CNBC’s Santelli goes on rant about fiscal cliff

CNBC reporter Rick Santelli, known for his on-air rants, had another one Thursday morning about the fiscal cliff negotiations in Washington, reports Alexis Kleinman of The Huffington Post.

Kleinman writes, “During a discussion on the so-called fiscal cliff on Thursday, Santelli grew louder, eventually shouting into the camera and overpowering CNBC contributor and traderJim Iuorio, who was attempting to hold back laughter.

“‘The Fed doesn’t have a clue, neither does the president, neither does Congress … Neither does Tim Geithner, who gives a speech about the debt ceiling. I’d like to see if he could count to a million, much less 16.4 trillion!’ Santelli shouted.

“Clearly Santelli, like many Americans, is panicking as the fiscal cliff deadline nears.

“This is certainly not the first time Santelli has lost his cool live on air. At this point, he has become something of an on-air ranting legend. Colleague Carl Quintanilla said that Santelli admits to having ‘blown a gasket‘ on Thursday’s show, but it’s clear that this is just the kind of gasket-blowing that has made Santelli famous.

“The segment ends with an amused Joe Kernan saying, ‘Don’t hold back, Rick.’ Santelli responds, ‘I never do.'”

Read more here.