Tony's Blog

With the nation's economy a real treat, with Americans losing their jobs, their homes, their dignity, what we really need right now is to mix in a little hate and class warfare. Let's do that. Let's mix it all up and see how it works out.

Oh, wait a minute. It's already begun. CNBC's Rick Santelli, who has nothing on Marie Antoinette, did his journalistic best this week to throw objectivity to the mob. Did you see this guy on CNBC? I mean, did you? If you don't know the definition of arrogant, if you're not quite clear on smug, well, look no further than the Rickster.

Santelli, who pandered to his Chicago Mercantile Exchange friends, describing them as typical, everyday Americans (I'm sure the typical American makes a living trading futures contracts on agricultural commodities), trashed Boomer Obama's $275 billion deficit-financed homeowner bailout plan.

There are a lot of hits in Santelli's tirade. How's this one?

"How about this president and new administration, why don't you put up  a website to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to  see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages or would we like to at least buy cars and buy houses in foreclosure and  give them to people that might have a chance to actually prosper down the road and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water," Santelli said.

Losers' mortgages? Did you get that? Yeah, that's what we need,  Rick. Didn't Americans throw out the angry, divisive, we versus them agenda, last November?

Here's White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, who must feel like he's back combating the "Obama pals around with terrorists" cabal.

"I...think that it's tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it  is they're talking about," Gibbs said. "I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn't know what he's talking about."

And this is fresh. Santelli thinks our founding fathers are rolling over in their graves, because it's clearly a bad, bad thing to help people in greatest need. Yep, I bet that "we the people" gang just doesn't know what to do with itself.

Hey Rick, I'm embarrassed to admit, we share one thing. We're both Italian, and by extension, we likely enjoy a good meal. But, I'll never invite you over for dinner. You don't even rate the cake.

Bob Herbert's column in the New York Times this morning makes it pretty clear. Although our nation's 76 million baby boomers are known collectively as the children of the feel good post World War II era, that's just about where the comparison ends, and the distinctions begin.

For example, let's take the individual cases of three boomers: our baby boomer president, and those of two baby boomer United States senators.

Herbert on Senator Lindsey Graham, (boomer birth date of July 9, 1955):

“This bill is stinking up the place,” said Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina who not only opposed the legislation but wanted to make sure that no one would mistake him for a class act.

Herbert on Senator Bob Corker, (boomer birth date August 24, 1952):

Even as the report of an agreement was being circulated, Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, was bad-mouthing the package on CNN. “This bill is a disaster,” he said.

Herbert on John McCain, a non-boomer, whose comments on the stimulus package served up a hanging curve ball for our boomer president:

Senator John McCain echoed many of his Republican colleagues on Friday when he indignantly asserted, “This is not a stimulus bill; it is a spending bill.”

It was an objection that had been addressed by an incredulous President Obama on Thursday night. “What do you think a stimulus is?” the president asked, his voice rising. Spending, he said — to laughter from his audience — “is the whole point.”

That ball is still in flight.

Who speaks for you?

Not sure what's in the stimulus bill? Take a look: The Stimulus Break Down