Steve Leisman

Santelli: Get the Government Out of the Banking System

By Jeff Poor | February 23, 2009 - 15:18

As rumors of nationalization swirl about Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C), the market indices have fallen.

On Feb. 23, Larry Kudlow, co-host of CNBC's "The Call," asked CNBC Chicago Mercantile floor reporter Rick Santelli if the government should be involved in propping these troubled banks. Santelli made waves on CNBC's Feb. 19 "Squawk Box" railing against the Obama Administration's mortgage bailout plan. 

"Listen, I think the government should stay out," Santelli said to Kudlow about the banking system. "I mean, look at the last plan where we put that money in there. There was talk about obviously the preferred shares and the dividend payments and paying it back, and now that's under review. You know, so we're revising the last plan. We're throwing more money in."

The resolution, according to Santelli, would be to protect the depositors, but let the institutions fail.

CNBC's Francis and Haines Call Senate Bailout Bill Tax Add-Ons 'Crap'

By Jeff Poor | October 2, 2008 - 09:41

You've got to love brutal honesty, especially when it comes from the financial media.

The Senate's version of a bailout bill, which passed last night by a margin of 74-25, included "sweeteners" - or obscure tax breaks - including benefits for the manufacturer of wooden arrows used in children's toys and another for litigants in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Melissa Francis, co-host of CNBC's "The Call," and "Squawk on the Street" co-host Mark Haines called it all "crap" on their Oct. 1 special coverage of the vote on the network. Their description was similar to the one used by House Minority Leader John Boehner's regarding the House version of the bailout: "crap sandwich."

On NBC, CNBC's Liesman Raises 'Banana Republic' Spectre

By Brent Baker | September 18, 2008 - 19:27

Comparisons to the current Wall Street financial situation to the Great Depression have not been unusual in the media, but Thursday's NBC Nightly News went a step further into inducing panic. Delivering a healthy dose of hyperbole, Steve Liesman of CNBC prompted a “wow” from anchor Brian Williams when he raised the spectre that the credit troubles could lead, “some” would say, to the “U.S. becoming a banana republic” while those in favor of federal action to take over bad debt “would say by losing our banking system, and maybe even Wall Street the way we're going, we would be that much closer to being a banana republic.” Leisman's warning:

I think there are some people who would say that this is, creates a danger, taking on all this bad debt of the U.S. becoming a banana republic. I think those, the proponents of this plan would say by losing our banking system, and maybe even Wall Street the way we're going, we would be that much closer to being a banana republic.

Media Sound Recession Alarm Again, Despite High GDP Growth

By Jeff Poor | December 20, 2007 - 17:39

So, GDP grew at 4.9 percent - the highest growth in four years.

Instead of greeting the news with optimism about the American economy - right as the housing woes are setting in - the media used it as an excuse to hype economic downturn.

"The economy is slowing down so fast this quarter you can see the skid marks as it slams on the brakes," Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said in an Associated Press story on December 20.

The story also quoted former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who isn't optimistic either.