Embattled senior McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm, he of the "mental recession" and "nation of whiners," seems to have bested Lazarus, rising yet again to advise McCain's campaign. At least, that's what McCain surrogate Steve Forbes had to say: (from CNBC's Larry Kudlow)
Kudlow:... A lot of conservatives are very dispirited that Phil Gramm has left the McCain campaign, Steve. Has he in fact left? I know he resigned. Will Senator McCain, who has yet to speak about this, do you think Senator McCain will ask him to come back?
Steve Forbes: Oh I think in terms of advice, Phil Gramm will be critical, which is good, because on things like trade he's absolutely right. I think John McCain has a long friendship with Phil Gramm. So this was something, Phil Gramm said something that you're not supposed to these days. And he paid a price for it. But in terms of the relationship, I think it's as strong as ever. And in a McCain administration, I think Phil Gramm's advice will be taken to heart.
Kudlow: Why won't Senator McCain say what you just said publicly? ...
Forbes: I think he will say good things about Phil Gramm. And Phil Gramm paid the price for it. Gramm's been in presidential politics, as I have, and when these things happen somebody walks the plank. But I think in terms of the relationship, and the philosophy, that's not going to change.
Keith Olbermann has the video and some commentary:
I am going to defer to my man, Bill Shatner, on this one.
Hmmm.....wonder if he's any worse for the wear after being both thrown under the bus and walking the plank (think water-logged road kill wearing tire tracks). Paging Dr. Phil....Gramm, that is. Will Forbes now be joining him or just get the perfunctory wink-and-a-nod over this?
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Peggy
11:10AM Jul 23rd 2008
I use dialup for my intenet connection so I can't really watch videos. Takes too long and they don't play well. But just reading the text on a lot of these articles has been interesting. Has anyone noticed that, as the election season progresses, the liberal media has leaned so far to the left they are in danger of falling into the Pacific Ocean. And the conservatives are equally in danger of landing in the Atlantic Ocean. I'm finding that the most balanced news I get is from my little local paper. It's owned by a locally well known conservative family and the editor is a flaming liberal. If you take the time to read through it, you might just get both sides of the issues.
I'm also becoming concerned about Tommy C. Over the last few days, he has used Keith Olbermann as the source for 2 or 3 of his articles and the HuffPost for at least one. I'm worried that going to these articles might send my computer into meltdown. I had to quit watching Hardball and Countdown last February. One day that month, Countdown came on and my television started saying "Obama alert, Obama alert". Then an alarm went off. Before I could get to the television, it imploded and started a small fire. Tommy, could you please start putting a small note in your headline that there is an Olbermann video involved or a quote from him in your article. That way, I won't put my computer at risk by reading it. After all, I am 65 years old, retired and can't afford to replace my computer. The loss of my television set was devastating enough. Thank you.
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It's all in your head folks
12:20PM Jul 23rd 2008
Phil Gramm is only repeating what John McCain has said publicly in the past. John McCain also says the economic downturn is psychological. Having on multiple occasions admitted his limited understanding of the economy, Senator McCain instead turned armchair psychologist to diagnose the U.S economic slowdown. In April, McCain told Fox News' Neil Cavuto that a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological. Apparently, seven months of job losses, oil at $135 a barrel, record gas prices at the pump, 47 million uninsured and a devastating home foreclosure crisis are merely figments of Americans' imaginations.
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CHUCK
12:21PM Jul 23rd 2008
THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO GET US OUT OF THE ECONOMIC MESS WE ARE IN?
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Kwaayesnama
12:27PM Jul 23rd 2008
John McCain says he leads the fight against wasteful government spending. He has a plan to stop it. And where was John McCain when the nation debt climbed to 9.2 Trillion and counting?
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Summer Gas Tax Holiday
12:28PM Jul 23rd 2008
McCain keeps talking about – keeps talking about – keeps talking about, a gas tax holiday. Well summer will be over soon, when is McCain going to introduce a bill proposing it? I guess it's easier to talk about it – talk about it – talk about it, instead of taking action. MY FRIENDS
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The friends you keep
12:32PM Jul 23rd 2008
Meg Whitman destroyed eBay by feeing the small sellers to death. What is she doing now? She is John McCains Co-Campain Manager. Tells you something??????
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Susan
12:33PM Jul 23rd 2008
The American people have been fooled twice. They will not be fooled again.
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Hamish
12:33PM Jul 23rd 2008
Vote for john McCain the great American hero & Bobby Jindal the future of America.
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David S.
3:01PM Jul 23rd 2008
This just makes me think McCain is much like Bush - sticks by his cronies no matter how clueless they are. It cost Bush dearly with Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, etc. Has McCain learned nothing from 8 years of Bush? After all, it is he who claims to be so different from Bush.
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Wish Belkin
4:08PM Jul 23rd 2008
So Gramm survived the "fallout". Does he also scurry in the daylight?
Ron Paul for President !! (write it in)
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iynaroc02
4:33PM Jul 23rd 2008
Hamish12:33PMJul 23rd 2008
Vote for john McCain the great American hero & Bobby Jindal the future of America. ------------------------ Are you really serious about Bobby Jindal. I hope you're joking because Jindal is a muslim originally from India. Besides, I don't see him as a presidential material, should Mccain not be able to serve out his term, if elected. You want somebody who can step in right away and a not school boy. Also, it's the same Jindal who supported a hefty pay raise for Louisiana House 2 months ago, only to withdraw the support after widespread outcry from the citizens of Louisiana and pressure from RNC that this is not the right year for that.
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iynaroc02
4:40PM Jul 23rd 2008
Don't be fooled. If McCain is elected, Gramm will be the one running our economy. And, he will only do for us what he did for UBS, billions of dollars in losses. All these lobbyists that left McCain's campaign after they were outed are all going to be part of the administration. If McCain is a good leader as he claims, he would have known better than letting lobbyists run his campaign,and introducing Gramm to the country as the best economic mind he knew. . . apparently he needs to get out more and take less naps.
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Mr_Soapbox
4:19AM Jul 24th 2008
...and furthermore, don't be fooled: I agree--If McCain is elected, Gramm will likely be in the Cabinet, which is one helluva scary thought considering how effective he was at CO-WRITING the bill in Congress that gave ENRON a green light to pillage the electrical market in California! (Gramm also pocketed a tidy $100,000 'bonus' from Enron for all his wonderful help).
Yep, not to mention, the SAME tactic is NOW underway in the speculation of oil futures that is contributing to the skyrocketing cost of gasoline...
BTW, guess who was on the Board of Directors at Enron? Phil Gramm's WIFE, Wendy! And at the time of the ironically named, "Commodities Futures Modernization Act" that Gramm wrote, and which sprang Enron upon us? Guess where Wendy Gramm worked then? Yep, you guessed it... She worked for the Commodities Futures Trading Commission!
With advisors like this, who needs enemies?...
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DAILY QUOTE
"What I did to you was wrong. I was completely self-centered and only thinking of myself."