CNBC Host Mark Haines: Attention To Executive Pay Is "Getting Scary" (VIDEO)

CNBC host Mark Haines made yet another comment in defense of Wall Street and bailed out banks today. As Think Progress is continuously pointing out, Haines appears to be pushing the very line that CNBC is being most criticized for: the network's concern for Wall Street institutions that are also being blaming for the current crisis.

Today Haines told co-anchor Erin Burnett that the growing public attention to regulating executive pay is "getting scary."

Last week, during an interview with New York Congressman Charlie Rangel, Haines remarked:

"It seems to me, expect that these Wall Street companies are going to be run well by a bunch of people who don't make more than $250,000."

Think Progress also got that clip:

Eat the Press Editor Jason Linkins documented another Haines defense last week when he
argued with Democratic Congressman Sherman, asking "what do the people on Main Street know about running a financial system?"

Check out the video via TPM here:

Compiled by Katharine Zaleski

Comments

[LosersParadise]

Obama's viewership declines

85588029 UPDATED: Most TV shows start strong in the ratings, then decline as their novelty wears off.

Apparently that trend also holds true for the president's primetime telecasts.

According to the national Nielsen ratings, Barack Obama's Tuesday-night press conference lost viewers compared with his two most recent heavily covered evening events.

The news special drew 40.4 million viewers -- down 18% from from his Feb. 9 press conference, and down 23% from his Feb. 24 address to Congress. The numbers are the combined viewership from 11 cable and broadcast networks that carried the event.

[WierdWookie]

If average Americans only knew what goes on in the defence contracting business..
You would think the Wall Street Boys are Boy Scouts.

[WierdWookie]

Larry King featured Rahm Emanual for about two minutes tonight, then showcased three CNN hacks to tear our President and his administration apart.
That when all of us turned the channel.

[WierdWookie]

If Wall Street continues it's hide and seek tactics, they will say to American investors, "You need not worry, just trust us."
How can one invest their money with men who shake in their boots when the light of day shines on their head?
If the want to regain our trust, stop lying. Can't they understand we are not dummys? We want to know what happens to our investments, period.

[LosersParadise]

Senate Democrats are re-evaluating a proposal to impose heavy taxes on employee bonuses paid at insurer American International Group Inc. because of lawmaker opposition and concerns expressed by President Barack Obama.

they are stalling. president barack hussein obama is chickening out. if there is any legislation it will have no teeth. they got the message from the big guy.

[LosersParadise]

President Barack Obama speaks during a prime time news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 24, 2009.
"We will recover from this recession"
a worthless comment. we recover from ALL recessions. always have. even with a ham sandwich at the helm we recover.

[PerfectSense]

The Democrats solution to executive compensation will likely be more and larger earmarks to their political contributors. That will teach 'em!

[bub26]

What's scary is executive compensation has risen more than 600% since 1980

[AN2009]

Mark Haines's arrogance is astounding. He claims highly-paid Wall Street executives know how to run a financial system, even though they were the ones who wrecked it. I get the feeling he's got relatives working in finance who are responsible for this mess. At least, Jon Stewart will keep making fun of CNBC!

[Murray K]

To the comment by LosersParadise; What? Were you born in January 2009?

[solarian]

about time way over paid just like the talking heads on cnbc. if they are so smart why aren't they not on wall street

[Jerry Pecks]

RUN MO#THERFU#$ERS RUN!!!

[jwalter]

mother f-ers should be scared. if the american people knew half the s- these people are responsible for they would be running for their lives.

[ngoron]

Ignorance is bliss.

these folks don't want to know the truth.

they seem to forget but they will find out in due time, " you reap what you sow"

[williamg]

Do you think the media is spending too much time, too little time, or the right amount of time on the bonuses paid to AIG executives?

-- Too much: 40%
-- Too little: 12%
-- Right amount: 43%

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/Mar09b-AIG.pdf

[LosersParadise]

way too much. it doesn amount to a row of pins in the scheme of things.

[LosersParadise]

No president is going to inspire the nation and produce a national unity of purpose when he keeps blaming others for the crisis. When Obama says that he inherited the crisis, he is simply abrogating responsibility.

In fact, Obama did not inherit the crisis. He bought it. He fought to get his hands on it; he worked long and hard to make it his own.

[Bubba Gump]

No Wall Street fat-cat is going to change the subject and undermine Obama's mission.

WE THE PEOPLE see through the BS!

[Michael Briggs]

You are playing with semantics. Obama fought to be President of the United States. He did not fight to inherit a bungled economy from Bush. Rhetorical games do nothing more than inflame passions without real substance.

[LosersParadise]

briggs, semantics. big word 4 u, no? 0bama knew what he bought. we had three weak months. he has made it worse in less than three months. he bought it. now he owns it and he can't sell it to nobody

[Foreground]

Whether or not he fought to have it, he still didn't cause it anymore than he caused the Iraq War or 9/11. Or in other words, although I personally have a distaste for politics and financial wrangling that borders on psychosis, if the only other option was to let John "decades of deregulating" McCain take the lead, I would feel morally obligated to take the reins, even though it wasn't my fault to begin with.