On March 10, MSNBC's Morning Joe aired a video clip of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett stating in a March 9 appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, "[I]f you're in a war -- and we really are on an economic war -- there's a obligation to the majority to behave in ways that don't go around inflaming the minority." Scarborough then stated, “It sounds like Warren Buffett, [former General Electric CEO] Jack Welch, and all of Wall Street are -- and Main Street -- are saying, 'Come on. Stop.' I understand [White House chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel said you use these crises to advance political agendas, but let's get down to business.” However, Morning Joe did not air Buffett's subsequent statement about Republicans: “I think that the minority has -- they really do have an obligation to support things that in general are clearly designed to fight the war in a big way.”
From Buffet's March 9 appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box:
JOE KERNEN (co-anchor): Now, the “loyal opposition” is going to be about -- as it's called -- will be behind the president, but certainly you could see that if we -- if people think there's some wrong-minded policies that are being rushed into law at this point because of the crisis, I mean, that's -- it's the loyal opposition's duty to say what they feel, right?
BUFFETT: Right. And, Joe, if you're in a war -- and we really are on an economic war -- there's a obligation to the majority to behave in ways that don't go around inflaming the minority. If on December 8th when -- or maybe it's December 7th -- when Roosevelt convened Congress to have a vote on the war, he didn't say, “I'm throwing in about 10 of my pet projects,” and you didn't have Congress people putting on 8,000 earmarks onto the declaration of war in 1941.
So, I think -- I think that the minority has -- they really do have an obligation to support things that in general are clearly designed to fight the war in a big way. And I don't think you should -- I don't think before D-Day on June -- on June 5th you ought to have -- or June 1st maybe -- have a congressional hearing and have 535 people give their opinion about where the troops should land and, you know, what the weather should be and how many troops should land and all of that. And I think after June 6th, you don't -- you don't have another hearing that says, “Gee, if we'd just landed, you know” --
KERNEN: But you might --
BUFFETT: -- “a mile north.”
From the March 10 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe:
MIKA BRZEZINSKI (co-host): Jack Welch was on our show yesterday morning, and Warren Buffett was on CNBC yesterday morning, and here he is one more time talking about the economic war.
BUFFETT [video clip]: If you're in a war -- and we really are on an economic war -- there's a obligation to the majority to behave in ways that don't go around inflaming the minority. If on December 8th when -- or maybe it's December 7th -- when Roosevelt convened Congress to have a vote on the war, he didn't say, “I'm throwing in about 10 of my pet projects,” and you didn't have Congress people putting on 8,000 earmarks onto the declaration of war in 1941.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, Mike, this is remarkable, again because Warren Buffett was a big --
MIKE BARNICLE (MSNBC political analyst): Absolutely.
SCARBOROUGH: -- supporter of Barack Obama's, was an economic adviser. It sounds like Warren Buffett, Jack Welch, and all of Wall Street are -- and Main Street -- are saying, “Come on. Stop.” I understand Rahm Emanuel said you use these crises to advance political agendas, but let's get down to business.
