Phil Gramm and America's Mental Recession

Phil Gramm, an economic advisor to John McCain and himself a former Senator and Presidential candidate, made the sort of gaffe that involves telling an unpleasant truth. Gramm decried gloom and doom talk about a recession in the United States.

"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," Phil Gramm said, according to the Washington Times. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet." He went on to accuse America of being a "nation of whiners." Gramm noted that economic growth been at about 1 percent despite all the news about lost jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices.

Phil Gramm's words were, no doubt, a little inartful, to use a favorite word of Barack Obama, in an election campaign. And certainly the Democrats, for whom any economic slowdown during a Republican administration constitutes the worse economy in American history, including the Great Depression, have jumped all over Gramm's analysis.

The Obama campaign's response was typical. "The American people know that our economic problems aren't just in their heads. They don't need psychological relief - they need real relief - and that's what Barack Obama will provide as president." The Democratic National Committee called Phil Gramm "out of touch."

The criticism had the McCain Campaign distancing itself from their advisor, according to the Politico: "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. 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."