I post a lot about the FOX stock shows because it's important to see how the Democratic Party is being portrayed to Wall Street by FOX. Jonathan Hoenig is their resident flame thrower who doesn't only appear on Saturday but all over their dial. This was from last week and is a pretty typical segment on all of their stock shows. And the same characters are featured on FBN.
When Rogers tells him that the Republican Party is bad on the economy, his response is that at least Republicans give Wall Street "Lip service." By the end of the clip the rest of the panel calls him insane. Ya think? Steve Benen writes: "When in doubt, go with a red scare" And of course he could care less about the consumers....What role could we possibly play in the economy?
Jonathan: Yeah, well, what worries me about the Democrats is that if you listen to them, their message is so explicitly socialist. I mean, at every opportunity they seem to have this contempt for capitalism, this relentless pursuit of collectivism, and this total distrust for free markets. And again, if you listen to the platform, put all the politics aside, their goal is a national health care program, their goal is environmentalism, and you see, as (?) said, bigger government in every element of public life and that's never been good for American and it's never been good for the market, either...(transcript below the fold)
Anchor: Jonathan, the hedge funds are huge donors to the Clinton campaign. She might not raise the Capital Gains tax, but...
J: Not, not this one. Not this one, Sara.
A: Oh, really? Oh, gee, that surprises me.
J: Yeah, well, what worries me about the Democrats is that if you listen to them, their message is so explicitly socialist. I mean, at every opportunity they seem to have this contempt for capitalism, this relentless pursuit of collectivism, and this total distrust for free markets. And again, if you listen to the platform, put all the politics aside, their goal is a national health care program, their goal is environmentalism, and you see, as (?) said, bigger government in every element of public life and that's never been good for American and it's never been good for the market, either.
A: Yeah, isn't the timing really bad, Wayne, given what's going on?
W: Well, you know you can't blame the Democrats. Listen, the Republicans have been just as bad. Jonathan's talking about this thing, listen, the Republicans under Bush have gotten bigger government, big deficits...
J: (overtalking) Yes, yes, yes, of course, but at least they gave it lip service, Wayne.
W: Hey! Let me finish! HEY! Let, me, please, please, please...
J: At least they give it lip service.
W: Oh, my gosh, please, Jonathan.
A: Let Wayne finish, come on.
J: All right? All right, finish!
A: Let it go.
W: Give me a break here, huh? I'm saying, during the Clinton administration, during Bill Clinton's administration, the stock market went up. He was a Democrat. You think this is all just Democrats? No, the Republicans are just as bad, they're doing just the same things.
J: Yeah, but wait...
W: They expanded the government in all areas and it's terrible.
A: Okay, let's get Jonas in here.
J2: I don't think Bush's speech Friday was a model of small government and, uh, limited...
A: Okay, Jonas, so why not just give the money directly to Wal-Mart? I mean, why bother?
J2: Everybody can't just shift to being frugal all at once, that's the biggest danger. You know we're not in a recession yet, technically, and if consumers start to worry and to think that they have to ease back, that their job's insecure, that's what causes a recession more than anything, and if people start to panic, if they start to all get smart all of a sudden overnight, it's trouble.
J: But Jonas, is this stimulus, is this stimulus, can we put that in quotes? Is that going to avert a recession?
J2: We've been buying ourselves out of recessions for a very long time. It has problems...
J: (overtalking) It's not going to do anything. You don't create wealth by taking it from the rich and giving it to the poor. How much money do you have to...?
J2: Why is cutting the payroll tax taking money from the rich? What are you talking about? Why are you talking about taking from the rich to solve this problem?
J: How much money do you have to-?Because it's not for everybody, Jonas. It's under a certain income level.
J2: If you don't pay the payroll taxes to the IRS...everybody pays the payroll tax that I know of...
J: The whole idea...the whole idea...
D: (overtalking) But they're not taking it from the rich either. They're printing it. They're taking it from everybody.
A: Go ahead Jonathan.
J: I'm just gonna say, I'm just gonna...This whole idea of incentivizing consumption to spur the economy, it's ludicrous, Terry. It's not consumers. Consumers don't do anything. It's the producers that we should be incentivizing. It's the business...
(Everyone talking at once)
J2: People don't produce stuff for each other. They produce stuff because consumers ultimately demand it!
E: Because you BUY it! What planet-? What nation are you living in, Jonathan?
A: Wayne? Come in and break this tie.
J2: It's not a TIE! He's crazy!
A: Go ahead, Wayne...