McCain faces backlash over top advisor Phil Gramm's comments »
Posted By ybdogsct 12 months ago in Business & Finance"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," said Phil Gramm, one of McCain's top advisors. "We have become a nation of whiners," he said. "You hear constant whining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline." McCain once admitted he didn't know as much about economics as he should.
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ybdogsct12 months ago
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/10/joh...
"'What John McCain, George Bush, Phil Gramm, don't understand is that the American people aren't whining, they are suffering - the weight of 8 years of Bush-economics that John McCain has vowed to continue,' said Karen Finney."
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/07/10/politic...
"The economy is the number one issue for voters, and most have a dark assessment of the present situation. 78% of respondents said things are worse now than they were 5 years ago - the highest since 1986."
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalin...
Tim Russert asked John McCain about his comments that he didn't know as much about economics. McCain's answer suggested he had never made such a comment, but he did as recently as December saying:
'The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should, but I've got Greenspan's book.'"
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Beau789012 months ago
Someone should let McCain, Gramm and the Bush defenders know that whining can be distinguished from constructive criticism when complaints are accompanied by ideas about how to improve circumstances.
Some people will never grasp that constructively criticizing the government is not unpatriotic; rather, it's motivated by a love of the nation and its people.
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lovermanComment removed: User banned.
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NoWayMan12 months ago
Phil Gramm also played a huge part in the mortgage crisis and credit crunch we are now in. many of the problems we are now having are the direct result of Phil Gramm's work in the Senate.
and now Phil Gramm is currently McCain's top economic advisor.
be afraid, be very afraid (of Phil Gramm).
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spkguy12 months ago
Did ya all see this?
John McCain's Connection to Big Oil & The Enron Loophole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdRbuUQNcxw
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Daylight12 months ago
ybdogsct
"The economy is the number one issue for voters, and most have a dark assessment of the present situation. 78% of respondents said things are worse now than they were 5 years ago - the highest since 1986."
Bush and his administration bust the taxpayers money on perceived enemy who does not exist and war an terror which is his own invention is making America poorer by the day.
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AtheismIsRealityComment removed: User banned.29 Replies
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dunkirk12 months ago
The fact is when your a puppet and just reacting to your strings bring pulled, he doesnt need to become knowedgeable on economics. He needs to learn how to read a script.
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ybdogsct12 months ago
I guess it's easy to dismiss the skyrocketing fuel and energy prices, nationwide housing foreclosures, credit crunch, and record budget deficits when your wife is worth over $100 million, and you're not faced with financial hardships every day.
I hope this is not the kind of economic advice McCain will shape his economic policies around.
Phil Gramm's callous comments can be found here in the Washington Times' original article:
http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/09/mccai...
"Various surveys show that consumer confidence has fallen precipitously this year to the lowest levels in two to three decades, with most analysts attributing that to record high gasoline prices over $4 a gallon and big drops in the value of homes, which are consumers' biggest assets.
'Misery sells newspapers,' Mr. Gramm said. 'Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day.'"
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MRCOFFEECAKE12 months ago
They are arrogant asswipes and have no interest in what real Americans are thinking, feeling or suffering as a result of living in the real America that they have damaged.
Their buddies are all doing real well, even though I heard one of them had to fire one of the maids for their summer home.
They WILL be the FIRST to jump on Obama's much softer version of what he sees coming from those struggling in western Pennsylvania.
They are just oblivious and think we're all just worker bees. Give 'em guns, have them go hunt gays and they'll shut up, right?
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AnteUp12 months ago
ybdogsct ~
Good Lord! "Misery sells newspapers" What a piece of filth!
I heard a segment on NPR Monday(?) about home foreclosures
and the relationship to our animal shelters filling up.
I'm an animal person - but it was a people story too.
People giving up their dogs to shelters because they lost
their homes. Another family adopted a dog and had to move
to an apartment with a No Pets policy........back to the
shelter. The shelters are even using foster families who
can just get the dogs out of the shelter for a while.
Families don't go to the trouble of adopting a new pet
when they know that financial ruin is around the corner.
These poor people haven't even seen it coming and then
they become a heartbroken statistic.
I won't need a tissue next time thanks to Mr.Gramm -
he's clarified it for me - they're just a bunch of whiners?
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walden312 months ago
Haha-
Someone should ask Mr. Gramm how much a gallon of milk or a gallon of gas is.
How can someone be so out of touch? It's scary when our leaders have no basis in middle-class reality.
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Will131312 months ago
It's scary when our leaders have no basis in middle-class reality
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they have no basis in ANY reality.. bizzarro world.. all of them..
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Lurch12 months ago
I suppose when you and your friends and family never earned the millions in the first place, but instead easily ripped them off the taxpayers and consumers with zero accountability, it may be hard to imagine why all Americans are not rich like you.
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AnteUp12 months ago
walden3 ~
My reaction too - I laughed out loud when I heard it!
Could that be construed as elitist? Or just a "let them eat cake" attitude?
Speaking from the "bitter belt" - Obama's remarks were as
nothing compared to this compassionate(?) conservative's
views on us folks, and our economic woes.
Forgive me if I've said it before - but these guys LIKE
the little guys and the middle class...........they think
everybody should own one!
Is that their "ownership" society?
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Lurch12 months ago
This anti-American whining from one of the leading enablers of the Enron scandal that robbed Americans of billions of dollars, while his wife sat on the Enron board getting rich.
What a two-faced hypocritical jack-ass, aka a Republican.
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AnteUp12 months ago
Lurch ~
Thank you - I knew there was something rotten I had read
about Gramm just recently - and I could not bring it to
mind. That's it - he was the cheif architect of the Enron
Loophole! This guy reeks!
And thank you John McCain for bringing in the cream of the
crap to see to the economic welfare of the American people!
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miklkit12 months ago
California's $15 billion deficit can be laid directly at the feet of Phil Gramm. We aren't whining. We want a lynching!
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B1BLancer12 months ago
If you want to see the person who was the chief enabler of the Enron scandal, you need to go see Bill Clinton.
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Ciera-Marie12 months ago
Cham to answer your question about who they're blaming look at B1Blancer's comment above yours. Sound familiar?
Also the right forgets that the President and Vice President made a lot of money on Enron. In fact because of their involvement in Enron I was floored that they stole the first election. This, to me was way worse, than the so called impeachment of Clinton for a b.j. in the W.H. (He wasn't the first one to get one there and won't be the last the one.)
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Xaos12 months ago
I would of expected no less of a comment from the guy who was the architect of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000. We are talking about Mr. Enron Loophole here, Phil Gramm the Enron shill. This guy should be as kept as far away from the economy as possible lest he does more harm to it.
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tchef12 months ago
Once again a clear representation of how out of touch with middle America the Republican party is.
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mackiemesserComment removed: User banned.8 Replies
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hyperbola12 months ago
Remember that McCain has personally been involved in at least four instances of corruption and that Gramm never saw a get-rich-quick scheme for his buddies that he didn't like.
The Lobbyist Whom McCain Won't Fire
John McCain has been purging lobbyists from his campaign trying to reclaim the mantle of political reformer, but there's one lobbyist whose role as a key economic adviser makes him almost untouchable despite ties to the sub-prime debacle, links to the Enron disaster and alleged evasion of ethics rules....
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2008/071008b.html
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bigG12 months ago
I believe they may be down at the local Recruiter just in case we invade Iran.
Hah! Who am I kidding?
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eyesopenComment removed: User banned.22 Replies
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CRYMTYPHON12 months ago
Absolutely correct!
Americans are whiny yap dogs who don't have the stamina to stomach mortgage fraud, stock fraud, pension fund failures, a shrinking dollar, declining jobs, high gas prices, lower standards of living, poor health care, declining education and all the other little problems that the little people should expect in their little, little lives.
Of course it was kinda tacky of Gramm to say it out loud.
He should save that sort of thing for private parties of bush's base.
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scott426112 months ago
Yeah! Get a JOB, you LAZY LIBERAL! Stop WHINING! The FREE MARKET will take care of it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYqF_BtIwAU
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DeLeMaComment removed: User banned.
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slate12 months ago
You can always count on the left crying about these thypes of threads the day before they post one to off set what they did yesterday,,,,,, How the Jesse Nads Jackson thread going?
Though you do have to admit,,,, the 700 million dollars in lobby money Gramm raised in the 90s to de-regulate finance and get us to where we are today,,, does put him in the 'You suck' box.
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jordan1112 months ago
Ya gotta love it. Graham pushed to deregulate banking, the scam artists moved in, the speculators got rich, and a million or more people will lose their homes. But Americans are whiners. Whatta guy. Any bets on whether or not Graham was one of those speculators? Any bets on how much he is invested in oil speculation? And let's not forget Enron screwing millions when the regulations got tossed by CONS. Americans aren't 'whiners' but they are stupid. They gave these clowns power, & they'd better start educating themselves on what happens without regulation of industries.
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MacR12 months ago
And any person who votes for any one in the Senate or the House, or even both of them. I do not care, if you re-elect your person, you are an idiot too.
You see, there are some of us who are looking at both sides. And while we want one side to be on top. Neither side is worthy to be voted back in. Nor are they worthy of ever holding a position again.
There are some of us, who do not trust either side. And yet so many of you are willing to vote in the Dems after their dismal 2 years of control. And do not say they are not in control. Or you would not have Reid and Pelosie in their current position.
Also do not try to tell me that your guy/gal is not at fault. If they are going up for a third term, or, they are going for their 10th. I do not care, after two terms they are not worth it anymore. They have been scooped up by a lobbyist and that lobbyist has dumped a lot of money in their pocket. You know and I know, both sides are guilty.
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jordan1112 months ago
McCain is surrounding himself with advisors who will keep his wife's money safe, and hopefully create conditions that will give her more.
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JonnosterComment removed: User banned.
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Fosrestoy12 months ago
I can't really follow W.'s path to wealth.
You see, I don't have a rich dad who everyone wants to do favors for. I've tried to get folks to hand me corporate directorships, and I've tried to buy baseball teams with other people's money.
Go figure--no one will bite.
And no matter how hard I try, I can't drive every business I've ever owned into the ground and escape with a profit.
Were you able to do that, crghss?
See also^ http://alleducationinfo.com/goergiaeducationass...
If you could tell me how I can make any of those things happen, please let me know. I work hard, but no one ever hands me my own companies to ruin.
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antibrainwasher12 months ago
the following is for your intelectual and asthetic pleasure for all the hard working republian shills, and encapsulates Phill Gramms economic philosophy quite well:
Whenever I feel afraid
I hold my head erect
And whistle a happy tune
So no one will suspect
I'm afraid
While shivering in my shoes
I strike a careless pose
And whistle a happy tune
And no one ever knows
I'm afraid
The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool the people
I fear I fool myself as well!
Make believe you're brave
And the trick will take you far.
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are
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antibrainwasher12 months ago
The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool the people
I fear I fool myself as well!
Crap, now its stuck in my head, the jingle that won't go away.
Feelings, nothing more that feelings, trying to forget my feelings, feelings of Rove.
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CHAM12 months ago
Anti, super, great, and anything else that would communicate that I agree 100%. One of the more appropriate poems that it has ever been my pleasure to read.
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