Last week an on-air rant by CNBC's Rick Santelli, in which he called for a "Chicago Tea Party" to the cheers of futures traders at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, generated a lot of heat, not just here at Daily Kos but many other places in the blogosphere.
Subsequently an article appeared at the Playboy website suggesting the rant may have been a plant, part of a plan to astroturf opposition to Obama's various fiscal plans. The most important piece of evidence was the fact that the domain name "chicagoteaparty" had been registered by a GOP shill last August. A couple of days ago, Playboy took down its article, and on the CNBC website now, Rick Santelli has replied directly. It seems to me that covering Santelli's response is appropriate here.
Here are a couple of paragpraph's from Santelli's statement:
Just for the record I have NOT been in favor of any of the bailouts not in the Bush administration nor the Obama administration. Not for the banks, the insurance companies, or the homeowners that purchased homes they can no longer afford. I have consistently questioned the notion that hard working Americans that have played by the rules should be on the hook for others ill fated financial behavior. This is very easily proven....the record is in the video archives of CNBC for any media outlet interested in representing the facts. Furthermore, the "rant heard around the world" (as it has been named by the media) on February 19th was spontaneous....not scripted....and any person, organization, or media outlet that claims otherwise IS INACCURATE. If one merely watches the video (which we've included here in this column or which you can find through this link) it is clear that I stopped talking several times and only continued my commentary because I was prompted by the "Squawk Box" anchors. Though it has been reported that I am a registered republican I have no political agenda and any person, organization, or media outlet that claims otherwise IS INACCURATE. I hope that the President and the final stimulus plan succeed.
[my emphasis]
The President's plan addressing issues in the housing market was the topic; but only the tip of the iceberg in fact. The real nerve struck seems to be the pent up emotions felt by millions of Americans regarding spending TRILLIONS of dollars to fix the housing market, the banks, and the economy. SPECIFICALLY WHO WILL PAY....WHO WILL BENEFIT....and above all the governments role in all of this.
FWIW, that is my recollection of Santelli's position as I have heard it previously. He has opposed ALL of the bailouts, on principle. While some of the bailouts are more debatable than others, I think his position -- if not his intemperate remarks calling CME traders "a cross section of America -- is within the realm of reason.