"The age of personal responsibility is obviously dead."
So said a blogger named Lynai, commenting about CNBC Business host Rick Santelli's on-air rant Feb. 20 on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.
Santelli's outburst reminded me of Howard Beale, the mentally unstable, over-opinionated newscaster played by Peter Finch in the 1976 film, “Network,” where he said, "I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore."
Santelli referred to President Obama's $75 billion rescue plan, which is part of that stimulus package we are all going to be paying for the next hundred years. Why? To bail out homeowners who cannot pay their mortgage, courtesy of the 92 percent who pay their mortgages.
"This is America," Santelli yelled among the crowd of investors. "How many of you people want to pay your neighbor's mortgage?"
I noticed no investors raised their hand.
"You know, the new administration's big on computers and technology -- How about this, President Obama and your new administration? Why don’t you put up a website where people could vote as a referendum, to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages; or would we rather buy cars and houses in foreclosure and give them to people who might have a chance to prosper down the road? Thus, rewarding people that could carry the water instead of drink the water?" Santelli asked.
Which brings me to the subject of what blogger Lynai said about personal responsibility and it being a moral issue.
Years ago, I worked for a company that stupidly eliminated late fees. This was the equivalent of President Kennedy's plan to axe the Central Intelligence Agency. Never mind the fact that doing away with all late charges meant doing away with millions of dollars of revenue, as well as corporate employees' jobs. By saying no more late fees, the company was telling its customers they no longer would be held accountable for their actions. They could return the item a month later if they wished and they would not be charged fifty dollars plus in late charges and the price of the item.
Well, so much for people accepting personal responsibility. I am not alone when it comes to people who pay their mortgages on time.
"They have mortgages and it's their responsibility to pay them," said one woman in New York in an interview on NBC Nightly News."
"I feel like I'm doing the right thing paying my mortgage, and now apparently I have to pay my neighbor's mortgage, too," said stay-at-home mom Kim Guymon, whose value on her Seattle suburban home has dropped $150,000.
And they have a right to be angry. I do not know how you feel but as someone who would eventually like to own a home, I do not care to be put in the group that Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling calls "Nice guys finish last." How do you homeowners feel about being referred to as that nice guy?
Even if I were a homeowner (I rent), and got myself into a financial mess, I assure you that I would make darn certain the banks got my mortgage payment every month. The credit card bills and anything else can wait. If you do not have a roof over your head, you are screwed.
You can say what you want about Santelli. A lot of what I have read on the blogs say his on-air rant has been viewed negatively, but there are a lot of bloggers who stand with him.
I do not watch CNBC and up until Feb. 20, I had not even heard of Santelli.
This is not about Rick Santelli, whose live exchange has been viewed over 1.2 million times on CNBC.com, according to The Associated Press.
This is about people taking responsibility for their own financial actions. Stop holding pity parties and waiting for the government to bail you out.
It is your nest, deadbeats. Now lie in it.
©2/23/09
So said a blogger named Lynai, commenting about CNBC Business host Rick Santelli's on-air rant Feb. 20 on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade.
Santelli's outburst reminded me of Howard Beale, the mentally unstable, over-opinionated newscaster played by Peter Finch in the 1976 film, “Network,” where he said, "I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore."
Santelli referred to President Obama's $75 billion rescue plan, which is part of that stimulus package we are all going to be paying for the next hundred years. Why? To bail out homeowners who cannot pay their mortgage, courtesy of the 92 percent who pay their mortgages.
"This is America," Santelli yelled among the crowd of investors. "How many of you people want to pay your neighbor's mortgage?"
I noticed no investors raised their hand.
"You know, the new administration's big on computers and technology -- How about this, President Obama and your new administration? Why don’t you put up a website where people could vote as a referendum, to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages; or would we rather buy cars and houses in foreclosure and give them to people who might have a chance to prosper down the road? Thus, rewarding people that could carry the water instead of drink the water?" Santelli asked.
Which brings me to the subject of what blogger Lynai said about personal responsibility and it being a moral issue.
Years ago, I worked for a company that stupidly eliminated late fees. This was the equivalent of President Kennedy's plan to axe the Central Intelligence Agency. Never mind the fact that doing away with all late charges meant doing away with millions of dollars of revenue, as well as corporate employees' jobs. By saying no more late fees, the company was telling its customers they no longer would be held accountable for their actions. They could return the item a month later if they wished and they would not be charged fifty dollars plus in late charges and the price of the item.
Well, so much for people accepting personal responsibility. I am not alone when it comes to people who pay their mortgages on time.
"They have mortgages and it's their responsibility to pay them," said one woman in New York in an interview on NBC Nightly News."
"I feel like I'm doing the right thing paying my mortgage, and now apparently I have to pay my neighbor's mortgage, too," said stay-at-home mom Kim Guymon, whose value on her Seattle suburban home has dropped $150,000.
And they have a right to be angry. I do not know how you feel but as someone who would eventually like to own a home, I do not care to be put in the group that Texas Republican Jeb Hensarling calls "Nice guys finish last." How do you homeowners feel about being referred to as that nice guy?
Even if I were a homeowner (I rent), and got myself into a financial mess, I assure you that I would make darn certain the banks got my mortgage payment every month. The credit card bills and anything else can wait. If you do not have a roof over your head, you are screwed.
You can say what you want about Santelli. A lot of what I have read on the blogs say his on-air rant has been viewed negatively, but there are a lot of bloggers who stand with him.
I do not watch CNBC and up until Feb. 20, I had not even heard of Santelli.
This is not about Rick Santelli, whose live exchange has been viewed over 1.2 million times on CNBC.com, according to The Associated Press.
This is about people taking responsibility for their own financial actions. Stop holding pity parties and waiting for the government to bail you out.
It is your nest, deadbeats. Now lie in it.
©2/23/09
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