Gaffe Alert!

Gramm right. Fineman wrong. Our economy is not at its best right now but its certainly not in a recession. Some sectors may be, like the old media. Tracking their readers/viewers/ad revenues/etc. is the science of downward sloping graphs. Maybe its for that reason or the MSM's unhinged hatred for GWB, but whatever it is, the MSM is driving down consumer confidence. It's always negative. Even Fineman says maybe we just don't know if we're in a recession. Puh-lease.

The standard of living in America is greater than it has ever been; for rich and poor. Gramm was dead-on right. America is full of a bunch of whiners. And Fineman is one of the loudest.

I'm not so sure that this "gaffe" won't help McCain.

Gramm right. Fineman wrong. Our economy is not at its best right now but its certainly not in a recession. Some sectors may be, like the old media. Tracking their readers/viewers/ad revenues/etc. is the science of downward sloping graphs. Maybe its for that reason or the MSM's unhinged hatred for GWB, but whatever it is, the MSM is driving down consumer confidence. It's always negative. Even Fineman says maybe we just don't know if we're in a recession. Puh-lease.

The standard of living in America is greater than it has ever been; for rich and poor. Gramm was dead-on right. America is full of a bunch of whiners. And Fineman is one of the loudest.

I'm not so sure that this "gaffe" won't help McCain.

Couldnt agree more. The folks who think THIS is a recession have never really experienced one. Anyone that was alive durung the Jummy Carter administration knows exactly what policies like Obama''s will do to our country and economy -- ruin it. If you really think it is bad now, just wait, if Obama does as he promises, and manages to win the election, the US will REALLY have something to whine about. The liberals and democrats have nothing to offer but lies and the re-application of already tried failed policies. Period.

I don't know...call me controversial but I kind of agree with Gramm. So many people these days want to sit around waiting on a government handout instead of putting forth the honest, hard work it takes to succeed. Of course, not ALL Americans are like this, but I find it troubling that we want rescued instead of bailing ourselves out. Gas $4? We don't want to use this to develp greener alternatives that lessen our dependency on unstable foreign powers...no, we want to drill more and be in the same boat 10 years from now. Social welfare is a joke--we all know cases of 6 or 7 kids to the same crackhead mother. Why bail out irresponsible banks AND irresponsible borrowers? So they can do it again?
When I was a child, my parents instilled the value of hard work, integrity, and that nothing is handed to you. I worked my way through college and grad school, as did many of my friends. I can't tell you how many times I saw 20 year old mothers with 4 kids not working, getting free healthcare, housing, childcare, AND a free education....and their graduation rate was less than those of us who worked for it. I think the government needs to regulate things alright...they need to regulate how many kids you can have on welfare, make you have a job to receive welfare, and you can only be on it for so long. They need to let the chips fall where they may with the housing crisis. I'm sorry people foolishly failed to read the terms of their loans and agreed to an ARM or balloon payment...almost always a bad idea. But you can only allow yourself to be taken advantage of. If you don't make enough money, go get an education to put yourself in a better position for a good job. We HAVE become a nation of whiners...entitled, slobby whiners with our hands constantly out asking for more and more for less work. America may not be perfect, but it is still a land of opportunity if you are willing to work for it.

It's obvious that both McCain and Obama have fruit cakes on thier sides. At least McCain didn't wait to come out against Gramm like Obama did with Wright. Obama tries to be the "Change Guy" and McCain is known to be a "Maverick" - I think we got bambuzzeled into having these 2 fools to choose from. Obama can not be trusted and McCain can not seem to act excited about being a nominee? They are all politicians and will say and do anything to get elected. Some of thier friends are all like the hillbilly cousins from hell just shooting out anything. At least The Sen didn't threaten to cut off any nuts. I am sure we'll have more to come as we go on to 116 more days.

Know why McCain wants to distance himself from former Senator Phil Gramm? It is not just because of Gramm's recent obnoxious remarks calling Americans "a nation of whiners" and that unemployed Americans are in "a mental recession." In fact, those remarks were so obnoxious that I wonder if they were engineered just to provide McCain an excuse for publicly distancing himself from Gramm. This issue is a lot deeper than it looks on the surface.

When Gramm was a Senator he was chair of the Committee on Banking, and in that capacity he was able to push through the legislation now known as the "Enron Loophole." This loophole allowed US investment banks to bypass the Federal regulations governing futures trading, and is the reason why the investment banks were able to falsely inflate the prices of oil, wheat, corn and other commodities through massive futures trading, causing your costs of gas, heating oil and food to go through the roof.

Gramm was a member of McCain's campaign team, but now Gramms' name is turning to mud. In addition to the Enron loophole, Gramm pushed through the Gramm-Leach-Biley Act in 1999, which got rid of the laws that seperate banking, insurance and brokerage activities in America. Essentially, this Act did away with all of the good laws written after the Great Depression to protect us from another Wall Street/Banking Industry collapse. That's right, Gramm stripped the system of it's safe guards nine years ago, and guess what? The value of the dollar has nose-dived, Wall Street is highly unstable, and we are in the midst of a recession.

Now you could say that this is not Gramm's fault, that he didn't know what the outcome of his actions would be. However, it turns out that the same investment banks that benefited from the Enron loophole and from the Gramm Act gave more than a million dollars to Gramm's campaign. Uh oh. A Congressional hearing is going to be convened to investigate this. And McCain wants to have noting to do with Gramm, wants us to forget that Gramm has been a key player on McCain's campaign team. Gramm was McCain's campaign CO-CHAIR and LEADING ECONOMIC ADVISER.

With Gramm in the driver's seat as his leading economic adviser, now you know why economists and analysts are saying that McCain's economic policy plans are untenable.

Hey -- McCain's been friends with this jerk for 25 years and has sat around listening to him insult the American people? -- I'll bet he even said that the chickens were coming home to roost for all of those whining consumers who are trying to pull one over on all those honest American bankers! How dare he not renounce and denounce these anti-American slurs! Twenty five years he's known Phil Gramm; 25 years he's seen his economic philosophy; and now he's trying to throw him under the bus???? Lol ... payback is lovely.

Trust Phil Gramm and those of his ilk - the well-fed, well-clothed, well-housed, well-insured, well-paid - to dismiss those, who are none of the above, as whiners. When the next administration takes office, let's return the top bracket income tax rate to 99%, then sit back and listen to who's whining now.

Americans have become whinners. This is a new thing creeping into our society.!( Don't do for your self when you can whinne to someone! ).
When I was growing up American adults were too mature, too proud and too competent to whinne over trivial matters which today trigger anxiety attacks. Life has become too good to the extent you just whinne and another American comes to fix it all for you.
I can't believe only one elderly gentleman in the USA noticed this change to our society you can see anywhere you go in public!
President Carter did impart a type of mental block on us all by repeatedly declairing the economy as in MALAISE...over and over again! It didn't mean americans are ill mentaly... but t it makes it darn hard to finnancially plan when your leader is describing a bad situation which is not improving! A mental recession was followed by a real one!
I don't see why McCain is jumping away from this pragmatist! It's not like he threatened to cut McCains' nuts off, or something!
Next time you're in public and see an American whinning over some trivial matter tell em to knock it off and get a pair of their own! It's about time! Take responsibilty for your owne happyness!
I think all this whinning started by something Annita Bryant said in public a long time ago.

Oh my...oh my.....this is McCains (or one of) top economic adviser and he thinks Americans are just crybabys with a slight form of mental retardation.

If I were the GOP or a McCain staff member ,I would advise McCain to get out of the "gotcha" politic business. Because this is the "gaffe" to end all "gaffes".

"Instead of whinning to mommy and daddy government - and they certainly share a large part of the blame - people need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and stop waiting for the government to do it"

But that does not apply to big corporations that get a free pass and bailout from the government for their stupidity. Just look at the taxpayer funded buyout of bear stearns. JP Morgan gets the good assets and we get stuck with the bill.

Gramm is wealthy because he serves those corporate masters and is well paid for it. IN other words, he is a welfare recipient. The problem is not Americans but the fascist corporate welfare state.

He doesn't even need friends. He has himself.