CNBC Contributor Howard Dean: 'I Think We Had Quite Enough Capitalism'

by Jeff Poor

Back in March, CNBC in what seemed to be an effort to pander to critics on the left, officially named former DNC chair and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean a CNBC contributor.

But aside from campaigning for left-wing MoveOn.org causes in his spare time, Dean will appear on daily CNBC programming. But on the May 7 "Power Lunch," Dean, a contributor for the network with the slogan, "First in Business Worldwide," explained to viewers we've had enough capitalism after conservative radio talk show host Jason Lewis derided the president for supporting bailouts over bankruptcy. (h/t IHTM)

"I think we had quite enough capitalism in the last eight years and I think we need some regulation now," Dean said.

Aside from attacking what went on during the Bush administration, as his colleague CNBC colleague Keith Boykin did before him, Dean also praised President Barack Obama's paltry $17 billion in cuts from his $3.6 trillion budget. But, he also said more cuts and revenues would be needed and admitted supporting a carbon tax.

"It's a good start," Dean said. "It's not a lot of money by federal budget standards. It's a great deal of money by most of our standards. It's a decent start and oddly enough, it's almost exactly what George Bush tried to cut and was turned down by his own Republican Congress. Getting Congress to cut stuff is tough. And let's not full around here. You've got to make bigger cuts. You're also going to have to have some revenue increases to pay for all this stuff. There's no question about that. And my favorite is a carbon tax."

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