Liberal media members better learn that if they step onto a set with CNBC's Becky Quick, they better bring their "A" game when talking about business and finance or they'll end up looking foolish.
Such was the case on this weekend's "The Chris Matthews Show" when Andrew Sullivan called Wall Street a "parasite class...producing nothing" only to be forcibly corrected by Quick (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BECKY QUICK, CNBC: [Wall Streeters] have clout in this [budget] debate because they’re the people who are running businesses, businesses that are employing so many people across the country…
ANDREW SULLIVAN, DAILY BEAST: Well, Wall Street isn’t.
QUICK: Well, Wall Street isn’t, but if you talk to corporate chieftains…
SULLIVAN: Wall Street’s a parasite class.
QUICK: If you talk to, well…
SULLIVAN: They’re not Ayn Rand’s heroes. They’re producing nothing.
QUICK: That’s not true. It’s not a parasite class. People who are financing everything else.
SULLIVAN: They’re playing around with money. They’re not actually creating goods.
QUICK: There are some terrible things that happened, but yes the finance comes to a point where if you’re a company and you want to hire people, you have to go to Wall Street to make sure you can get the loan to do it.
SULLIVAN: Sure, but the person whom Ayn Rand would presumably support would be the businessman not the financier.
QUICK: Sure, but if you’re asking what corporate leaders are thinking, yes, they have a lot of clout because they’re the ones who are hiring. We’re at a terrible situation where you’ve got nine percent unemployment.
Nicely said, Becky.
As readers know, Wall Street bashing has been all the vogue the past few years since the 2008 financial collapse with some good reason. However, most presidents throughout this country's history have known that our system of capitalism is very much based on banks, brokerage firms, and insurance companies, and that our economy cannot grow without a strong financial services industry.
Irrespective of his obvious socialist leanings, even Barack Obama understands the importance of Wall Street, as he was one of many Democrats to vote for the Troubled Asset Relief Program in October 2008 along with his current Vice President Joe Biden and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
In fact, what might be surprising to Sullivan is that more Democrats in the Senate voted for TARP than Republicans.
Despite their posturing and finger-pointing at Wall Streeters, when push came to shove in the fall of 2008, even Democrats realized the first thing needed to prevent a total meltdown of our economy was a stabilization of the financial services industry.
Sullivan has either forgotten that or is ignorant.
Nice job by Quick to remind him.
Brava!
