Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) is getting buzz in Washington and elsewhere today for telling an N.C. audience this week that when the financial crisis began, he encouraged his wife to withdraw all the cash she possibly could from their bank's ATM machine.
The remarks came in a speech on the economy Monday to Western N.C. business owners, the Hendersonville Times-News reports. Those comments have since found their way on several national blogs, including the top spot on The Huffington Post.
Burr detailed to the audience his reaction to the beginning of the crisis last fall. He recalled Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson discussing a call from the CEO of a major company having difficulty transferring money between banks.
“On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take," Burr said. "And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.”
Burr also offered a dire analysis of the economy.
“I would tell you it’s not a recession," Burr said. "I would define this as a depression. A recession by definition is when you raise interest rates to slow growth. We are at a zero-interest-rate policy and have been. The world is at a zero-interest-rate policy, yet we continue to see the economy slide. We continue to see unemployment grow. We continue to see confidence wane not just here but around the world.”
How would Burr describe what a recovery looks like? Not the quick U-shaped or V-shaped rebound that some economists see, but something more gradual.
“Those are the only things they talk about,” Burr said. “Either it’s a lack of imagination or some belief that you can make everything fit into those two. Let me suggest to you today, I think we are in a Nike swoosh.”
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
N.C. Sen. Burr to wife last fall: Get our money out of the bank
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38 comments:
Scaring the public makes the situation worse. People read others' dumb ideas as fact.
this guy makes Elizabeth Dole look out of touch, can not wait for 2010 elections
I can't believe such an incompetant person could be elected to the Senate. Absolutely ridiculous.
Thanks, Richard! Now run for the hills, won't you? You'll find all manner of kindred souls there-except for Northern retirees, college students, natives fed up with buffoonery like yours masquerading as leadership.
I thought Liddy was out of touch. This tops that.
It's so nice to know that we have calm, intelligent, level headed people at the helm. Maybe the Republicans aren't fear mongering. Maybe they ARE afraid of pretty much everything.
if you idiots are smart, you will be taking your money out...before the messiah gets his castro/chavez hands on it.
They were a few comments on another column by folks lambasting SC for politicos in our fair state. Stupidity knows no boundaries!
Jerimiah wrong,
Please do us, as a society, a favor and register your whereabouts with the Secret Service and the FBI.......in a country where people who display an intellect like yours have free access to assault weapons, we all have reason to be concerned.
where in the world did he get that definition of a recession? he's describing what is often done by the fed as a REACTION to a recession. that's like saying "being cold by definition is when you put on a heavy coat".
I guess he's putting all that money in his mattress before he 'retires' next year.
I sure am glad that his first reaction was to look out for us.
He helped the run on the bank which actually hurt Wachovia which is why Wells Fargo owns it now. Wachovia wasn't in any trouble until the panic began. I guess that's why Senator Burr sent me a chain letter in response to a question I sent him back in October asking him how he was going to help the banks. Senator Dole sent a similar chain letter that she was "monitoring the situation". I'm glad she's gone and pray he suffers the same fate. I hope someone decent runs against him.
Jerimiah (by the way check the bible because you misspelled it), The only people I ever heard refer to President Obama as a savior, or messiah, or some type of God are Republicans and people in the right wing media. That tells me they are the ones worshipping him. He seems to me to be a hardworking man with a lot on his plate. The people that disagree with his ideas can't articulate it, they have to use slurs and fear. It's not working.
I went to his office w. a group of fellow cancer survivors a few years back.
He wouldnt meet with us but the staffer they sent sat and listened to us share our stories and push for better cancer research funding.
His response? VERBATIM: "The Senator is against cancer."
We all sat there and looked at each other and tried not to start laughing.
And I thought just his staffer was stupid!
I can't believe people still defend liddydole but some still do. She sat on the Senate Banking Committee and watched (with the best parlor manners possible) as Wachovia, a venerable North Carolina institution-went down the tubes. We dumped her, we'll dump him too.
We should be embarrassed to have Richard Burr as our US Senator. I wonder if Burr told his wife to run out the Walmart to stock up on beans and duct tape. How can someone like this get elected?
Idiocy abounds.
Beyond moronic. This man needs to be locked away in a padded cell and be made to write "FDIC Insured" a million times on the blackboard.
What grandstanding. If he were really scared of the banks and wanted to go straight cash, he wouldn't go to the ATM and take his money out $300 at a time.
Are you stupid?
If he's telling his wife to get money from the ATM he must not have had THAT much to begin with. If you have less than $250,000 in real actual cash, you honestly don't have a dog in the fight. It's kind of sad that some elected officials don't bother to bone up on laws and regulations before they take office. Sounds like he gets his information from the news. I guess I could be a Senator for that matter.
Folks, just in case you are not aware of our pitiful situation in North Carolina, we have more than a handfull of "idiots" in Washington, Raleigh and throughout the state that profess to represent our best interests (yeah - right). One of the biggest is our Governor - OMG how did she get elected??? As for Burr, there again, OMG how did he get elected??? This man honestly is a total "moron" and as stated by another concerned citizen, should not be representing us in any fashion. Once we are rid of him, we need to get rid of this brainless wonder we refer to as our Governor. I am certain there are better candidates out there, but where are they. Please come forward so we can vote for you in 2010. Thank you
I am a Republician and a conservative one at that but I am ashamed of the leaders we have in our party now and what we have had for the last several years. We need someone in the party with a brian to run agains Mr. Burr. He is not what we need in Washington. I think the only people willing to put themselves up for office now are the nut cases and the crooks. It is a shame our country has come to this.
Well - if he wants to be President and he wants to be like GW Bush - then this is the right tactic to use - scare them into voting for you..
"Well - if he wants to be President and he wants to be like GW Bush - then this is the right tactic to use - scare them into voting for you.."
Speaking from knowledge or experience, or just your idiotic mass-media-implanted script?
Two words come to mind.
BUFFOON and MORON.
Sen. Burr is making outrageous observations about this economy. As a Democrat I am appalled. Appalled, I tell you. Appalled. Only thing is, he's right and is now saying what I've been saying for the past 6 years during the Bush years. Well..... I guess "CHANGE" means to keep on digging a deeper hole for us and hoping for a different conclusion.
I am a Republican and I have to admit, that was really stupid on Burr's part
Hmmm....I wonder what Paul Shumaker is thinking instructing his puppet to make such comments.
I'm not sure if some of you realize how close we came (and could still come) to a true liqidity crisis/freeze in the banking system. Burr was not the only one uncertain of what Monday would bring on SEVERAL weekends over the past six months......Bear Stearns, Lehman, Wachovia, Citicorp.... each brought the system perilously close to collapse.
"Out of touch" would be believing that a depression isn't possible. He isn't the first to suggest the idea people. We all need to get a grip and quit letting the media spoon feed their agenda of the day to us.
Taking money out of the banks is exactly what causes a depression. If I remember correctly, the stock market crash was caused by everyone freaking out and taking all their money out of the banks.
Thanks Hon. Richard Burr.
At least you had teh information that most of us do not have and you acted on it. I also took out a bunch of money and loocked it up just in case my bank will not open in the morning. We must be careful just like my father was in the first depression.
Thank God we have a few smart ones in Washington. God Bless you Mr. Burr.
We are in a depression according to the IMF. They declared early this year that all the advanced economy's of the world are, repeat are in a depression. Just because it doesn't look exactly like the "Great depression" or fit your stereotypical view of a what a depression looks like, doesn't mean anything. You should be scared.
2010 Elections coming....Caint wait...It is so crazy now...
Our little-known GOP senator's attempt to stay on message resulted in what could quite possibly be the nail in his congressional coffin. This is the same senator who recently made a name for himself for being the lone vote delaying the nomination & swearing in of Tammy Duckworth for a top vote in the Veteran Affairs administration. Thanks senator Burr...from all of your constituents: #2 in banking, home of 50K Ft Bragg soldiers, 82nd Airborne & 3rd Special Forces...
Anon wrote: "handfull of "idiots" in Washington, Raleigh and throughout the state that profess to represent our best interests (yeah - right). One of the biggest is our Governor - OMG how did she get elected??? "
So far I think she has done a great job!
Who are you really anon? Pat McCrory?
jerimiah wrong please put on your tin foil hat and jump in your bunker.
"Anonymous said...
Thanks Hon. Richard Burr.
At least you had teh information that most of us do not have and you acted on it. I also took out a bunch of money and loocked it up just in case my bank will not open in the morning."
So let me get this straight:
We all take our money out which destroys the financial system, then crawl out of our bunkers to find all that money worthless because of our actions.
IDIOTS!
If you're really concerned take out enough to last a week. If it last longer we're all screwed anyway.
2008: Dole gets the boot.
2010: Burr gets the boot.
Na-na-naa-na, Na-na-naa-na, hey hey, goodbye!
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