Gramm: We need more leadership, less whining

Written on 8:17 PM by yahoo

delivers the latest breaking news and info

(CNN) -- Phil Gramm, a top adviser to Sen. John McCain, on Thursday stood by his comment that the country is in a "mental recession," and said he was trying to say the nation's leaders, not its people, were "whiners."

Democrats blasted Gramm, who advises presumed Republican nominee McCain on economic matters, for saying Americans who have named the economy as a top concern this campaign cycle were "a nation of whiners."

McCain forcefully repudiated the remarks while campaigning in Michigan, which has the highest unemployment rate in the nation.

The comments came in a Washington Times interview published Thursday.

"We have sort of become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline," said the former Texas senator. "You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession."

Gramm also said the media was responsible for fostering unnecessary anxiety over the state of the economy. "Misery sells newspapers," he said. "Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day."

A McCain campaign source said that not only did Gramm not speak to the Washington Times on McCain's behalf, but the campaign also did not know he was doing it -- unlike Gramm's meeting Thursday with the Wall Street Journal, in which McCain staff were present.

Gramm called CNN to clarify his remarks before boarding a flight Thursday.

He said was not speaking for the campaign when he made the remarks.

"I didn't claim to be representing anyone except myself," he said.

Gramm said he was not trying to insult the country's people.

"The whiners are the leaders. Hell, the American people are victims, but it didn't quite come out that way in the story," Gramm said.

These national and congressional leaders "blame speculators and oil companies for our problems, instead of presenting concrete programs for using energy more efficiently, or leaders who don't think we can compete with Mexico."

"What we need is more leadership and less whining," he added.

But he stood by his assessment that the country was in a "mental recession."

"I said we are in a mental recession. We keep getting the steady drumbeat of bad news ... it's become a mental recession," said Gramm. "We don't have measured negative growth. That's a fact, that's not a commentary."

Asked whether he understood beforehand the kind of political impact his statements might have, he said the outraged reactions his remarks had drawn were just part of the "game." Anytime anyone says something, said Gramm, it can be "taken out of context."

"I don't agree with Sen. Gramm," McCain said. "I believe that the person here in Michigan that just lost his job isn't suffering a mental recession. I believe the mother here in Michigan and around America who is trying to get enough money to educate their children isn't whining."

"Phil Gramm does not speak for me," he said. "I speak for me."

Asked if there was any chance Gramm would be treasury secretary or handle economic policy under a McCain administration, McCain quickly turned to humor.

"I think Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus, although I'm not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that," he said.

Gramm's comments were seized upon by Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, who criticized McCain and Gramm earlier in the day in Virginia, saying: "America already has one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one when it comes to the economy."

Obama said his administration would deliver more than "psychological" relief.

The Democratic National Committee accused McCain of not understanding voters' economic struggles.

"Sen. McCain said the economic problems facing Americans are psychological -- now his top economic adviser and BFF, Phil Gramm said Americans facing tough economic are 'whiners,' " said Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse in a statement sent to reporters.

Democrats have been looking to portray McCain as out of touch on the economy, as he and Obama battle over working-class voters, who have named the economy as their biggest worry this year.

McCain's campaign earlier moved to distance itself from Gramm's comments.

"Phil Gramm's comments are not representative of John McCain's views. John McCain travels the country every day talking to Americans who are hurting, feeling pain at the pump and worrying about how they'll pay their mortgage," a McCain official said.

"That's why he has a realistic plan to deliver immediate relief at the gas pump, grow our economy and put Americans back to work."


from cnn

Posted in John McCain, latest news, news | Comment Now!

McCain, Obama trade jabs over Iran policy

Written on 1:07 PM by yahoo

delivers the latest breaking news and info

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain Monday faulted Sen. Barack Obama for downplaying the threat from Iran and again called the Democratic front-runner's judgment "reckless," the latest jabs in a foreign policy fight that could continue to the general election.

Obama's willingness to sit down with the Iranian president demonstrates Obama's lack of understanding of international relations, McCain said during a speech in Chicago, Illinois.

"Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment," McCain said. "Those are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess."

Obama quickly responded during a speech in Billings, Montana, asking why the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was afraid to talk to Iran and that it was the "Bush-McCain" war policy in Iraq, not diplomacy, that would make Iran stronger.

"Make no mistake, Iran is the single biggest beneficiary of a war in Iraq that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged," the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination said.

"Thanks to George Bush's policy, Iran is the greatest threat to the United States and Israel and the Middle East for a generation. John McCain wants to double down on that failed policy."

McCain said Obama did not have an appropriate grasp of the danger Iran poses to the U.S.

"Senator Obama claimed that the threat Iran poses to our security is 'tiny' compared to the threat once posed by the former Soviet Union," McCain said during a speech in Chicago.

"Obviously, Iran isn't a superpower and doesn't possess the military power the Soviet Union had, but that does not mean that the threat posed by Iran is insignificant.

"Should Iran acquire nuclear weapons, that danger would become very dire, indeed," McCain said.

McCain was reacting to a statement Obama made in Pendleton, Oregon, Sunday night while he was defending his view that he would step up diplomatic engagements with Iran -- potentially up to the presidential level -- if he became president.

"Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union," Obama said. "They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us, and yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we're going to wipe you off the planet.

"We should use that position of strength that we have to be bold enough to go ahead and listen. We might not compromise on any issue, but at least we should find out are there areas of potential common interest, and we can reduce some of the tensions that have caused us so many problems around the world," Obama said.

Obama said he was aware of the "grave" threat Iran poses to the United States, but that it was "common sense" that Iran is less of a threat today to the U.S. than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War.

Obama said just as Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan did during the Cold War, the U.S. should engage diplomatically with its enemies.

"Why shouldn't we have the same courage and confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do. That's what strong presidents do," the senator from Illinois said.

"One of the things you have to ask yourself: What are George Bush and John McCain afraid of [in] demanding a country meets all of your conditions before you meet with them?" Obama said.

McCain's attacks on Obama are a continuation of a bitter fight over foreign policy that erupted between the two candidates last week.

In a previous exchange, McCain blasted Obama for what he described as the Democrat's willingness to engage in unconditional talks with Hamas, an Islamic fundamentalist group the U.S. has labeled as a terrorist organization.

Obama denied McCain's claim, saying he would only talk to Hamas if the group renounced its call for Israel's destruction.

cnn

Posted in Barack Obama, George Bush, John McCain | Comment Now!