Fox Business host Stuart Varney didn’t just display a shocking lack of concern for those who are going without pay as a result of the government shutdown, he made himself out to be the real victim in the overall picture. While he continues to garner a nice, fat paycheck for his efforts.
Vareny appeared on 560 AM’s (Chicago) the Big John and Amy Show on Wednesday , October 2. Big John suggested that the shutdown was no biggie to most people. He said, “If it’s costing us, as a country, any money, it’s not impacted me yet. I’m not a federal employee, obviously.”
And just as obviously, he doesn't care much about the hundreds of thousands who are.
Varney was asked if the shutdown would slow the economy. He said, “Hardly slows down the economy at all. So what? Seven hundred thousand federal employees stay at home, national parks close, couple of other items. That is not a big impact on a $15.7 trillion economy. Period.”
Varney then was asked if federal employees deserve back pay when the shutdown ends. He laughed. “This is President Obama’s shutdown. …No, I don’t think they should get their back pay, frankly. I really don’t. I’m sick and tired of a massive bloated federal bureaucracy living on our backs and taking money out of us, a lot more money than most of us earn in the private sector, then giving a furlough, and then getting their money back at the end of it. Sorry, I’m not for that. I want to punish these people. Sorry to say that. That’s what I want to do.”
Amy asked, “What about them filing for unemployment?”
Varney replied, “Yeah, you can’t beat the system can you? They’re going to get their money any which way you slice it. …I don’t like it.”
“Yeah, but it’s not their fault,” Amy continued. “…That’s what I’m sick of, I hate it and it makes me anxious to see people who are victimized because of a political fight.”
Varney acknowledged, “It’s not directly their fault.” But they still deserve to be punished, in Varney’s mind, because of how HE’S suffering. “But I’m looking at the big picture here. I’m getting screwed. …These people are living on our backs, regualting us, telling us what to do, taxing us, taking our money, and living large. This is my chance to say hey, I’m fed up with this and I don’t miss you when you’re on furlough. Sorry, if that’s a harsh tone, but that’s the way I feel.”
Let’s see Stu tell that to some furloughed federal employees and see how far he gets.
Video below via Media Matters.
Given that Mr. Varney suckles from the Fox Corporate Tit, I suppose that his opinions have been given to him for many years.
People, this is likely what almost all of the Wall Street insiders think of us. They want us to pay for the Great Recession that they caused with ALL of their risky financial practices by imposing Austerity Practices on us, and then villify us while doing it. Then they whine and complain that they are carrying us on their backs. That is self-righteous, sanctimonious, entitled, deluded, bloviation at it’s finest.
Hopefully, nobody is fooled by the sophomoric, spin that Varney and his cohorts vomit on a daily basis.
“Obama Shutdown, are you kidding me? The only thing that seems “massive and bloated,” to me is Varney’s head. We all know that they regurgitate their talking points (I switch channels and hear the exact same words from each and every one).
Can you believe that he had the nerve to say, “I’m getting screwed?” Or that governmnet workers are, “Living off our backs?”
Folks, that’s what Varney and Friends have been told to think of us.
Whaddya think of that?
If the man thinks he’s “been screwed,” just let him have to deal with “special attention” from IRS and INS employees whose memories may be especially sharp when they return to full work.
