My fellow whiners

I never liked Phil Gramm. In fact, I always thought he was arrogant, often deluded and just plain grumpy. All of that was shown in force last week when he said America was "a nation of whiners" and that the recession that America is entering is a "mental recession." Put another way, mega-rich Gramm thinks the common people are crazy.

The incident showed two things. First, Gramm is an absolute moron when it comes to politics. John McSame, who admits he knows nothing about economics, turned to Gramm, who supposedly does, as an economic adviser. Then Gramm grossly insults average Americans and, by extension, suggested that McSame is out of touch with what real people are experiencing.

The other thing this shows is how intellectually bankrupt the old neo-conservative ideology is. They keep going on about how “the fundamentals are sound”, and yet joblessness is starting to grow, mortgage foreclosures are increasing, and costs of food and petrol are soaring. Ordinary people are experiencing real pain caused by factors outside of their control. The economic models that dinosaurs like Gramm desperately cling to just don’t work anymore. Seems to me that clinging to a failed ideology makes Gramm the one with mental problems, not the American people.

And if John McSame—or John Key here in New Zealand—continue to embrace the failed neo-conservative ideology, ordinary voters ought to reject them. It would be crazy not to.