Memo To Erin Burnett - Shut Your Banking Apologista Pie Hole And Get Your Facts Straight On The Bailout, Seriously!
Start watching at the 1:30 mark.
UPDATE #3 - CNN's New Star Is a Little Too Sympathetic to Wall Street - The Atlantic
UPDATE #2 - Salon Columnist Glenn Greenwald Annihilates Erin Burnett
UPDATE - Fairness And Accuracy In Media Has Responded To Erin Burnett
If CNN is interested in factchecking claims about Wall Street, they might want to start by taking a look at those made by their new host. At the very least, the show should invite the economists and policy experts who could set the record straight.
ACTION: Please tell CNN's OutFront that Erin Burnett's factcheck of Occupy Wall Street needs factchecking.
CONTACT: CNN OutFront Comment Form:
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You can also send your comments to the show on Facebook
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And on Twitter:
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This clip is a must see.
CNN's Erin Burnett ventured down to Occupy Wall Street and told some protesters that "taxpayers actually made money on the Wall St. bailout." She made fun of the protesters on-air and derided their knowledge of the bailouts.
The only problem for Erin, is that she's the one who didn't get her facts straight.
That's right, the banking apologista, who is engaged to a Citigroup executive, and is infamous for having her ass handed to her on camera by Congressman Brad Sherman over AIG bonuses, didn't do her bailout research before she decided to ridicule protesters for not doing doing their bailout research.
According to the U.S. Treasury's own figures, available publicly to any reader, including pneumatic (we understand if you need a dictionary for that one, Erin) and arrogant CNN reporters, as of TODAY, taxpayers are still more than $95 BILLION IN THE RED on TARP. And that's including all interest and other income. There is still $122 BILLION of TARP funds that have NOT yet been paid back.
We understand that Burnett was excluding GM, but she somehow missed that AIG, alone, still owes over $50 BILLION.
The "we made money on the bailout" meme just won't die. Facts and in the case of Burnett, poor research, be damned.
Check this out:
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Here's the ultimate proof, Erin. We did the research for you while you were in makeup:
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Oh no, we're not done with you Erin. Since you loosely used the term 'bank bailouts' instead of TARP, in your on-air embarrassment today, we offer an extra can of whoop-ass, courtesy of Dylan Ratigan, your former colleague.
- "So when someone like Sen. Gregg, or Erin Burnett starts lying to your face about how much money they made us with their bank giveaways, tell him he's $2 trillion short, and we can talk about the interest they owe us later."
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It seems that Erin conveniently forgets to mention the trillions in stealth bailouts doled out to Wall Street from Bernanke and Geithner, at 0% interest. We haven't forgotten Erin. And neither have the fans of the late Bloomberg reporter Mark Pittman, who fought the Fed for this important reveal.
Check this out from Bloomberg and PBS, the next time you're in the make-up chair:
The True Cost Of The Wall Street Bailout
Watch just a few minutes of this clip. It is outstanding.
Special report from Bloomberg -- Adding It All Up
Allison Stewart from Need to Know with Bloomberg reporter Bob Ivry.
The Bloomberg total is $12.8 trillion.
We all know about TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which spent $700 billion in taxpayers’ money to bail out banks after the financial crisis. That money was scrutinized by Congress and the media. But it turns out that that $700 billion is just a small part of a much larger pool of money that has gone into propping up our nation’s financial system. And most of that taxpayer money hasn’t had much public scrutiny at all. According to a team at Bloomberg News, at one point last year the U.S. had lent, spent or guaranteed as much as $12.8 trillion to rescue the economy. The Bloomberg reporters have been following that money. Alison Stewart spoke with one, Bob Ivry, to talk about the true cost to the taxpayer of the Wall Street bailout.
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Here's more from Dylan Ratigan on Bank Bailout Lies:
This lie must be beaten back by all of us like whack-a-mole every time it rears its ugly head. Please help me by sending this information to any politician, media figure, banker, neighbor or robot that you find repeating it -- they can take our money, but they don't own the truth.
Let's break it down:
1. TARP itself hasn't even made money. AIG alone still owes us $75.6 billion. However, they always add the caveat "Other than AIG..." when they say that the bailouts were "profitable." But the AIG money was directly paid to many of these same banks that "paid back their TARP" at an outrageous 100 cents on the dollar! Mind you, this was done by government officials that were the former employees and current shareholders of the very banks they were helping. Let's make banks like Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Societe Generale pay back the $105 billion of stolen taxpayer money before we let anyone say "TARP was paid back."
2. TARP is a tiny little part of a massive amount of taxpayer support. TARP is actually less than 10 percent of your tax dollars that have been handed to the banks. And now the banks "paid back" the tiny slice that is TARP with our money, and you are supposed cheer them for savvy. At this very moment, the taxpayer is still owed $2.02 trillion dollars for the bailout by our politicians and banksters, and that number is growing every day.
Never mind the money that these same banks make getting endless 0 percent interest loans from the Federal Reserve (aka you) while either they lend it back to you at 14 percent interest or just lend it right to back the government and pocket the yield. Never mind the multitude of benefits they get from being Too Big To Fail. But you're not supposed to pay attention to that; you're only supposed to notice how fast they paid back TARP!
So instead of these politicians looking for the only obvious place to find the money --clawbacks from the people who continue to steal it -- we are now being subjected to outright lies as they once again pick the banksters over the people who voted them in. But don't let them, or anyone in the media, get away with it without hearing from you.
DailyBail
Updated.
Reader Comments (49)
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/10/05/the-cool-kids-are-changing-lunch-tables/
Read this one.
http://twitter.com/#!/AlisonKosikCNN/status/120137335332540416
So, by my calculations the $50B owed by AIG, alone, minus the $10B or even $20B that "we" made off the bank bailouts leaves us...(hang on, getting my calculator)... OK, by my sophisticated calculations, that leaves us $30-40B IN THE HOLE. Just on the "Wall St. part" of the bailout.
Really, Erin. Seriously?
ProPublica's Bailout Tracker
http://dailybail.com/home/dinesh-dsouza-is-clueless-installment-273-tarp-edition.html
This one is good.
Another must read on TARP lies.
http://dailybail.com/home/sigtarp-report-says-geithner-is-lying-to-taxpayers-about-aig.html
http://dailybail.com/home/cnbcs-becky-quick-is-a-bailout-apologist-and-believer-in-pau.html
I sent the story to Joe Weisenthal at Clusterstock for publication, emailed it to Ratigan, and tweeted it to Erin Burnett herself.
I do wonder what other moronic tactics we'll be treated to.
What would be "acceptable" to the great and wise Erin Burnett?
1- Do not buy clothes at thrift stores.
2- One must rid oneself of the tools of your past job or future job!
3- Thou must NOT communicate via cell phone.
4- You must not eat food donated to the cause.
"Look! He is eating name brand peanut butter. Oh.. the decadence!"
"Wow, the cop did not stand on that guys neck this time"
since the fed pays all it's profits back to the treasury every year, the taxpayers earned the profits from these loans. if you want to include the amount of money taxpayers earn from the fed's loans to banks, it easily overwhelms the amounts you're quoting against erin. i think it's about $80 billlion a year that taxpayer's earn from the fed.
throw in all the government bailouts separate from both tarp and the fed and there is no disputing erin's point. if you want to argue social costs or that the money should have gone directly to make mortgage borrowers whole rather than the lenders, that's a valid argument, but to argue that the bailouts didn't net a profit?
the numbers are out there, you figure it out.
Seriously? The Fed earns most of its "profits" from US Treasuries (and GSE securities) NOT from loans to depository institutions. In other words, most of those "profits" are simply recycled tax dollars. Are you really serious or are you just trying to play games?
In 2009, for instance, the Fed earned only about $3B from loans to banks (out of a total of $52B). Of the total, $46B was earned from Treasuries, from GSE debt, and from MBS the Fed purchased.
In 2010, the Fed earned only about 800M from loans (including TALF). They earned about $2B in interest from AIG, but then they paid out $2.7B in interest on reserves. As usual, the bulk of the Fed's "profits" were derived from interest on Treasuries, GSE debt and MBS (approximately $76B out of a total of $81B).
Get real.
The bankers own the govt. The govt owns the "media". You cannot shame the media. They will laugh as they lie. And the reason they lie is because some believe them.
How to get to enough of the tv watchers and the "newspaper" readers is the challenge. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make a person think.
John Pilger's words :
" ... this is what he told me. "In dictatorships we are more fortunate that you in the West in one respect. We believe nothing of what we read in the newspapers and nothing of what we watch on television, because we know its propaganda and lies. Unlike you in the West, we've learned to look behind the propaganda and to read between the lines, and unlike you, we know that the real truth is always subversive." ..." ( from : http://www.johnpilger.com/articles/the-invisible-government )
and america has not wised up to the fact that it's essentially a two-party dictatorship. There are many who still think that the
side of the wrecking ball with the elephant is better than the one with the donkey.
More people should read db, wrh, ich .... --- More rambles later.
"All profits from TARP are required to go toward paying down the national debt, right? (FYI that's true) Do you know how much we paid down the national debt since TARP was signed into law?
NEGATIVE THREE TRILLION DOLLARS!!!"
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4408
http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/05/erin_burnett_voice_of_the_people/singleton/
Erin Burnett: Voice of the People
Does anyone take her seriously? Erin on NBC Meet the Press-morons: "do you think all bankers are bad people?" Guest: "Huh?..."
Good luck with the new CNN show...CNN, where former CNBC-ers go to die...
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/10/cnns-erin-burnett-sympathetic-wall-street/43407/#.To3cH7y8W-U.email
CNN's New Star Is a Little Too Sympathetic to Wall Street
It's not directly to my site, and I think it leaves D.B.'s window open.
The underlying source is me commenting, businessinsider.com
http://awurl.com/UfaargMiA
http://pages.citebite.com/u1c1d1s8m8igt
http://evernewecon.weebly.com
Bruce Springsteen Tom Joad OWS
Erin Burnett is a CNBC anchorwoman who’s net worth is $12 million and annual salary is $2 million.
Erin Burnett was born in Mardela Springs, Maryland and has an estimated net worth of 12 million dollars. Erin Burnett studied political science and economics in college, ultimately graduating with a degree in political economy. She began her professional career working for Goldman Sachs in the mergers and acquisitions division. She was subsequently offered a position on CNN, serving as a writer, and casting guest analysts for the show “Moneyline”.
She became the Vice President of Citigroup/CitiMedia after leaving CNN. She also hosted the shows “Bloomberg on the Markets” and “In Focus” for Bloomberg Television. In 2005, she was hired to host the series “Street Signs” on CNBC, and she also served as co-host for the series “Squawk on the Street”. Both shows’ ratings improved immensely while she was host, and in June of 2011, she was offered her own show on the CNN network, called “Erin Burnett Out Front”. The show will begin airing in the fall of 2011.
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-businessmen/wall-street/erin-burnett-net-worth/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/06/occupy-wall-street-erin-burnett_n_998494.html
Huff Post picked up the story and quoted my story within theirs. Thanks to the author Jason Linkins.
Thanks
NEGATIVE THREE TRILLION DOLLARS!!!"
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That was one of the great lines from McHugh. I miss that guy.
I think Cullen over at pragcap.com has the best take on EB.
"So what should Dan the “unemployed software designer” have said to Ms. Burnett? He should have said this:
“Excuse me, but I believe you have a completely insufficient understanding of the way that our fiat monetary system works. When the U.S. Treasury “makes” money it is actually reducing the outstanding net financial assets of the private sector. There is no such thing as “making money on the Wall Street bailouts” because, as the issuer of our currency, the U.S. Federal Government is not a profit making entity and cannot be compared to a household, business or bank. There is simply no such thing as the U.S. government having “more” money when it brings in tax revenues. As the monopoly supplier of the U.S. dollar, the Federal Government must issue money before it is available to us. And when they “make” money via increased taxes they are quite literally removing net financial assets from the private sector.
So no, none of us are “making money” on the bailout except for the people who caused their banks to collapse. That is of course, unless the banks or Uncle Sam are paying you some form of special bank bailout dividend? Did that happen? No. So none of us are “richer” directly because of the bank bailout.
More importantly though, what the banks did to us was break the moral code that is always attached to money. Money is always debt and when an institution or individual fails to adhere to the moral code attached to our debts, they are directly infringing on their moral obligations that they are legally bound to. And when a government bails out banks, individuals or businesses, they are saying that this infringement is okay and are in fact encouraging it. This is why we don’t allow counterfeiting, fraud, scams, etc. These are all forms of infringement on the moral code that inextricably links us all together via trade and commerce. Without the soundness and strict adherence to this moral code, there is no such thing as a healthy functioning U.S. economy. And the banks infringed on this moral code to the tune of trillions of dollars. And we let them get away with it. Now you’re justifying it with a false understanding of how a fiat monetary system works. Shame on you."
CNN's new evening anchor made a mistake this week when she aired a cheap-shot report about the Occupy Wall Street protests, mocking activists for being uniformed about big banks, and for being hypocrites in general. (They're anti-big business but they use laptops!)
The segment, as has been widely discussed this week, was an embarrassment. Not because anchor Burnett aired an opinion or that her opinion was at odds with the populist movement still unfolding in the Financial District. It was embarrassing because of how smug Burnett's critique was."
Moar:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110070005
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eO5FhoChCo
her "analyses", along with most of those in the 4th estate, no longer represent "thinking", as opposed to mindless position taking....with agendas.
she is no different.
indeed, it is no accident that she ended up at CNN....when you have the likes of wolf blitzer and other great "thinkers" anchoring what is really a series of commercials with some filler.
anyone over 30 can see how far we have descended....and these people are but a few examples of all that.
Well done!
I think you should change the site name to: the Daily BAAL
To have any quasi-freedom in this country they force you to serve BAAL.
Can't get out if jail pay BAAL!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/19/occupy-las-vegas-protest-drowns-out-cnn-host-erin-burnett/
I covered Occupy very closely for 4 months. There was a lot of noise and useless protesting but there was also a tremendous amount of truth. Erin Burnett has a long history as an apologist for Wall Street, so we treat her accordingly.