Phil Gramm: "Nation of Whiners"

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.