Posted on 08/10/2011 4:13:40 PM PDT by philo
Tea Party Made Up of 'Freaked Out White Men': Whitney
By: Jeff Cox
CNBC.com Staff Writer
Tea Party members are primarily “freaked out white men” who pose the greatest political threat to Democrats in 2012, according to banking analyst Meredith Whitney.
Speaking in the broader context of a discussion on CNBC regarding the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of U.S. debt, Whitney said the dissenters represent the type of problems that have led to the current predicament in Washington.
“Call it Tea Party, whatever you will, the fringe element is I characterize (as) freaked-out white men who are unemployed and have been unemployed for three years and they’re scared to death,” she said. “Three to four million of them are about to roll off unemployment benefits in the next three to four months. This is only going to get worse.”
Democrats looking to hold the White House and regain full control of Congress will need to take note.
“For this reason you have to deal with the structural issues,” Whitney said. “If you are a Machiavellian Democrat you want do deal with this issue and defuse the Tea Party as fast as you possibly can because this poses the biggest threat to their re-election in 2012.”
Her comments come at a turbulent time for markets, which saw a more than 600-point drop for the Dow industrials on Monday that was followed by a more than 400-point gain on Tuesday.
Economic uncertainty is at the crux of the tumult, with investors caught between crosswinds of debt issues in Europe and the U.S. as well as the threat of rising unemployment.
Whitney said extending unemployment benefits, which already have been pushed to 99 weeks, is not the answer.
“You feel better about yourself when you’re working. Kids feel better about their parents when they’re working. Having a job is more than having a paycheck,” Whitney said. “To push for the extension of unemployment benefits is going to and should unleash absolute backlash against this administration because that’s a horrendous idea.”
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I’m white, male, unemployed and scraping for every dollar I can make just to pay the monthlys and food.
Ya, I’m freaked out. Freaked that letters from the IRS will be showing up in my mailbox anytime now demanding some of what I don’t have to give them AND freaked out that anything extra I could give them would be just pissed away.
You are right and it is backfiring on them.
Actually, bowelmoveon is protesting today in Austin.
Millions of gullible people are eating out of her hand.
LOL And I am a little old white lady who happens to agree.
Rick Sanatelli has more presidential timber in his little pinky than does
1) Perry
2) Romney
3) McCain
4) Dole
Yeah, I forgot about that little enclave of Progs in Tx (that and most of south Houston).
LOL
Two things:
First, Meredith Whitney has been dead wrong on her forecasts and recommendations. If you want to make money you will need to do the opposite of her recommendations. Hence, Santelli’s question as to how many municipalities have defaulted on their bonds this year. It is well below last year, yet, Whitney had forecasted a significant increase in defaults.
Second, what ticked me off is the CNBC stooges who were hosting this program. Joe Kernen, you were one of them, who simply sat there and said nothing in response to her attack. It took several minutes for Santelli to come on the air from the Chicago trading pit for someone to give this idiot “what for”.
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That's exactly right. Most of them are mentally AND emotionally incapable of understanding what it's all about. I'd call it a fatal blindness.
WELCOME to Free Republic! Nuff said! ;)
Welcome to the party, sir. It’s about to get interesting.
OK, I’ll ask, who is Merideth Whitney, and why is she such a stupid bitch?
Good description
Clueless talking head.
Aren't freaked out black men rioting all over the world right now...I think she is picking on the wrong race...the racist beotch. Blacks are being violent at the moment not the Tea Party or the Amish...her projecting is comical.
I must live on an alternative planet. Whitney is saying that extending unemployment benefits is a BAD thing (the same position that Rush takes) because it is healthy for the breadwinner, family, etc. for the person to work.
She is clearly taking the White House to task for their approach.
The comment about angry white men is metaphorical, not literal.
In her previous appearances she pretty much puts the blame on spending, and as far I can remember, doesn’t say the problem is a lack of taxes.
I think everyone is mis-interpreting her comments. I love Santelli but he missed what she really was saying.
The comment about municipal defaults was better suited to an elementary school recess. We just had a high profile Muni default in Rhode Island last week.
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