I — uh — I don’t understand when people are going worrying about “We need to have English only.” They want to pass a law — “we just — we want English only”.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/11/obama-i-embarrass-myself//

amen

too bad we have all these defeatists at Redstate

The truth always matters and if everyone, incl Ronald Reagan forward took your attitude, Alaska would be as bad off as the Lower 48.

People are suffering down here.

Gramm was referring to the lib elites that preach black clouds that produce black clouds.

Maybe your surrender position is because you have it so cushy up there, which you never fail to remind us.

Go out on your boat. maybe you will get lost but the MSM will declare you are fine and Mike DeVine will be your only hope!

GC, you have to make everyone understand the following:

• Gramm, true to his profession, will never use “recession” because of the 1% GDP growth rate, which he clearly stated in his argument. Recession refers to a receding economy. A positive growth rate is outrightly contrary to the same. Yes, slow growth but not recession.

• Some say we have recession because many of us are hurting economically. But recession is a “macroeconomic term” and cannot be applied to individuals: because if that is the case, then we can conclude that the World (not just America) has always been in recession since creation. The statement “we are in a recession today” will still remain false (for being half-truth) since we also should have had recession yesterday, last week, last month, and so on. (I hope no one here would contend that at least one of us were hurting in the past,i.e., recession by the few).

• As stated, Gramm coined “mental recession” because the positive growth rate can never support a “real” recession. I must say that he is still being very modest and gracious to the media. The MSM, the main trumpeteers of “recession”, are actually doing a great disservice to this country. Speculative statements by self-proclaimed economists are the subtle killers of the economy (e.g., financial stock markets).

• Nation of Whiners? This is Gramm’s bombshell and the MSM exploded against him. When almost everyone whined against Gramm’s bluntness, “he rest his case”.

• Is Gramm correct or wrong? He is an economist for Pete’s sake! He is entitled to his own opinion like everyone of us, including the MSM.

In short: I’m on your side, GC, in this issue.

But despite the above, Gramm’s statement still hurt McCain because McCain is one of the trumpeteers of recession, including his latest stunt at the Pittsburg T. There’s nothing McCain can do now but to reverse Gramm, if he truly believes in recession. (Aren’t they conducting focus group discussion? They’re supposed to be a team, right?)

My 2-cent suggestion is this:

Let McCain and Gramm shut their mouth up on the issue and let it die like a natural death. Next time, these two gentlemen should try to address the public with the same message. Dumping Gramm “out of the bus” would never bring back whatever has been lost and will only further hurt McCain. (He’s not dumping Gramm yet, right?)

There is no reason for McCain to contest BHO in that department. The “out of the bus” phrase will always be a trademark of BHO, which is a blessing in disguise for McCain.

You are dealing in philosophy when you wax ad nauseum re what Gramm should not have said.

Real World: He said things. Your “mature’ way to “deal” with it is to concede the false spin which portrays repubs as heartless. That is the meme they have used for 40 years. You want to do nothing.

I fight in the real world, and guess what bs

I have won battles like this.

Americans are not stupid. You and the lib dem msm’ers assume they are and act like they are.

You insult my intelligence and much of We the people.

coward

Of all the comments written so far I have yet to read any citation of proof that Gramm is wrong. There also is a reluctance by some to stop embracing the narrative as it was famed by the msm. That’s sad.

I can see if you have a modest income and a significant commute how gas prices would really be cramping you. I can see how if you were stupid enough to get an ARM or to get upside down in a house, things would be bad for you. None of that means the economy is bad, it just means you’re having a bad time, and in the case of housing, it’s your own damned fault.

The Democrats and the MSM have been trashing the economy since GWB’s hand came off the Bible. They’ve finally had their dream come true, the economy is faltering, but a lot of that faltering is from the black cloud they’ve hung over the Country for these eight years. I also believe that the D’s have been helped a lot in their mission to beat down the economy by currency manipulation both here and abroad, but you’d have to know more about World finances than I do to speak authoritatively on that, perhaps blackhedd can chime in.

In any event, the MSM said it, the People believe, and that settles it. It really doesn’t matter what Gramm meant or that he was right.

One mo piece of logic:

Gramm is an American. Gramm is not a whiner and has not been arguing that a recession has occurred. Gramm was obviously referring to CERTAIN Americans, and he never discussed people complaining of high oil and food prices.

Your attitude is why the GOP reclaimed the minority and why Bush’s popularity is so low.

agree?

The fact of the matter is that the MSM is in bed with the Leftists and with Obama. Anyone who is working in an official capacity for McCain MUST pay closer attention to what they say, or he is going to get his butt handed to him in November. As I stated in Erick’s thread on this – there’s no room for error. A little slip-up will be magnified by the MSM into a very big deal.

You don’t have to look very far to see the results of this. It is patently obvious that Gramm should have just kept his yap shut. Even if you’re 100% correct, you have to be cognizant of the potential response from your enemy. You can complain ’til the cows come home about how eeeeeevil the MSM is, but it won’t change things. McCain and his team must play the game by the rules that are in place, and that means not throwing softballs to the MSM that they can turn into a big anti-McCain controversy.

Sometimes those are different things.

I work in a small distribution environment where I’m known as a Republican.

It’s mostly blue collar.

I had 3 different people come up to me and jokingly ask me if I thought that rising gas prices or falling home prices where “just in my head”.

You are going to have to do more than call me stupid to convince me that those 3 people don’t represent a ton more.

The FACT is that Gramm never referred to gas/food price sufferers in “whiner/mental recession” interview

Phil Gramm never referred to either individual Americans or American small businessmen suffering from and/or complaining about high gas and food prices as whiners. Rather, he was referring to elitist opinion makers and “leaders” (see the liberal drive-by media, liberal democrats in congress and weak-kneed intimidated by the press and the greenie lobby Republicans as well). Conservatives that defended Gramm and called out the MSM’s mischaracterization of his words, other than Rush Limbaugh, Mark Steyn and yours truly, are hard to come by, even after his clarification (see update). McCain not only didn’t defend his close friend and advisor, that he obviously must have known wasn’t playing the callous towards the poor role the MSM lied him into and has lied Republicans into for 40 years; he threw Phil, the straight talker, off the Express, as El Rushbo chronicled. Those suffering from mental depression that have seen mental recessions are the press, Kerry ’04 and the Democrats, including number one liberal Obama, all of whom declared the American economy in 2004 and thru today, as the “worst since the Great Depression.”

and, btw,

Broadly and accurately speaking, modern day liberalism is morally and intellectually bankrupt; weak on defense; deters no foreign enemies; appeases evil; favors the deindustrialization of America; despises people of faith, especially Christians and Jews; appeasl to class envy; favors race-based (see racist) laws and policies; opposes enforcing the borders (and hence the sovereignty of the United States); favors Stalinist speech codes; and long ago ceded most of what was good about classic liberalism to what we call today, CONSERVATISM.

Americans are CUTTING back big-time this summer & curtailing fun/vacations etc.

They are pissed. And whiny.

“After Katrina hit, we had to realize that we were no longer the America we had hoped to be. All the hurricane did was lay bare the fact that we had not dealt with the problems of racism and poverty. … But here’s the good news: America was ashamed and shocked.”

• Ashamed – Democrats
• Shocked – True Republicans & Conservatives
• Ashamed and shocked – Our Old Pal Mac (just kidding!)