Cramer has drawn the attention of critics lately for his blunt evaluation of President Obama’s spending plans and the administration’s handling of the banking crisis. Well, that’d be an understatement. The Mad Money host’s name came up at a recent White House press briefing after Cramer said that Obama was responsible for “the greatest wealth destruction I have seen by a president.” An offended White House shot back. Let’s face it, you know you’ve struck a nerve when the president’s press secretary feels the need to insult you on national television.
And this doesn’t even take into account the charges leveled against Cramer by The New York Times’ Frank Rich and Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. Regardless, though, Cramer doesn’t understand how Obama and his staff plan to raise taxes, institute cap-and-trade limitations and rework the health-care system all during a recession. Don’t they see the havoc this has been wreaking in the markets? And as the market tumbles, so, too, do the pension plans and 401(k)s of average Americans. Put simply, the damage done to Wall Street is flooding over into Main Street – but the White House doesn’t get it.
Cramer, of course, knows that President Obama inherited this crisis from the previous administration. But his lack of leadership in saving the banks is devastating once-great institutions like Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and even JPMorgan Chase. It isn’t that Cramer disagrees with Obama’s vision for the country – he even agrees with taxing the rich – but now is not the time to put those plans into action. The president needs to solve our housing, employment and financial problems, and only then turn his attention to health care and changing the mortgage deduction.
The potential for a second Great Depression is real, Cramer said, so long as Obama pushes forward with his plans. Nonbelievers should just look to the stock averages, which have plummeted since Jan. 20 and are now forecasting the worst economic decline since the first Great Depression.
Cramer's charitable trust owns JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
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