Cramer’s Revelation
March 9, 2009 6 Comments
CNBC's Jim Cramer
This article was featured in The Bulletin (Philadelphia area newspaper) on 3/12/09, and in the Bucks County Courier Times on 4/6/09. See The Bulletin version here.
“I favored Obama over McCain because I thought Obama to be a middle-of-the-road Democrat, exactly the kind I have supported all my adult life.”
-Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money
A little over two years ago, then-Senator Barack Obama stormed onto the American political landscape as a breath of fresh air in a tired partisan environment. Democrats vowed to oust a Republican Party led by an unpopular president, while Republicans scrambled to defend their quickly fading majority. Emerging behind the scenes was a new voice, a powerful and charismatic orator named Barack Obama. As the Democratic primary edged closer, most commentators wrote off Obama as too young and inexperienced to be a serious contender in 2008. Popular wisdom penned him as the rising star of the party, who would likely be ready in 2016. But with Republican strategists and pundits focusing the entirety of their firepower on the larger perceived threat of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama brought his dazzling message to the national scene as the beloved underdog, ready to make history and promising hope.
The rest, of course, is history. Senator Obama soon became President Obama, and carried with him feelings of good will and hope for prosperity reminiscent of John F. Kennedy’s Camelot. He had more political capital than any president in recent memory, wielding the weapons of anti-Bush sentiment, powerful rhetoric, and far-reaching promises. Some hoped he would be a savior of sorts, paying off mortgages and rescuing the poor. Most, however, viewed him as a brilliant and historic leader, a Clinton-JFK hybrid that would mend the domestic divide, rebuild international diplomacy, and move away from a now-demonized Bush Administration.
Like much of America, that is what Jim Cramer thought about Barack Obama. Cramer, a respected financial commentator for TheStreet.com, and famous energetic host of CNBC’s Mad Money, has been a Democrat all his life. He admits to millions of dollars in donations to the party, and gave his full backing to President Obama in the recent election. Now, however, like many others, Cramer is starting to have acute buyer’s remorse. In a recent and now very famous article (Cramer: My Response to the White House), Cramer expressed his dismay at President Obama’s recent policy initiatives:
“Look at the incredible decline in the stock market, in all indices, since the inauguration of the president, with the drop accelerating when the budget plan came to light because of the massive fear and indecision the document sowed: Raising taxes on the eve of what could be a second Great Depression, destroying the profits in healthcare companies (one of the few areas still robust in the economy), tinkering with the mortgage deduction at a time when U.S. house price depreciation is behind much of the world’s morass and certainly the devastation affecting our banks, and pushing an aggressive cap and trade program that could raise the price of energy for millions of people.”
Cramer would later note that he thought Obama would be like Clinton, a centrist Democrat who wanted a balanced budget, with a mix of social and environmental programs, all under an umbrella of prudent governance. Instead, said Cramer, President Obama is unwisely pushing a far left agenda at a time of economic crisis.
The middle-of-the-road Clinton-JFK hybrid was not to be; instead we have a politician with a far left agenda, bordering on a type of European socialism not yet seen in this country. President Obama has made it clear that he wants to fundamentally change our nation, to move away from the ideals of capitalism, small government, and American opportunism that have defined us for centuries. He wants to redistribute wealth, raise taxes, and spend at unprecedented levels. He wants to pull back on defense spending, widen welfare, and nationalize the health care industry. He wants tight government control and regulation of the free market, strict environmentalist policy, and liberal judicial governance. America is no longer to be the land of opportunity, but is instead to be the land of equal results ensured by the government. America is no longer to be about the pursuit happiness, but instead about the government guarantee of happiness.
-Matt Benchener from TruPolitics.net
I liked seeing the transformation over the past few days of Warren Buffett and Jim Cramer – both rabid Obama supporters – who are now at odds with the administration’s fiscal policies. They were snowed and are stopping short of admitting it, but they are coming back to their senses. This may be an inidcator that there is indeed hope that the country will start to come back to its senses.
I think it’s hilarious that people are just finding this out. I’ve been waiting since the election for him to stop feigning his stupid bipartisanship and do the right thing. People alway hate change, but they’ll love it in 20/30 years when we finally have everyone equal. We know they’ll be equal because everyone will have the same amount of money. There won’t be a hierarchy between doctors and garbage men. To the future!
The real DANGER is that the machinations of the current Democrat Congress and the Obama administration are NOT just doing damage to the U.S. economy. Many of their moves are designed to secure a political LOCK-IN for years to come.
1. Place control of the upcoming 2010 U.S. census in the hands of the White House to assure the outcome is favorable to Democrats when reapportionment comes about.
2. Save the TRADE UNIONS from their slow demise through deceptive new legislation — because union members vote Democrat in disproportionate numbers.
3. Vastly increase the number of GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES — at all levels — because government employees vote Democrat in disproportionate numbers.
4. Enlarge existing and create entirely NEW ENTITLEMENT PROGRAMS because those who receive government hand-outs vote Democrat in large numbers.
5. Assure that no legislation encumbers the U.S. election processes with anything that could be called real INTEGRITY, for the fraud virtually always favors Democrats.
6. Give government handouts to groups like ACORN, because these groups encourage election fraud and abuse, and they stir up class envy and hatred, which tends to work in the favor of Democrats at the polls.
7. Provide GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS to banks and securities trading firms in order to ingratiate them to the Democrats and to assure a continuing stream of political contributions from this sector of the economy.
8. Encumber FREE SPEECH through rules and regulations tended to, more than anything else, quash conservative conversation in the public media.
9. Encourage continuing ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION because illegal immigrants — who shouldn’t be allowed to vote in the U.S. elections AT ALL — vote disproportionately in support of Democrats.
You are right, Obama is not even a Jimmy Carter. We’ve been sold down the river.
Excellent points made. It is a tragedy that Cramer and many others did not see the true Obama when they cast their votes for him in November. Now we are stuck with this man for 4 years. I only hope and pray that this country will turn around and prosper again in spite of his agenda.
The nation seems to be awaking from months of binge drinking, at a minimum koolaid; when hipe overtook reason, and “marketing phrases” impeded reason and rational! We welcome you back to sobriety! Your voice aimed at your Congressman and Senator can help turn the tide and return fiscal responsibility and some measure of sanity to the nation. Let your voice be heard!