"They Pretend to Work, We Pretend To Pay"

So says Jim Cramer. Love him or hate him, the guy comes out with some real doozies. In this article, "Cramer on Obama's Anti-Wall Street Comments: "We Heard Lenin," Cramer lets fly:

With all the populist sentiment generated from the economic slowdown by politicians, CNBC “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer is seeing eerie similarities with the comments of President Barack Obama and the words of a communist revolutionary.

Cramer, appearing on MSNBC’s Feb. 2 “Morning Joe,” drew comparisons between remarks between the first head of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Lenin, and Obama. Obama criticized Wall Street’s moneymaking on Jan. 30, when he said there would be a time “for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now’s not that time. And that’s a message that I intend to send directly to them.”

Whoa - he sure doesn't mince words, does he?

Cramer said that was similar to Lenin’s writings. “Let me tell you something, we heard Lenin,” Cramer said. “There was a little snippet last week that was, ‘Now is not the time for profits.’ Look - in Lenin’s book, ‘What Is to Be Done?’ is simple text of what I always though was for the communists, it was remarkable to hear very similar language from ‘What Is to Be Done?’ which is we have no place for profits.”

According to Cramer, China, which is the United States’ largest debt holder – about $682 billion – is currently faring better with capitalism, even though that government has operated communism for the last half century.

Oh, but it gets better:

“Thank heavens for the Chinese communists, deeply rooted in a profit government,” Cramer said. “Because we have decided that profits have no place in the system.”

Cramer wasn’t sure what phase of the teaching of Lenin the United States was heading, but he narrowed it down to two.

“It’s the time for nationalization, and I’ll say this,” Cramer said. “Either the new economic policy Lenin, or it’s the initial storm-the-winter palace Lenin. I’m not quite sure yet. It’s a mid-’20s situation. It could go either way.”

Gee, Jim - why don't you tell us how you really feel??

His interview with Scarborough continued:

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough asked Cramer about the $100 billion in tax cuts given to people who don’t pay taxes and how close that was to socialism. “This is as close to unprecedented of a total all-out socialist bill as I’ve ever seen in my life,” Scarborough said.

“They pretend to work, we pretend to pay,” Cramer replied. “I think that the real issue here is that socialism was always pretty good for creating jobs. I felt there were other forms of economy that actually confiscated jobs and socialism would be a real step-up from what we’re [at] here.”

I am getting the distinct impression that Cramer is none too fond of Obama's economic solutions! But in all fairness, I need to include the final paragraph of the story:

Cramer hasn’t been afraid to play the socialism/communism card when attacking politicians. In November 2007, he called New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo a “communist” for being in his attacks on now-failed mortgage lender Washington Mutual.

But Mr. Cramer is not the only economist who has problems with Obama's plan. Approximately 100 signed onto an ad published in the New York Times concur that Obama's plan is not the right one. Here's the ad (and you can click HERE to access the text under, "Mr. President, We Disagree"):



I'm glad at least some folks are looking at these plans with a critical eye, and not just jumping on the bandwagon (or being pressured to do so). This is our money, and we have already thrown away way too much of it with the first bailout plan, which had NO oversight. Whatever plan we institute, it must have clear oversight and accountability. No more throwing money at problems and hoping something will stick.

As for Cramer's comparisons, what do you think? Justified critique or hyperbole?