Page 1 of 1

#1 Mort Zuckerman: If Obama Isn't Nicer to Us Rich People, We W

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:04 am
by frigidmagi
Scocca

[quote]Did you think the health of the American economy was governed by supply and demand, overlaid with interest rates, worker productivity, and other things having to do with how well we make, distribute, buy, and sell stuff? Wrong! The American economy rises or falls based on whether or not the country's very richest people believe they are being properly respected and made happy. And Politico reports that the sensitive rich people are not happy with the Obama administration:

In the eyes of corporate America, President Barack Obama relied on a healthy dose of industry-bashing to sway votes in Congress for health reform and the new Wall Street regulations signed into law Wednesday.
Now those efforts threaten to undermine the one agenda item essential to Democrats’ hopes in the midterms and Obama’s chances for reelection: turning around an economy still just a half step out of recession.
The nation's corporations, Politico says, feel wrongly blamed for the economic crisis, so now executives don't want to hire people or spend money.

Billionaire and pundit Mort Zuckerman told Politico, "There is still a great deal of anxiety over the demonization of business, and it is a serious problem":

Executives “really feel there is a deliberate attempt, as a populist political measure, to blame the business world for all the problems we have been having, when, in reality, the housing bubble was provoked by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And it wasn’t business or the public that lowered interest rates and created the credit bubble. It was the Federal Reserve.â€

#2

Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 5:59 am
by The Minx
Um, not to sound contrarian again, but where exactly does Zuckerman actually threaten America with destruction? I have read the quotes attributed to him in that article several times, and nowhere does he make a claim that remotely comes off like a threat. The most he is doing is blaming the government and federal reserve for the mess and lamenting the demonization of business. Seems to me that Slate is sensationalizing the article.