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RedditUpset about losing your job, your home or your pension in the Bush-Cheney recession?
Buck up, and stop whining!
So says former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
McCain is honest enough to admit he does not know much about economics.
For years, he has taken advice from Gramm.
So what is Gramm saying about the current economic circumstance?
Here's what the McCain man told the Washington Times: "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, arguing that there is no economic downturn in the U.S.
The problem, says Gramm, is that, "We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline."
That sort of talk has no place in the America of John McCain and Phil Gramm, argues the veteran Republican point man on economic matters.
And, despite the fact that McCain has today attempted to distance himself from his high-profile supporter (suggesting that, instead of considering the former senator as a potential treasury secretary, he is now entertaining the notion of dispatching Gramm to a diplomatic post in Minsk), this Republican economist may be on to something.
After all, things are fine in Phil Gramm's America.
He's got a great pension as a former member of the House and Senate and, because the federal government manages the money, his income's secure from raiding by corporate swindlers. In addition, Gramm has found plenty of work since leaving the Senate as a lobbyist for the firms he once aided as a legislator.
Plus, his wife's bringing in plenty of money.
Wendy Lee Gramm's also a former government employee. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was Ronald Reagan and George Bush the Dad's appointed head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Under her "leadership", the commission exempted Enron from regulation of trading in energy derivatives. Remarkably, after leaving that post, Wendy Lee Gramm took a seat on the Enron Board of Directors.
Enron also supported the Regulatory Studies Program at George Mason University's Mercatus Center, which Wendy Lee Gramm chairs, when she isn't running to the bank to cash the checks she receives as a board member of various investment funds and insurance companies.
So things are working out pretty well for the Gramm family.
They're not whining.
And neither, explains Phil Gramm, should you.
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This is really good...and should be played a LOT by the Obama people.
BTW, bet you anything we'll get some of our local Right (especially HAPPY) here saying "Yeah, Gramm's right...stop whining, things aren't so bad!"
bet on it.
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/10/2008 @ 5:12pm
precisely the mentality working folks who vote repugnant ultimately support.
vote for us you whiners!!!!
Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/10/2008 @ 5:15pm
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/10/2008 @ 5:12pm | ignore this person | warn this person
ah - the party of hoover!!!
Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/10/2008 @ 5:16pm
another sure fire move by the McSame campaign.
these guys are smooooth.
this is known as the Don Rickles strategy, insult the electorate.
Posted by emile duBois at 07/10/2008 @ 5:42pm
Phil Gramm is a jerk, but he's not entirely wrong. Unless you have lost your job or your house - both of which are unlikely if you research statistics - then you are most likely better off than you were 10 years ago. Ok, gas prices are high, but really...they should have gone up a long time ago to get us to change our habit.
As for the economy, think back to 1995, before the DOTCOM era. America's middle class was intact. But when the rich became Super Rich, thanks to an inflated market and subsequent economy, that's when you really saw a definitive split between the upper-class and lower-class. And who was presiding over the government at that time...'old Billy boy.
The fact of the matter is, life is tough. We all need to focus our efforts on improving our lives, and being responsible citizens.
Obama may very well be a great leader. But...
Expecting government to deliver the "good life" is like asking the church to deliver you to heaven. In the end, it is always up to the individual to make their own way.
Posted by dizzyguy at 07/10/2008 @ 5:56pm
>>>Here's what the McCain man told the Washington Times: "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, arguing that there is no economic downturn in the U.S.<<<
A "mental recession"?
We need to amplify this - JOHN MCCAIN THINKS THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN IS ONLY IN YOUR HEAD!!!
McCain/Gramm are COMPLETELY out of touch with ordinary Americans, as this fits with the "It's Your Fault" retort to our economic woes.
No, Phil - it is YOUR fault!
You and your president Bush allowed the dollar to slide, and with your wife's advocacy of the so-called "Enron exemption", wild, wild, west, speculation is now allowed in oil futures by institutions that have no real interest in oil as a commodity. This is the CHIEF cause of =$4 a gallon gasoline that is hurting ordinary Americans economically.
It was YOUR president, Phil, that allowed the government to help monetize subprime mortgages, and encouraged reckless speculation in real estate so that the average American cannot afford a home and those who bought under your subprime scheme are now being foreclosed on.
It is YOUR selfish approach to economics that is the problem, in which as long as you've got yours, to hell with everyone else.
Ourgageous! Simply outrageous!
Posted by Metteyya at 07/10/2008 @ 6:47pm
Yesterday Democracy Now had David Corn and an economist whose name I forget talking about Gramm's major role in the deregulation of the banking and credit industries, when he was chairman of the Banking Committee in the Senate. I'm trying to remember as much as I can - a bill that he inserted into an omnibus budget last minute bill, and also something in the Truth in Lending bill. It's worth checking out - I'm sorry I don't know how to make a link, but I'm new to the internet.
He therefore seems to have an investment in there not being a recession, having had more than a hand in the sub-prime debacle.
Posted by ramara at 07/10/2008 @ 8:09pm
In the end, it is always up to the individual to make their own way. Posted by dizzyguy
you are an inspiration to all of us.
Posted by emile duBois at 07/10/2008 @ 8:13pm
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/10/2008 @ 6:45pm
HAPP, doesn't it just piss you off when I predict EXACTLY what you'll post OVER AN HOUR before you do?
heheh
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/10/2008 @ 5:12pm
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/10/2008 @ 8:24pm
P.S. David Corn has an article about Gramm and his wife in Mother Jones.
Posted by ramara at 07/10/2008 @ 9:10pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/10/2008 @ 9:15pm
LVLIB, I think most of us are familiar with your views. Everything done since Teddy Roosevelt and Trust Busting...is "socialism" (ex NASA and the Interstate Highway System).
Right?
Posted by Maskdelta at 07/10/2008 @ 9:20pm
It's easy to say all these things when your life is made and you've got a decent job... but for a lot of us, me included,it's not about "go fix it yourself"... yeah, our debt is our own concern, I admit, but there are so many things in life that we don't really control, but are absolutely screwing over our ability to scrape by. Higher wages? Not a chance. Everyone's talking about downsizing. Oh, just find a new job? None available, esp. in this current economical mess.
A lot of us in the lower rungs of the "middle class" are feeling the pinch from all directions. A lot of times we aren't in control. Telling us that we are whining and everything is just in our head isn't really going to help. We're already awake, wide awake, staring at the mess because we have to deal with it day in and day out.
Question now is: Just who is elitist?
Posted by fufuplatter at 07/10/2008 @ 9:43pm
RE: Obama Obama ! The lucky one and who he thinks he is? Jessy's right, cut off Obama's nuts and then he will fall down right to Earth.
------------
JESSE'S A 'NUT' JOB LASHES OBAMA WITH VILE LOW BLOW By CHARLES HURT, Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON - In a shocking blast at Barack Obama that was caught on tape, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, "I wanna cut his nuts out."
He made the astonishingly vulgar remark as he accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of giving moral lectures to African-Americans.
"See, Barack [has] been talking down to black people . . . I wanna cut his nuts out," Jackson said.
His whispered comments - accompanied by his hand-miming a cutting motion - were picked up by a live mike before an interview on health care in Fox News Channel's Chicago studio Sunday.
Posted by HelenDAO at 07/10/2008 @ 9:47pm
Expecting government to deliver the "good life" is like asking the church to deliver you to heaven. In the end, it is always up to the individual to make their own way.
Posted by dizzyguy at 07/10/2008 @ 5:56pm | ignore this person | warn this person
expecting government to look out for more than the fascist clique of the top one percenters is not socialist. expecting government to be competant when run by the fascist wing of the top one percenters whose entire purpose is to castrate it for any other purpose than their own profit is stupid.
if you are in the top one percent of income earners and end up on skid row it is indeed probably a result of your own bad choices. if you are making 20 to 30 grand a year and lose your job and benefits as a result of lamebrained decisions made by someone other than yourself...yer fucked...
but sure - if you are not a part of the fascist satano-aynrando clique of the one percenters you had damned well better educate yourself and cease voting for republicans because all that group of gangsters care about is that clique in the top one percenters...
Posted by ibbleblibble at 07/10/2008 @ 9:55pm
For the most part, Phil Gramm's now infamous soundbite was a clumsy gaffe, but in one regard, it was very shrewd.
That word "whining" was well chosen. What a clever way to disguise the sound that is actually emerging from the US-American electorate, indeed from a majority...
the sound of Hell being raised.
Nope. That's not whining. Turn up your hearing aid, Phil.
"Metteya" is quite right about Phil Gramm's checkered past. This man stands for three things:
(1) reckless deregulation;
(2) corporate collapse, the inevitable consequence of (1); and
(3) government bailouts for those corporations that are too big to fail.
Speaking of hell-raising, check out the lovely article in the August issue of "Mother Jones" by "The Nation's" own David Corn if you can. It's called "Foreclosure Phil" and it's a hoot.
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/10/2008 @ 9:58pm
^^ pretty much what madlib wrote...
lvliv, I respect you for trying your best to figure your way out. If everyone had the conviction you do, things would be peachy.
However, contrary to you, I do believe that the government, elected by the people, should be there to help the people. It shouldn't take our "whining" for the government to finally look our way. I don't need it to bottle feed me like I'm some useless hunk of human meat. Just look out for the citizens. Equally. Not affording preferential treatment to the uber-wealthy.
You can call me lazy, or you think I have a sense of entitlement... doesn't really matter to me. I just feel for the people who live an honest life, give it their best at work, but still struggle to make ends meet because of things outside their control. They don't deserve that. The government has to at least make sure no honest, hardworking person has to end up broke and on the streets.
Posted by fufuplatter at 07/10/2008 @ 10:26pm
Look around......Elitists live in expensive, almost always Blue areas.....NYC, D.C., San Fran, Seattle, Santa Fe.....away from the `bitter' folks that live in cheap houses or trailers. Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/10/2008 @ 10:03pm
Actualy you must be talking about the wrong areas. I all of those cities you named you live in closer proximite to those "bitter" people you talk about. I live in a good neighborhood. I am no more than 15 minutes from Compton and Watts. DC has one of the highest violent crime rates. If you live in the city of NY you don't live far from The Bronx, Harlem, Queens, Hempstead and many other "bitter" neighborhoods. Call those blue stats elitist all you want. But since they are all very urban and very compact you tend to be closer to those "bitter" people than anywhere else Happy. You rub elbows with them everyday. You can say that somehow Dallas and Houston are better, I have been to both. You tend to be more distanced from the poor than you are in a city like LA because Dallas is much more spread out.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 07/10/2008 @ 10:36pm
Multimillionaire government hanger-on Gramm looks and sounds an awful lot like "private equity" Clear Channel's Limbaugh. Clean Channel's chief asset? The "public" airwaves. Corporate welfare all over again.
Posted by winyahn at 07/10/2008 @ 10:59pm
I guess I'm one of those whiny types. I live on disability and get Medicare. I just paid off a settlement agreement with my mortgage company from when I got a few months behind when I couldn't work and before I got disability.
The point is that we are the richest country in the world and we have people living in poverty and kids going hungry. To me that makes no sense.
lvliberty - I'd like to know what you think about this. I just applied for food stamps and when the worker asked me the last grade I completed, I said I have an MA degree and got a very strange look. Sometimes the bootstraps break.
Posted by ramara at 07/10/2008 @ 11:28pm
We have among us a class of mammon worshippers, whose one test of conservatism or radicalism is the attitude one takes with respect to accumulated wealth. Whatever tends to preserve the wealth of the wealthy is called conservatism, and whatever favors anything else, no matter what is called socialism. Richard T. Ely
Posted by kingcuke at 07/10/2008 @ 11:55pm
Posted by winyahn at 07/10/2008 @ 10:59pm
Ever heard of taxes?
Posted by usc1 at 07/11/2008 @ 01:04am
Didn't Carter get cruxified in the media when he spoke to Americans about their collective "malaise" during his term?
Posted by k330k at 07/11/2008 @ 08:37am
Throughout history, mankind has found a way to move to where they have new opportunity without massive govt intervention. But somehow according to liberals, getting another start is impossible without the govt's help.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/10/2008 @ 7:16pm | warn this person
Ask Gramm about the Bear Stearns bailout - this ain't whinning? hahahah
Posted by OneVote at 07/11/2008 @ 09:32am
"and, because the federal government manages the money, his income's secure from raiding by corporate swindlers."
are you sure about that?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:34am
By and large, Americans have become whiners. I lay the blame directly at the feet of liberalism.
Posted by lvliberty1
AMERICA! CUT THOSE TOE NAILS!!! SHOW SOME PEDICURIAL FORTITUDE!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:46am
Funny this is, Gramm's comment is exactly correct,especially regarding the current generation, but not for the reasons he stated,( ie the stats on the recession)
Posted by william.harry13 at 07/11/2008 @ 10:47am
I suppose the illegals just had the Mexican govt fund their way over here? And gave them spending money to live on when they got here?
Throughout history, mankind has found a way to move to where they have new opportunity without massive govt intervention. But somehow according to liberals, getting another start is impossible without the govt's help.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/10/2008
attention, stephen harper!
build that fence, ¡¡¡quick!!!!
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:49am
What the government owes us is to defend our borders, defend against enemies, foreign and domestic, keep a semblance of peace in the land, have a open and transparent judicial system, ensure we can move people, goods, and services between the various states, to not tax us to death, and to try their best to give us parity or an advantage in global trade.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/10/2008
you should ask for a full refund.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:52am
you have been here so long, you know how ALL regulars will respond.
I Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/10/2008
wekrj fsjfiv gagi sdfsafsfasfe t feef ttt efsfa?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:54am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:54am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:54am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:54am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:54am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:55am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:56am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:56am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:56am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:56am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:57am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:57am
Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end? "I wonder how many miles I've fallen by this time?" she said aloud. "I must be getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think-" (for, you see, Alice had learnt several things of this sort in her lessons in the school-room, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) "-- yes that's about the right distance -- but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?" (Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say.)
Presently she began again. "I wonder if I shall fall fight through the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The antipathies, I think-" (she was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all the right word) "-but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand? Or Australia?" (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke- fancy, curtseying as you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) "And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere."
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" (Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at tea-time. Dinah, my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy son of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and sometimes "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and was saying to her, very earnestly, "Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?" when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:58am
There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and the talking over its head. `Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse,' thought Alice; `only, as it's asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind.'
The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at one corner of it: `No room! No room!' they cried out when they saw Alice coming. `There's plenty of room!' said Alice indignantly, and she sat down in a large arm-chair at one end of the table.
`Have some wine,' the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.
Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. `I don't see any wine,' she remarked.
`There isn't any,' said the March Hare.
`Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it,' said Alice angrily.
`It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited,' said the March Hare.
`I didn't know it was your table,' said Alice; `it's laid for a great many more than three.'
`Your hair wants cutting,' said the Hatter. He had been looking at Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first speech.
`You should learn not to make personal remarks,' Alice said with some severity; `it's very rude.'
The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he said was, `Why is a raven like a writing-desk?'
`Come, we shall have some fun now!' thought Alice. `I'm glad they've begun asking riddles.--I believe I can guess that,' she added aloud.
`Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?' said the March Hare.
`Exactly so,' said Alice.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:59am
time warp
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 10:59am
Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down `stupid things!' on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell `stupid,' and that he had to ask his neighbour to tell him. `A nice muddle their slates'll be in before the trial's over!' thought Alice.
One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the poor little juror (it was Bill, the Lizard) could not make out at all what had become of it; so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day; and this was of very little use, as it left no mark on the slate.
`Herald, read the accusation!' said the King.
On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment scroll, and read as follows:--
`The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, And took them quite away!'
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 11:00am
that's better.
er, liberty and happy, i posted some replies somewhere up there.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 11:00am
(I've got about 8, including BB guns & .22 rifles)....
Posted by 2HAPPY at 07/10/2008
how dare you poison your house?
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/11/2008 @ 11:04am
At least he didn't say Americans were "bitter."
That would have been unforgivable.
Posted by Hman23 at 07/11/2008 @ 11:06am
you are an inspiration to all of us. Posted by emile duBois
@Emile, Sorry I don't inspire you. What does it take? Some politician in a tie, with a pretty smile, and a promise to make the government more accountable to you. Heh! Do you really believe that?
The only people who are happy in this world are the ones who pave their own path and don't wait around for someone to set their lives straight. I, for one, don't gush tears whenever a politician panders to me about how he/she can make my life better. If I could, I just sit 'em down and tell 'em to improve infrastructure, secure our borders, and leave the rest to me.
As for inspiration...I'll let the people who fight crime, put out fires, and teach math to kids be my inspiration... The politicians can disappear for all I care. And they can take the lawyers along with them.
Posted by dizzyguy at 07/11/2008 @ 12:59pm
okay, so are we bitter and elitist or are we a bunch of delusional whiners???
are all the small businesses here and the owners saying they cannot profit in this environment all a hallucination??
I mean, walmart seems to be doing fine, they can drain right into our river (they were "grandfathered" without any stormwater plan or filtration and in addition they got huge subsidies to come here to this small town to ruin our economy, and environment while most of their employees cannot afford health care??? they must be doing fine, the local walmart now has its own bank....
I am sure cities competing against each other using taxpayer dollars was worth it....I would be happier if I was one of the huge companies for whom cities fight over and spend taxpayer dollars to attract without even asking people if they want such a behemoth in their town or the effect on small business owners...
I am sure spending massive sums to fly empty aircraft to small towns was worth it, now that no airline can afford to do this....
YET according to mcbush, we are all delusional, we are not sending all of our money overseas to foreign corporations, we are not wasting trillions of dollars on fuel in a meaningless "war"....other countries are not passing us by right and left and the brain drain accelerates, when people who can jump this sinking ship.....fannie mae and freddie mac are not overleveraged and about to go bankrupt....we are delusional.....and EPA did not just devalue the worth of Americans's lives in order to undercut any environmental protections, so that the same amount of money to protect someplace now in a cost/benefit analysis is not really worth it, just by using faulty logic and faulty math....for instance $18 billion to save some land might be feasible if we are worth 2 mill but now we are only worth one mill, so the cost is excessive EVEN THE SAME AMOUNT.....the bush administration now HAS DEVALUED AMERICAN'S LIVES...WE ARE WORTH LESS NOW THAN BEFORE.....and mcbush admits he knows nothing about the economy and depends on his ignorant advisors; the whole crew spouts off and rants and have short fuses, just the administration we need in a global economy unless we are trying to start a world war....which bush is still trying to do, and which mcbush will continue to do.....he even jokes about it.....
they hate our freedoms, but let's not allow other countries to have their freedoms, let's scare americans and use macchiavellian logic and a self-fulfilling prophecy of paranoia to show the whole world hates us, so we can abuse our rights, gain immunity, spy on Americans and build walls to keep out mexicans, whom are responsible for all the jobs anglos dont want to do.....
the previous alice in wonderland post is appropriate.....
Posted by jrs112 at 07/11/2008 @ 2:02pm
okay, so are we bitter and elitist or are we a bunch of delusional whiners???
are all the small businesses here and the owners saying they cannot profit in this environment all a hallucination??
I mean, walmart seems to be doing fine, they can drain right into our river (they were "grandfathered" without any stormwater plan or filtration and in addition they got huge subsidies to come here to this small town to ruin our economy, and environment while most of their employees cannot afford health care??? they must be doing fine, the local walmart now has its own bank....
I am sure cities competing against each other using taxpayer dollars was worth it....I would be happier if I was one of the huge companies for whom cities fight over and spend taxpayer dollars to attract without even asking people if they want such a behemoth in their town or the effect on small business owners...
I am sure spending massive sums to fly empty aircraft to small towns was worth it, now that no airline can afford to do this....
YET according to mcbush, we are all delusional, we are not sending all of our money overseas to foreign corporations, we are not wasting trillions of dollars on fuel in a meaningless "war"....other countries are not passing us by right and left and the brain drain accelerates, when people who can jump this sinking ship.....fannie mae and freddie mac are not overleveraged and about to go bankrupt....we are delusional.....and EPA did not just devalue the worth of Americans's lives in order to undercut any environmental protections, so that the same amount of money to protect someplace now in a cost/benefit analysis is not really worth it, just by using faulty logic and faulty math....for instance $18 billion to save some land might be feasible if we are worth 2 mill but now we are only worth one mill, so the cost is excessive EVEN THE SAME AMOUNT.....the bush administration now HAS DEVALUED AMERICAN'S LIVES...WE ARE WORTH LESS NOW THAN BEFORE.....and mcbush admits he knows nothing about the economy and depends on his ignorant advisors; the whole crew spouts off and rants and have short fuses, just the administration we need in a global economy unless we are trying to start a world war....which bush is still trying to do, and which mcbush will continue to do.....he even jokes about it.....
they hate our freedoms, but let's not allow other countries to have their freedoms, let's scare americans and use macchiavellian logic and a self-fulfilling prophecy of paranoia to show the whole world hates us, so we can abuse our rights, gain immunity, spy on Americans and build walls to keep out mexicans, whom are responsible for all the jobs anglos dont want to do.....
the previous alice in wonderland post is appropriate.....
Posted by jrs112 at 07/11/2008 @ 2:03pm
I am from south and pre bush voted republican because I too dont want to pay for people with eight kids driving mercedes on welfare not even looking for work or criminal having five kids with five different women...etc....but when govt. is actively intervening to give subsidies to rich at the expense of poor and then blaming poor, this is a dictatorship, this is not free market or capitalism...
mcbush has said enough....I know who I am voting for, I don't care who the vp is for democratic, looking to be hillary, would be cool to be richardson as well..
the pendulum swings equally in both directions, as bush and co. continue f*)^(^ over americans, there has to be a sea change as a result.....
every day, I wonder how people are surviving....
Posted by jrs112 at 07/11/2008 @ 2:07pm
Now, I would not even begin to say that we are in healthy economic times - this is not true. On the other hand - I drive 55 on the hi-ways, to save fuel and money. I am almost alone - only twice have I encountered another person driving at or near this speed. But everybody is up in arms over the price of fuel. So...while we wait to see if our government will hold swindlers accountable, or just promise to put a nuclear reactor in every pot...how about doing something Personally?
Posted by jenni_poo at 07/11/2008 @ 2:53pm
I have to admit, I never cared much for Phil Gramm. He was a leading proponent of the so called "trickle down" theory of economics, which is if you give the rich all kinds of tax breaks, some of that will trickle down to the rest of us. As numerous economists have pointed out, in practice, this theory doesn't hold water, as the rich don't buy enough to really support the rest of the economy. They already have everything they need or want. The real driver of our economy has been the middle class. When they spend , the economy thrives. Now the party is over - the subprime mess created mainly by unscrupulous lenders and greedy speculators has created a major downdraft in home prices and a meltdown in the financial community, typical results of what happens when too much money in thrown at too few resources. This is not a mirage or just a "mental" problem. Houses are worth less; credit card debt is at an all time high, more people are out of work, and our economy is suffering. Just walk into a car dealer or your local Starbucks, or local restaurant. Everyone is hurting. That is everyone except the Phil Gramm's of the world, who has a pretty nice paying job as Vice Chairman of UBS Corporation, and gets a nice pension from the U.S. government as a former U.S. Senator. And his wife Wendy was on the board of Enron corporation, which engaged in economic terrorism against the State of California. Phil Gramm was the sponsor of the so called "Enron Loophole" which allowed Enron to engage in their outrageous behavior, and what many energy analysts think is behind the massive manipulation in the oil markets which are driving up oil prices to "bubble" proportions.
Now Phil Gramm in his role as chief economic advisor to John McCain has called America a nation of "whiners", because of our concerns about the U.S. economy. He calls our concerns mainly mental in nature. If I was Phil Gramm I wouldn't have any complaints either. He and his colleagues John McCain, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush all reside in the rarefied atmosphere of the .1% of our country worth 100 million upwards. They don't have a clue as to how the rest of us live nor does it sound like they care. Phil Gramm - if you really want to know how the Republican Party feels about average American's, just listen to Phil. John McCain has tried to distance himself from Gramm's comments, but the horse has left the barn John.
Posted by Bobzmcishl at 07/11/2008 @ 2:54pm
By and large, Americans have become whiners. I lay the blame directly at the feet of liberalism.
Posted by lvliberty1
I'm so shocked he feels this way.
Posted by Hman23 at 07/11/2008 @ 4:12pm
Gramm Sham
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Deregulation, their loop-hole elation, Home-owning security--the new emasculation.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Predatory lending, nepotistic mending, Way to go! Way to go! Narcissistic spending.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Backroom corruption, Grandma's disruption, Laughing, yucking, having fun with usury distruction.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Families feel the squeeze, trapped by legalese, played by highbrow scum, a haughty sort of sleaze.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Then they say "My friend" trying hard to send A message we should trust their parasitic trend.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Economic advisor? The Enron/housing divisor? The deeds they do will provide the glue to pull us together much wiser.
Nasty men doing nasty things.
Their tree provides their fruit, filling an unctuous empty suit With empathy none from what they have done, stealing Americans' loot.
Posted by PrairieDeb at 07/11/2008 @ 5:22pm
Ask Gramm about the Bear Stearns bailout - this ain't whinning? hahahah Posted by OneVote at 07/11/2008 @ 09:32am
Hey, these BS guys have lost hundreds of millions, and that ain't chopped chicken liver, that's something to cry about ... so of course BS deserved to bailed out ... by the rest of us who have lost so little compared to them.
Fair is fair.
Ask, Phil, he'll tell you.
And then duck, when he spits at you.
Posted by sloper at 07/12/2008 @ 09:48am
Gramm is a big fat 'whining' hype-critter.
What, he has to take in his pants in a little because his bank lobby with McCave is eroding? Poor poor baby wah-wah-wah. It's after all all those liberals that cause this mess; not his greedy helping hand in creation of a dic'tatorship.
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/109248/detail/
‘‘I have always been happy with the tax cuts I've supported,'' Gramm said at a news conference, where he sometimes grew emotional. He quickly added, ‘‘I still believe that government is too big, too powerful and too expensive and too intrusive,'' and urged a capital gains tax cut this fall."
http://tinyurl.com/5hawuk
"During that 1984 campaign, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) began investigating Gramm's campaign finances. He had paid Jerry Stiles, a Texas builder, $63,000 to complete his waterfront house in rural Maryland. The builder also ran three troubled savings and loans. The cost of the work he did on the house was $117,000. FBI agents who later investigated Stiles on S&L-related charges found this discrepancy suspicious. Gramm was involved with the owners of at least three Texas S&Ls that later failed at a cost to taxpayers estimated at $160 million, and had previously contacted federal regulators on behalf of Stiles and his savings and loan.
When the Gramm learned of the probe, he quickly sent the builder $50,000 to cover the difference, then took back the check when the Senate Ethics Committee noticed. Gramm, who later advocated full disclosure of embarrassing records by President Clinton, sued the FEC and waged a costly fight to seal his own records. In 1987, the Senator was fined $30,000, one of the largest ever handed down by the FEC. Stiles' corrupt S&L deals collapsed in 1989, costing taxpayers an estimated $200 million. Stiles was sentenced in Texas to 55-years on 11 counts of conspiracy and fraud. The investigation originally began as the result of a complaint filed by Donna Mobley of Austin, a crusader for economic justice, civil liberties and good government who met an untimely death ten years later.
In 1985, Gramm was linked to a campaign contribution shakedown run out of a Small Business Administration (SBA) office in El Paso. He was never subjected to a complete investigation or negative press coverage, however, because on February 19, 1988, a leased Rockwell Aero Commander 680 crashed and exploded shortly after taking off from El Paso International Airport. All aboard, the pilot, his wife and son, were killed. The pilot was local businessman Don McCoy who, a day earlier, had agreed to give testimony in an FBI investigation that had threatened both Senator Gramm's protégé at the SBA, and some of the city's most prominent business leaders."
http://www.texas-on-line.com/graphic/philgramm.htm
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/12/2008 @ 12:04pm
If people have no bread, why don't they quit whining and eat cake?
Posted by OldUncleDave at 07/12/2008 @ 12:12pm
Alas, we Liberals are distracted by the facts. So we don't always notice the all-important rhetoric.
Dear "OldUncleDave" is a case in point. Please don't think I'm singling you out, Dave, and don't think that I generally consider focus on the facts a vice, or that I consider it a vice to make a nice joke using Phil Gramm's insensitive words.
But, as I mentioned in my last posting, the real coup here was scored by Gramm's use of the word "whine" to describe citizens' fully justified outrage against a greed-controlled economy and a neglectful government.
When we repeat this word "whine," we underscore the Republicans' insinuation that all our justified anger against both real and unnecessary injustices is only so much "whining."
It's not "whining." It's raising hell. It's people coming to their senses and taking action. It's people behaving in a way that makes "Foreclosure Phil" Gramm more frightened than he is willing to admit.
George Lakoff's advice is well taken: Do not assume that we can defeat our opponents simply by turning their words against them. These words do not come from nowhere; they are carefully selected by right-wing think tanks and thoroughly market-researched. They are designed to belittle our concerns and to make us look childish, foolish, and weak.
Now, if only I can get more journalists to take this advice!
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/12/2008 @ 1:08pm
McCain Man Gramm to America: Stop Whining
Rednecks to "boy" they've lynched and hung from tree: Stop Whining
Rumsfeld to maimed Iraqi civilians: Stop Whining
Limbaugh to those without the billion $$ radio backing of Clear Channel: Stop Whining
Posted by winyahn at 07/12/2008 @ 3:06pm
I know other reasons why gRamm/McCave are whining:
"Obama 309 vs. McCain 229
The national poll by Pew Research Center has Obama ahead by 8% and is surprisingly in a dead heat with McCain in North Dakota -- a state Bush carried with over 60% of the vote in 2004.
But it's quite surprising that Obama only has 50% of support in his home state of Illinois. His lead among men in that state is only 43% to 40%. Wow.
Obama holds clear advantages in Washington and Wisconsin despite the fact that they are listed as battleground states on the left hand menu of our website. Perhaps we should re-evaluate that because McCain has not been competitive in those states."
http://tinyurl.com/62wawx
"It was the week McCain hoped to show off his newly focused, smoother-running operation after he rearranged his campaign hierarchy and acknowledged errors in the staging of events and other matters.
But a joke about U.S. cigarettes killing Iranians, criticism of the Social Security program and word that one of his top economic advisers had called the country "a nation of whiners" suffering a "mental recession" undermined the Arizona senator's effort."
http://tinyurl.com/5ak9br
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/12/2008 @ 7:10pm
Posted by JakobFabian at 07/12/2008 @ 1:08pm
excellent.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2008 @ 9:10pm
But a joke about U.S. cigarettes killing Iranians.....
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/12/2008 @ 7:10pm
seems sen. mccain is killing his chances with the ol' foot'n'mouth.
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2008 @ 9:11pm
"Therefore I will not keep silent;
I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit,
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul."
Posted by frosty zoom at 07/12/2008 @ 10:28pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 07/12/2008 @ 9:51pm
Oh yeah-- and Christ never whined! er, ok maybe a couple of times. But ¬^¬ never does!?!?! Except about liberals like Christ... Oh forgive ¬<¬ for he knows not what he just did, will do, has done, is, was, can be.
Nah. Fuck ¬>¬.
Posted by hsuBfools at 07/13/2008 @ 01:56am
Whiney Americans:
"Oooohh, those gay people want to marry"
"Save me from Saddam, George!"
"Banking regulation is too strict!"
"Don't let those neeeegroes sit next to me!"
"Liberals hate America"
Rush limbaugh 3 hours a freakin' day!!! Followed by Hannity and Bubba Oh'Really(?).
Now those are some whinin' 'mericans.
So Luvvy, give me an f'in break about whiney libs. You clowns cover the airwaves with whine.
Other great whiners of the past:
Martin Luther
Martin Luther King
Jefferson
Adams
John Jay and Alexander Hamilton
Posted by crabwalk at 07/13/2008 @ 08:58am
[Gramm's long been a handmaiden to Big Finance. In the 1990s, as chairman of the Senate banking committee, he routinely turned down Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt's requests for more money to police Wall Street; during this period, the sec's workload shot up 80 percent, but its staff grew only 20 percent. Gramm also opposed an sec rule that would have prohibited accounting firms from getting too close to the companies they audited--at one point, according to Levitt's memoir, he warned the sec chairman that if the commission adopted the rule, its funding would be cut. And in 1999, Gramm pushed through a historic banking deregulation bill that decimated Depression-era firewalls between commercial banks, investment banks, insurance companies, and securities firms--setting off a wave of merger mania.
For starters, the legislation contained a provision--lobbied for by Enron, a generous contributor to Gramm--that exempted energy trading from regulatory oversight, allowing Enron to run rampant, wreck the California electricity market, and cost consumers billions before it collapsed. (For Gramm, Enron was a family affair. Eight years earlier, his wife, Wendy Gramm, as cftc chairwoman, had pushed through a rule excluding Enron's energy futures contracts from government oversight. Wendy later joined the Houston-based company's board, and in the following years her Enron salary and stock income brought between $915,000 and $1.8 million into the Gramm household.) ]
So, tell me Luvvy, if I had the personal get-go to invest in ENRON, it is my fault that I lost a good portion of my retirement portfolio?
Or, was ENRON a bunch of whining cry babies about gub-ment regulation?
Have you sent your check to cover Countrywide and Indy-mac yet?
Posted by crabwalk at 07/13/2008 @ 09:13am
"If McCain gets in," frets Lynn Turner, a former chief sec accountant, "we'll have more of the same deregulatory mess. I like John McCain, but given what I know about Phil Gramm, I wouldn't vote for McCain."
Posted by crabwalk at 07/13/2008 @ 09:15am
Didn't they just bale out the banks? LVLIB, your opinion?
Can Banks whine?
Posted by johnny canuck at 07/15/2008 @ 11:27pm