Money Honey Dumb as a Stump

I've always considered Maria Bartiromo a pretty version of a get-rich-quick huckster with just a better time slot on TV than the other infomercials. She cares about one thing and one thing only -- the stock market. It's good news to her when people get laid off because stock will go up. It's great news if they off shore jobs because stock prices will go up. She sucks up to corporations and fawns over CEO's and lets them lie and do puff pieces on her "Closing Bell" show even just days before their companies implode or charges are filed on the CEO's -- who can forget her relationship with Todd Thompson of Citigroup, interview on Lehman Brothers last year, Ken Lewis on how their acquisition of Countrywide was a good thing, or with John Sauro of North American Mortgage. I always assumed that if people are smart enough to play in the stock market that they should be smart enough to see through her "Money Honey" persona.

But somehow last year Bartiromo started thinking she was a real commentator -- WOW! SHE IS DUMB!! Last year, conveniently just before the election in late September, Bartiromo hosted a special on the "Hunt for Black Gold" -- featuring Sarah Palin with her "drill, baby, drill" strategy. Bartiromo never challenged her -- it was definitely a puff Republican support piece. She has lied about Obama almost incessantly since -- he promised no earmarks, wants to tax small businesses, Obama gave AIG the bailout. But since then, she's been out and about more -- I don't care about "The View" pieces and some of the other soft stuff. But she pretends to be a serious commentator and she obviously doesn't have a clue. Last month it was the goof about Medicare on the Carlos Watsons' show:

At one point, Bartiromo was critical of the government-managed health care system in the United Kingdom. "How do I know the quality [of health care in the United States] is not going to suffer" with a public option? she asked.

Rep. Weiner reminded her that there already is government-managed health care in the United States -- namely, Medicare, the system created for Americans 65 years and older -- and that patients with Medicare report very high satisfaction rates.

Bartiromo's response to this argument was a true head-scratcher. In a mocking tone, she pressed the congressman: "How come you don't use it [Medicare]? You don't have it. How come you don't have it?"

Rep. Anthony Weiner, who turns 45 this week, tried to walk Bartiromo through it. "Because I'm not 65." But she was insistent. "Yeah... c'mon!" she exclaimed, laughing incredulously.

But before that she kept repeating that Health Care Reform was going to cost us over a trillion dollars over 10 years. I chucked both of these statements to her blind allegiance to supporting the stock value of her health care provider corporations.

This morning, she branched out to other topics, with equal idiocy. Tim Dickinson from Rolling Stone was on Morning Joe to talk about his newest article called The Lie Machine on who is behind the birthers, deathers, tea baggers. Bartiromo was on the panel and her "salient" point was that Democrats do it too. She thought she really got Tim when she accused "Who's behind "Move On"?!" WOW! Read much, Maria??

It was a really eye rolling moment. She should be required to do just a little research before she's allowed to open her mouth on her own without a script.