Former senator Phil Gramm, a top policy adviser of Sen. John McCain's, said the nation is in a "mental recession," not an actual one, and suggested the United States has "become a nation of whiners."
The interview, published in in the Washington Times, could compound the problems of the presumptive Republican nominee as he tries to show his concern for Americans struggling with six months of job losses, near-stagnant economic growth, and soaring energy and food costs. It comes after McCain appeared to call the system that has financed Social Security since its inception "a disgrace."
"You've heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession," Gramm said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. "We may have a recession; we haven't had one yet."
"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," Gramm said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy.
Since McCain admitted last winter that the economy was not his strong suit, he has made a concerted effort to look smarter on the issue, stressing his sympathies and saying whenever he can that he understands Americans are hurting. But Gramm is a close friend and adviser, and his words could haunt the senator from Arizona.
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