Rick Santelli Reflects on the Five-Year Anniversary of ‘The Rant Heard Round the World’

Santelli Recalls February 2009: Bailout ‘Dissention was Born,’ ‘I Blew a Gasket’ (NewsBusters)

CNBC’s Rick Santelli recalled the five-year anniversary of the stimulus, housing bailout and blowing “a gasket” during “Squawk on the Street” today.

“On Feb. 19 I blew a gasket. But basically, what was born at that point was the voice of dissention. How do we know that? Many of course still remember the IRS issues. President said maybe there wasn’t a smidgen of, of, of negativity there or news there or anything inappropriate there,” Santelli explained. “But it seems like, if you look back, it was February of 2009 where all of that started if you look at some of the IRS records. But dissention was born!” (Video Below)

Santelli recalled the stimulus calling it “Maybe the most unpopular program of all, really split the country.”

He went on in that segment to address comments made about the recent Congressional Budget Office study about the impact of a minimum wage increase saying, “This is America. Dissenting voices will continue to voice their dissent. Because they’ve read the operating instructions for the United States of America and its their right.”

Five years earlier on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Feb. 19, 2009, that he “blew a gasket” saying “the government is promoting bad behavior.” Quickly, his speech on the trading floor became known as the “rant heard round the world.”