Although CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer has backed off his hyperbolic attacks on President Barack Obama ever since his "Daily Show" appearance, he's shown that he's not afraid to take on the Democratic-controlled Congress.
So, to give credit where credit is due, the "Mad Money" host dedicated an entire segment to the Employee Free Choice Act, aka card check and how its passage by Congress could be detrimental to Wal-Mart's (NYSE:WMT) stock price on his April 3 program. And during the segment, Cramer used three references to Soviet/Russian communism to describe the Democrat effort pushing card check.
"Right now, in Congress - they're getting ready for what is essentially a referendum on Wal-Mart," Cramer said. "And the referendum's name is the Employee Free Choice Act, also known by slang as card check - a bill that will make it much easier for workers to form unions and much harder for employers to get in their way."
The "Mad Money" host explained just how large of a role Wal-Mart plays in the economy, specifically the American workforce, as unemployment is approaching double-digits.
"For Wal-Mart, which has 1.4 million in employees in the United States - 1.4 million, a company that is loathed by most Bolsheviks, by the Democrats - hey it's my own party, you'd think I'd be getting the name right by now. It is loathed by the unions, Wal-Mart - like no other company. The stakes of this legislation couldn't be higher."
Cramer explained this was already baked into Wal-Mart's stock price and it could be played as a speculation trade depending on how one thought the card check vote might go when it comes up. Wal-Mart stock is trading at $53.80 a share and has traditionally been one of the stocks investors flee to during slow economic times.
"This stuff - it's got Wall Street very worried," Cramer said. "I don't think the big boys will stop being concerned until card check either fails or is filibustered to death. The president is a strong backer of card check. There's no doubt the House, which might as well be Nancy Pelosi's own little politburo, will approve this legislation, given that card check passed - the exact same bill with 20 votes to spare in 2007."
According to Cramer, the ultimate decision on card check will come down to the Senate. And last month, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., came out opposing card check legislation. Specter has been the important swing vote in the U.S. Senate that Democrats have needed to thwart a Republican filibuster on some bills, making his opposition very significant.
"So if you buy Wal-Mart, you're putting your faith in the Senate," Cramer said. "Sounds crazy? That's why I consider it speculation. The good news here for shareholders is though the Republicans will definitely filibuster the bill and the only Republican who voted for it in the last Congress - Arlen Specter, has switched sides because of a primary challenge."
Also on the side of the anti-card check caucus in the U.S. Senate are some more moderate Democrats, giving it another hurdle to overcome to become law.
"Also a number of more moderate Democrats - I like to call them the Menshevik block - have expressed lukewarm feelings about the bill," Cramer said. "Maybe the most encouraging news from the Democrats is [Sen.] Diane Feinstein has explicitly withdrawn her support for the current version."
"Even some Democrats seem to want to pass this thing in the middle of a recession, I don't know, and set us back who knows how many months," Cramer continued.
In the final analysis, Cramer was doubtful card check would pass in this Congress and gave Wal-Mart's stock a thumb's up for the time being.
"I don't think card check will pass," Cramer said. "But the Street isn't going to stop fretting and start buying until it fails and that's why I think you have an opportunity to get in ahead of the bog boys on this one."
But the "Mad Money" host made one observation that is a sad commentary on the state of government and how it applies to business - which what is going on in Washington, D.C. has a larger impact on Wal-Mart than its own sales and business decisions.
"Here's the bottom line - the most important thing for Wal-Mart right now has nothing to do with decisions that are being made in Bentonville, Ark. or about comparable sales," Cramer said. "It's all about one decision that's going to be made in Washington, D.C. - whether or not Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act, card check in its current anti-business, earnings-destroying form."
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Go Jim!!! Too bad the Administration & Congress
April 4, 2009 - 16:35 ET by Cape Conservativecan't take some SOUND ADVICE from the expert on Socialism, Putin!! He has warned America over and over that SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK!!!
I guess 'the one' can't take advice from anyone, even those whose countries were ruined by taking the path he has chosen!!!!!!
Perhaps 'the one' will meet with Hugo Chavez and Raul Castro for some important tips on how to kill our country even more quickly than his 'never let a good crisis go to waste' nationalization plan is currently working.
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue. ~ Sam Adams
Cramer's editorial on April 2nd
April 4, 2009 - 16:45 ET by PaarlLast Thursday in the last 5 minutes one can hear in very vivid and sad words Cramer's "re-education". It seems like Zucker read him the riot act and told him to buck up the Obama line or else. He blamed Bush for everything except the sinking of Atlantis and the sinking of the Titanic. Cramer went very "politically correct".
In fact it appears that the whole CNBC has changed in recent weeks and there is a 'party line'. Not like MSNBC fer sher but a definite change in the spirits of the network. I listen on Sirius and can hear a real change
Paarl of Rhodesia
So...........
April 4, 2009 - 17:01 ET by Kingfish17So you're saying that George Bush DIDN'T have a direct hand in the sinking of the Titanic? Where is your proof?
"When will Barack Obama apologize to the American people for destroying their once great nation?" - MSM 2012
Yeah, King's right, I
April 4, 2009 - 18:54 ET by SRPwrdYeah, King's right, I distinctly remember my public school history book had a whole chapter dedicated to Bush's attrocities, and one of these was the sinking of the Titanic. Had a picture and everything....
"I believe in American Exceptionalism, just like Brits believe in British Exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek Exceptionalism." - PreBO, 4/4/09
Why?
April 4, 2009 - 16:48 ET by Jman449Why are we letting the MSM portray this guy as a conservative? He's an Obama supporter, he gets paid by NBC, he's no conservative. When he got roasted by that phony on Comedy Central, that was made the equivalent of Rush Limbaugh getting roasted. Can we at least pick our own spokesman anymore? Or are we stuck with this clown and Meghan McCain?
Kramer is a Democrat for Capitalism
April 4, 2009 - 23:02 ET by PopularTechI don't believe anyone is portraying him as a conservative but rather a capitalist which for the most part he is. The problem is the ironic impossibility of being a Democrat for Capitalism.
It could be worse but at least Kramer says something right every once in a while.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
There once was a time when
April 4, 2009 - 23:07 ET by NL207There once was a time when many, if not most, Democrats were capitalists. Today, Kramer is a man without a party.
Go, Cramer, Go!
April 4, 2009 - 16:58 ET by SpaceManSpiffIt's tough to tell it like it is, especially in such a populist environment. I have to hand it to him for sticking to what he knows and telling the truth. Card Check does nothing to improve conditions for the American worker. All it does is make it easier for Union thugs to press-gang more members and extort more money from businesses.
Did Orwell predict the future? Or are the enemies of freedom following Orwell's example?
CNBC is going to change
April 4, 2009 - 17:17 ET by Kingfish17Reiterating a point made above: CNBC is changing folks. I think it's been on the air for about 20 years or so. Viewership has always been on the light side, (although a lot of financial institutions leave their televisions tuned to CNBC just in case something happens). CNBC has actually been pretty balanced, in that you have both sides of issues discussed with inteligence and depth, and that includes of course the pro-business side of the story. The pro-business side of the story has been tough to find even on FOX news as of late, what with all the new found Populism taking hold.
But the phony "Economic Crisis" has increased viewership at CNBC, and has highlighted a couple of refreshing outbursts of true conservative indignation at Obama's policies, (ie. Rick Santelli's rant of a few months ago, among others). These conservative viewpoints are such a rarity in the MSM that they got covered a lot just for their uniqueness.
But I think this has also woken up upper level management at NBC as to what goes on at CNBC. "You mean we actually have people who think like that and are allowed to make those comments on one of our networks?" So the edict has come down to set the CNBC ship right.
Look for a good amount of CNBC old timers to be moving over to FOX Business and Bloomberg Television in the future.
"When will Barack Obama apologize to the American people for destroying their once great nation?" - MSM 2012
Cramer
April 4, 2009 - 17:24 ET by svh83Loose cannon. All over the map. Used to live in his car. Might as well listen to Jewel.
Warning: Castration HIGHLY possible
April 4, 2009 - 17:55 ET by SickofLibsCramer: eventually you're gonna catch your nuts if you keep hopping back and forth over that fence like Nadia Comaneci.
This is twice
April 4, 2009 - 18:59 ET by Free StinkerThis is twice now.
Obama & company are going to ruin Cramer for this.
"Gov. Palin has been subjected to one of the most massive and dishonest pile-on smear attacks in the history of liberal media." -- Lowell Ponte
Obama & company are going
April 4, 2009 - 20:15 ET by PaarlObama & company are going to ruin Cramer for this.
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I am at sea...ruin him for what exactly???...he is now taking the party line !!
Paarl of Rhodesia
BiPolar Financial
April 4, 2009 - 19:20 ET by stratmanBiPolar Financial Adviser:
Spit out the DNC pills, refuse to go down the rabbit hole with the other Lib lunatics, and keep telling the truth, Jim.
!!
April 4, 2009 - 20:11 ET by katainkentpeople take financial advice from this guy?
Unions
April 4, 2009 - 21:14 ET by VinncyGGee Jim I thought ALL democrats love Unions. It's interesting, for years conservative talk radio was warning everyone that the democratic party was taken over by the extreme left, nobody listened.
Talk radio was screaming for democrats to educate themselves on our Idiot-in-chief, to understand that associations matter, but they were made jokes of.
Not even 100 days in office, our budget is astronomical, we are losing our rights, companies are being taken over, but the democrats don't listen. That is why having a free press is so important, but we don't have that either. If the government gives the liberal media bailout money we will never have a free press again, except for a few conservative papers and talk radio (for however long that may last). I'm sure they will just be marginalized again, made jokes of, and nobody will listen.
They better, and soon.
Well, well
April 4, 2009 - 22:02 ET by Joe CamelI can't afford to be union, as I would have to take a cut in pay, pay more of my benefits and then pay dues to the thugs. I know 30 union guys who hate being union, have given up pay, benefits and such, but those dues don't go down. And oh, the big wigs get fatter, wealthier and more power, while the "little" guy gets squeezed. Yep, makes me wanna be one of them union guys alright.
Cramer has
April 4, 2009 - 22:38 ET by afuelno creditibility with me. He is a yo-yo, going from one side to the other. Some others have commented on the whole CNBC team getting scolded by Immelt and Zucker about following the lib line, as they are in bed with the Messiah, on so-called Recovery team.
What is sad and unreliazed by GE/NBC is they will be taken over by the govt. right along with the banks, autos and all the others that already have been by regulations, rules, regs or other govt. interventions put in place over past 50+ years. Throughout history those who have played ball with the power brokers somehow thinking they are going to be protected and won't be targeted, well we know better. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Cramer is a now a joke... Just as he makes jokes about Lenin, he is in denial about the outcome of this presidency.
No Representation in NorCal
Probably Short-Lived
April 5, 2009 - 09:35 ET by rightwingidiotCramer's outrage will probably be short-lived. He got his ass handed to him over his last rant against the Fed (Obeyme) and he did an about-face and started kissing Obeyme's pooperhole again.
I suspect that he'll get himself a talkin to by someone and we'll see him do it again. The last time I saw him praising Obeyme on one of the early shows (claiming that the market was turning around because of, not inspite of, what the Fed was doing) he looked like a little boy that had just had a whipping with daddy's belt. He's pretty much a paper tiger. Just not much there.
I didn't see the Jon Stewart thing but I suspect that he was told to drink the Koolaid and just take it up the rear and look and act whipped. Which, as I understand it, he did very well.
"hey it's my own party,
April 4, 2009 - 22:42 ET by NL207"hey it's my own party, you'd think I'd be getting the name right by now."
Maybe that's part of the problem for Cramer. The Bolshevik-Democrat party is the party of tyranny, wealth destruction and poverty. These things are antithetical to his life. He is in the wrong party. Cramer is still not a Conservative yet, but at least he is starting to see these thugs that run his party for who they really are.
Uh Oh
April 5, 2009 - 00:38 ET by racLooks like another trip to the woodshed for Mr. Cramer is coming soon.
The problem for Cramer and CNBC is...
April 5, 2009 - 07:12 ET by JohnMcGrew...that unlike the other side of the network, where they can basically make up stuff and skew facts and events as they see fit, CNBC has to actually face a certain amount of reality. They are operating in a world of facts and figures. They don't get the luxury of watching events unfold, like the markets reacting inversely to Obama's popularity, election, and then edicts, and then spin them in some happy-fluffy positive way. The reality is that the economy clearly rejects socialism and most of what is going on in Washington, and there is no way for CNBC to pretend this isn't happening and still be taken the least bit seriously. They are trying to walk a like that can't be walked.
The Communism Comparison
April 5, 2009 - 08:21 ET by NoJellyNever been a union guy, but my dad was (and is) insanely pro-union--Just brought up that way, I guess. I've always been able to stand back and see the unions for what they truly are; Little soviet entities. Note how well the elite and ruling echelon lives, how intolerant and ruthless the "enforcer" division can be, the inability to operate without corruption or in the light of day, and the fact that the whole of it thrives on the backs of a worker class that is 1) idoctrinated with constant and unrelenting meetings full of empty-but-uplifting rhetoric and Hitleresque propaganda, and 2) willingly giving large portions of their income to criminals for a fraction of return.
My dad asked me once what I thought was wrong with unions...I answered; The USSR, China, VietNam, Cuba, North Korea, Nazi Germany, over a dozen little insignificant-yet-genocidal governments in Africa, Venezuela, etc., etc., etc....
Unions guarantee homogenous
April 5, 2009 - 11:21 ET by Chris NormanUnions guarantee homogenous mediocrity - perfect for Obama's "New Economy".
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Stocks rise as Obama fails
April 6, 2009 - 07:36 ET by Joe C.All one has to do is look at the stock market’s recent surge to see how effective “no” is. As Doh!-bama’s legislative failures mount, the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P go up — card check — DOA; cap & trade — DOA; financial and industrial nationalization — KIA; 90% tax on bonuses — KIA; GM and Chrysler bailouts — KIA (heading to bankruptcy, which is what should have happened in the first place); G-20 agenda — KIA.
As the conservatives pile up significant (if unreported) victory after victory, the stock market climbs. As the attempted thwarting of a recovery likewise gets buffeted, confidence continues to up-tick. All this shows that the “Chicken Littles” from September on were wrong, and none of the “stimulus” was needed as the recovery occurs before a single dime has been spent — other than the TARP I, which wasn’t needed either.
Living with a bad job
April 6, 2009 - 14:02 ET by aakaakaakSometimes in life you end up with a job that you would rather not be doing. Whether it's cleaning up poop, selling insurance to little old ladies that don't need it, ice cubes to eskimoes or crap stocks to poor suckers you still have to do your job. This is what he's doing. Surviving a job he can't stand to support his family. Cramer does not have the freedom to choose anymore and I don't expect him to stick with his company much longer. He's unhappy and disgruntled and these outbursts are the result. If he doesn't quit outright from this I suspect he's seriously looking for a new venue to plie his trade.
Good luck on finding a new job in the Obamaconemy.
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