Phil Gramm Speaks the Truth, McCain Denounces Him

Former Senator Phil Gramm spoke words of truth to the media and Americans who need to hear it, and of course, John McCain has now denounced him:

Gramm, who now heads Swiss bank UBS, told The Washington Times the U.S. has benefited from globalization but most Americans are misguided by constant reports that the economy is at its worst in 30 years.

“You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” Gramm, a former Texas senator, told the newspaper, adding that the presumptive Republican nominee will face an uphill battle fighting those perceptions.

“We have sort of become a nation of whiners,” he said. “You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline” despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said. ...

A McCain campaign official said the Republican presidential candidate does not share Gramm’s view.

“Phil Gramm’s comments are not representative of John McCain’s views. John McCain travels the country every day talking to Americans who are hurting, feeling pain at the pump and worrying about how they’ll pay their mortgage. That’s why he has a realistic plan to deliver immediate relief at the gas pump, grow our economy and put Americans back to work,” a McCain official said.

Of course there are signs that the economy is struggling, but there's no empirical evidence of a recession, and yet we are told daily that Mr. Expert So-and-So "thinks" we're in a recession and therefore we should all panic. Just because some folks want us to have a recession doesn't mean you have to participate.

Gramm didn't get it completely correct. Our nation is not entirely made up of whiners - the whiners are pretty much concentrated in the nearly 50% who make up the Democrat party. They're constantly rooting for bad news and complaining that the government isn't doing enough about this problem or that issue and we're all about to di. He should have narrowed down his complaint a bit.

McCain's denouncement of Gramm is the kind of stuff that will drive conservatives crazy and certainly won't make them enthusiastic about McCain. To use an Obama term, Gramm may have been "unartful", but he's probably correct.