good to know what the McCain camp thinks about when they consider the plight of millions of Americans trapped under the weight of the current economic nightmares.

stop whining its in your head.

I think Gramm is 100% correct. Americans have become a bunch of timid whiners about this non-existent recession. Show me the gas station that won't accept optimism as payment for a fill-up. Show me the bank that wouldn't be glad to have your mortgage paid in can-do attitude. Show me the employer who isn't supplementing stagnant wages with a heaping helping of hopefulness and confidence.

Preach on, brother Gramm!!

"John McCain's campaign is calling people who have lost their jobs 'whiners.'  He's just another out-of-touch superwealthy, country club Republican who doesn't care about ordinary people trying to make ends meet."

Considering that Gramm has been on the "evil" side of just about every financial scandal so far this century, he's really not in a position to blame American psychology for anything.

I expect the AP to claim that Gramm meant to say we're a "nation of winners." It was all just a big misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Obama wants to force your kid to speak Mexican.

Why Yes, Harumpf!

Phil (I call all my buds by their first name, no disrespect) has it right as usual!

Those LITTLE people are ALWAYS complaining about something, instead of excepting their corporate masters, OH, I meant "The free market."

Now, excuse me, I have to go pick up the Ferrari, the Lamborgini is in the shop, and my daughter Muffy and her boyfriend Todd borrowed the Mercedes to head to our beach place for the weekend.

Makes "malaise" seem pretty tame. Hopefully the Obama campaign will push it with the press.

This comment has to be spread far and wide. The McCain SS comments, also. These guys are making it almost too easy.

It will be important to point out Graham's connection to the Enron loophole when talking about this latest comment. Nation of whiners, indeed. That will play well in middle-america.

This is great.  There needs to be at least one diary highlighting McCain's stances/gaffes on the Rec List at all times.  It's sort of sad that the bar has to be set that low.

What is unbelievable to me is that McCain makes outrageous statements after another, and the press continues to give him a free pass, acting as if it is "McCain being McCain."  

But, when Obama uses the word "refine" to talk about his stance on Iraq, the media goes ballistic and charges of flip-flopping dominate the airwaves as both conservative and liberal pundits excoriate Obama.  

If Obama had said the US was a bunch of whiners, or if he joked cigarettes are a way of killing Iranians, or if he got into a dust-up with a veteran questioner at a townhall meeting, the pundits would be calling for his head.  

We are a nation of whiners:  Multi-millionaires like McCain and Phil Gramm refuse to pay even a few more dollars in taxes to support the things that have made this country great:  infrastructure, a middle class, education, research and technology.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,"

Gramm. Dude. Folks in my family have chronic depression. Kindly don't make light of a serious disorder with a 15% mortality rate that causes an incredible amount of misery and is not taken seriously by far too many people.

"Mental recession"...God!  The only mental recession around here is the one where Gramm's brains have receded right out of his head.

Yeah, I'm jumping on this particular sentence instead of the "whiners" one because I wanted to point out that this statement is deeply offensive on many levels.

(Oh, does anyone know why I keep getting a "subject too long error" when I count the characters and they are well short of the allowed 50?)

Is McCain running for Jimmy Carter's second term?

It appears as if we have an attempt to start a new meme. If the Obama camp doesn't respond in 30 seconds to some gaffe by the McCain camp, we get these diaries whining about the lack of response. When someone points out that the Obama camp did indeed respond the complainers come back with, "Well, it wasn't a strong enough response." Or, "I haven't seen anything." As if that means something.

seriously what an asshole thing to say, Phil.

Barack's response

"We don't need another Dr. Phil! We need solutions! It's not just a figment of your imagination. It's not all in your head. When people are struggling to buy gas and groceries....When people are losing their homes...It's not a figment of your imagination. And it's not too much to ask for the government to step in and give you some relief. It's time to have a president who doesn't deny our problems or pretend they don't exist. It's time we had a president who takes responsibility."

Oof. That's gonna leave some marks

McCain and his ilk are just the gift that keeps on giving. Is it on tape? (please, please, please)

Not saying that this is not the way that McCain thinks, but you know, every campaign has a bunch of loose cannons, and Phil was born whining, himself.  I used to think that about him with his sniveling whiney voice.  He is an asshole unlike no other, and he does not necessarily represent anyone but himself.  Somehow, I don't see McCain having that view of Americans, but we will see how anxious he is to get rid on him now that the word is out.

This is a guy who is dep chairman of a swiss bank UBS that has lost about 19 billion in the housing bust and is under investigation by the IRS for hiding billions of dollars of income by tax evadibng US wealthy taxpayers.

You know, between McCain saying we're whiners and Michelle Obama saying we're just downright mean, I don't know where to look for an encouraging word.

Shouldn't McCain at least try and make us work for this?  He's just handing states to Obama right now.  

McCain/Gramm 08!!!

Guys, it's WINNERS.

We are a nation of "winners".  Somebody obviously doctored the Phil Gramm tape because god knows Republicans would never look down on people.  They're the salt of the earth.