know that it will take a long time to clean up the mess left by baby bush.