[bboop]

hahah, too true. He should have said ‘a Senate-full of whiners,’ tho, to be more specific.

[Dr. Ursus]

DR.PHIL I- save me!!!!!

[traderrob6]

Unhelpful maybe but dead on.

[chrisser]

Unhelpful?

Seems like a smart move to me.

Those who would be offended will likely vote Rat anyway. The rest of us who realize that this is largely true are glad someone is finally saying what we’ve been thinking.

[Cincinatus]

Phil Gramm committed the cardinal sin of American politics — he inadvertently spoke the truth.

[LottieDah]

He’s right. All they do is whine about the price of gasoline and oil. I’ve been to entertainment sites where people use the take line gasoline was $1.46 a gallon when Bush took office. Some jerk even wrote a letter to the editor of the NY Daily News to that effect...yet, they blame Bush but continue to oppose drilling.

[Dixie Yooper]

I hope this doesn’t turn into another head that has to roll, or body that needs to tossed under the bus. It’s time for John McCain to show off some those leadership by experience skills he has by not bending to MSM leanings.

[alicewonders]

Mental recession - schmental recession.....it still feels like a recession to me. Food and gas prices have never been higher & my income isn’t keeping up.

[CatherinePPP]

Well, there are an awful lot of whiners out there, you can’t argue with that.

It was kind of a dumb thing to say though. There are also plenty of honest, hardworking people who are struggling right now to make ends meet and coming across as callous probably isn’t doing McCain any favors. He should talk about ideas to improve things for working people, like lowering their taxes and cutting out government waste or something.

[KC_Conspirator]

Gramm is right, but it makes for bad election year politics.

[SoFloFreeper]

I would like to see/hear/read the entire message for context. One can make a case the nation is indeed one of whiners...especially baby boomers, who are supposedly the ones leading the nation.

For those of us who work hard, have a positive outlook, and believe in God, we tend to have a better attitude.

Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago a study reported conservatives have a happier outlook on life?

[Miss Didi]

OBAMA: Former Senator Phil Gramm said that we're -- we're merely in a mental recession. That's what he said. Said we're in a mental recession. He didn't say this, but I guess what he meant was, it's a figment of your imagination, these high gas prices. Senator Gramm then deemed the United States, and I quote, a nation of whiners.

RUSH: Stop the tape a second.

OBAMA: A nation of whiners.

RUSH: Yeah. I'll tell you why it's a nation of whiners, because your party is a bunch of whiners. Your party has a patent on whining. All your party does is whine each and every day, from Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi, whine and moan and complain and accuse. And you do, too, Senator Obama. You don't care about the high gas price. Here's the rest of this statement.

OBAMA: This comes after Senator McCain recently admitted that his energy proposals, you know, for the gas tax holiday and the drilling will have mainly, quote, psychological benefits. I want all of you to know that America already has one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one when it comes to the economy. We need somebody to actually solve the economy. It's not just a figment of your imagination.

RUSH: What in the -- solve the economy? There is no such thing, sir, as solving the economy. You might be well advised to try to understand the economy, and then you would realize that solving it, it's just another problem, and liberals think they have all the answers.

[Bitsy]

Go Phil Gramm. He told it like it was and if the truth hurts - tough nuts. We have become a nation of whiners and the whiners in Washington listen to the whiners in the nation ie, code pink and every other liberal, commie, environmentalist group known to man. As a daughter of parents of the greatest generation, I'm sick of the whining. So you go Phil!!!! Say what most of the nation is thinking!

[Sgt_Schultze]

Not news. The NYT is trying to put McCain on a weekend defensive and define the agenda for the Sunday talkers. The Washington Times had this story on Wednesday - HERE is a link to the original story the NYT simply re-wrote.

[tobyhill]

Some people have CWS, Chronic Whining Syndrome.
These people were whining about never being able to get in a house. The banks then made special loans to them to appease them. They then whined about not being able to afford the home the banks made special financing for.
These same whiners complained about the “environmental impact” of expanded drilling but now whine about gas prices.
They whined about using MTBE in our gas and demanded Ethanol as a replacement but when they get the replacement they whine about food prices.
These WHINERS are found at every job. They don’t like their jobs, unless it’s payday, and even then they find something to whine about.
The MSM created this society of whiners by always claiming everything is worse than it may really be.
There are problems but no more and no less than previous generations but we hear about them on a 24/7 cycle.

[norwaypinesavage]

Here's the quote from the Washington Times:
"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," he said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet." "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. "We've never been more dominant; we've never had more natural advantages than we have today," he said. "We have benefited greatly" from the globalization of the economy in the last 30 years. "Misery sells newspapers," Mr. Gramm said. "Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day."

I think few could find anything wrong with this.

[squarebarb]

Commentators in the MSM, including Fox, always summarize a Republican comment in the announcer’s snarky voice, and then play back the actual recording of the Democrat rebuttal.

Nice little technique.

Makes me furious.

I had to listen to Shep Smith encapsulate the quote and then listen to Obama’s voice refuting it.

Typical of Fox radio and all the rest.

[jtal]

I love Phil Gramm. When he was senator from my state he was never shy about proclaiming politically incorrect truths.

I remember once when he was running against uber-liberal Llyod Dogget for the Senate back in ‘84 he commented on some law to “help” the disabled with horrific unintended consequences thusly: “Look at that. Look at that! They’re ENCOURAGING people to be handicapped!”

There was another line about the elderly and social security that I wish I could remember but I can’t.

Dogget used this quote prodigiously in his ads but it didn’t make a bit of difference as Gramm won handily. ‘Course this was back in the Reagan days - today who knows - maybe PC has infected even the Great State of Texas.

Sad to say - I think we have become a nation of whiners.

[NoLibZone]

add to the statement : research of ANY alternatives to fossil fuels and I agree.

[Reagan Man]

Some folks found Phil Gramm’s remarks to be insensitive.

I thought they were spot on.

What was real funny, was Obama’s response. He gave a bad imitation of Jay Leno -— silly and pandering.