John McCain tosses his old friend and top economic advisor Phil Gramm under the bus.
** SITE SLOWDOWN. NWN slowed to a crawl and was for a time offline late Friday afternoon, preventing new items and posts in the Forum.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is committing an additional 2000 National Guard troops to fight the wild fires which have burgeoned around the state. At his event in LA this morning, he noted that the state has already experienced a record number of summer fires. … So far, no sign of a rush to embrace the $9.3 billion water bond proposal which he offered with US Senator Dianne Feinstein. Many on the left dislike it because it would build a few dams. Some on the far right dislike it because it would spend money. … No surprise amongst the Schwarzenegger crew that the Bush/Cheney White House intends to ride out its remaining months in office with yet another search for information on climate change. The analysis/paralysis is entirely intentional.
** OBAMA LEADS WISCONSIN. Wisconsin is one of the swing states in the Upper Midwest. In this new poll, Barack Obama has a 13-point lead over John McCain, 50% to 39%. Obama is doing better than Democrats normally do in states that border on Illinois — which he of course represents in the US Senate — such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.
THE MORNING COLUMN: QUOTABLE.
Crude oil has shot back up to a record $147 a barrel. The mortgage industry is in meltdown. The stock market is plummeting. Food prices are rising. Employment is flat. Geopolitics is in turmoil. And we’re still talking about quotes. This time, the quotes have a bit more to do with the rest of this paragraph.
After a primary season marked by infamous quotes that worked against Barack Obama — all the Wright Stuff (”God damn America!”) and the candidate’s own Bittergate remarks — it seems Obama is at last getting a break in the other direction.
First Jesse Jackson with his notorious remarks whispered around a microphone he seems not to have known was on. A big plus for Obama, being attacked by the Rev. Jetstream for not hewing to the old-time party line that the government is responsible for all problems suffered by black people. If we haven’t learned by now that government can’t solve a ton of problems — and is not responsible for a ton of problems — it’s because we’re impervious to fact. Mostly a gotcha, which works for Obama but not Jackson — I can only imagine the discussions at Fox News — and has a tangential relationship to central issues.
Then, of course, Phil Gramm’s now notorious remarks to the Washington Times editorial board, thoughtfully captured on video — as you see below — and thus fodder for future Democratic National Committee attack ads on John McCain.
McCain’s national co-chairman and senior economic advisor, Texas senator turned Swiss banker Phil Gramm, told the right-wing Washington Times editorial board that “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession.” Gramm, a major figure in the subprime mortgage crisis, pushing against regulation of the mortgage industry, also worked with wife Wendy Gramm, a former federal regulator, to allow more speculation in oil markets.
“We have sort of become a nation of whiners,” Gramm said. “We’ve never been more dominant; we’ve never had more natural advantages than we have today.”
America is still a great country. But that is an obviously preposterous assessment. Not to mention insulting to the voters of America.
Needless to say, McCain has had to repudiate Gramm for his comments, saying he would make him ambassador to Belarus. A nice quip, but it won’t help much, for Gramm’s self-unmasking comes at an especially bad time for McCain as he is touring the country attempting to speak to massive popular economic concern.
Gramm is an older friend of McCain’s than Wright is of Obama’s. Gramm is — or, more accurately now — was a national chairman of McCain’s campaign, viewed widely as his premier economic advisor, quite likely his secretary of the treasury should he win the presidency.
Indeed, Gramm was representing McCain yesterday in a discussion of economic policy with the Wall Street Journal editorial board when the firestorm of controversy erupted.
McCain actually backed Phil Gramm for president when he ran a heavily-funded but dismal race in 1996.
You should expect to hear a whole lot more about these things as the campaign goes on.
** MEET MAC’S NEW SUPREMO: STEVE SCHMIDT AND HIS TUMULTUOUS FIRST WEEK. It was a very interesting first meeting. In January 2006, I’d revealed that then embattled Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was getting a new campaign manager. A name Republican operative and veteran of the Bush/Cheney White House to balance the new, Democratic, chief of staff I’d written about a few weeks earlier. I described Schwarzenegger’s impending new campaign manager, a fellow named Steve Schmidt, as a right-wing hatchet man to balance Schwarzenegger’s new chief of staff Susan Kennedy, the longtime Democratic operative, a pro-choice leader and lesbian married on Maui whose appointment enraged California’s far right.
Schwarzenegger’s then new communications director, Adam Mendelsohn, called and told me I had it wrong, that Schmidt was a reasonable and moderate pragmatist, as well as one of his best friends.
Early in our first meeting, I wasn’t so sure about that.
After about 30 seconds, I realized that Schmidt was giving me no response to anything I said. The former high school tight end, dubbed by Karl Rove as the “Bullet” for his imposing shaven-headed mien, simply stared impassively at me as I spoke, offering only the briefest, monotonal responses. I decided to ignore the potentially intimidating modus operandi and act as though I were getting normal responses to what I was saying.
After 10 minutes of this, I was getting normal responses from Schmidt. Thoughtful, amusing even, in a dry sort of way. His earlier act had been an intimidation technique. Later, when Schwarzenegger was working on getting recalcitrant Republican legislators to vote for a massive infrastructure bond package, state Senate Democratic leader Don Perata described Schmidt’s role to me in the meetings as being “like Frank Nitti (Al Capone’s enforcer), just sitting there and staring at them.” … From my other blog.
Phil Gramm does his notorious “nation of whiners” interview with the Washington Times.
** WHERE THEY ARE TODAY.
Barack Obama is in Dayton, Ohio. Obama will talk about energy and the economy. Then he will do private fundraising in Chicago.
John McCain is in Hudson, Wisconsin. McCain will try to get off Phil Gramm’s notorious comments and focus on women and their economic concerns.
** SCHWARZENEGGER LIVE WEBCAST THIS MORNING. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds an event at Hollywood’s Kodak Theater this morning with the California Health and Human Services Agency and the Entertainment Industry Foundation to announce an agreement with movie studios on smoking. Future DVDs will include anti-smoking messages in order to blunt whatever smoking may or may not be done by thc characters. Maybe Schwarzenegger, a famed cigar man, should have held this one at his Smoking Tent …
The event will be webcast live at 11 AM on www.gov.ca.gov.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND U.S. ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing over $147 for yet another record, crude oil is trading in the $146 to $147 per barrel range. The $10 per barrel run-up in the last two days is mostly due to the saber rattling by and against Iran.
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60 Comments
Jonas Blane:Gramm is even worse when you watch and listen to him.
Jul 11, 2008 - 8:57 am Jonas Blane:I meant to say he’s an asshole. How did he ever get elected?
Jul 11, 2008 - 8:57 am Jonas Blane:McCain is funny but funny isn’t enough.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:06 am larry:In answer to Jonas, Gramm got elected because he ran in Texas. Look at the people Texas has given the nation this generation.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:13 am Capitol Boy:That Gramm is a piece of work. The video is great fodder for commercials.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:26 am Capitol Boy:How much higher is oil going to go?
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:27 am Bill Bradley:Well, there is a lot of stuff built into the price that has nothing to do with normal market economics.
So it’s hard to say.
But I think the producers will want to keep the price up, since they are making enormous profit. The key for them to keeping it up is making sure that they don’t bring the overall economy down.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:57 am Bill Bradley:It’s a seedbed, that’s for sure.
>Capitol Boy:
That Gramm is a piece of work. The video is great fodder for commercials.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:58 am Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 9:26 am
Didn’t you like Ann Richards?
>larry:
In answer to Jonas, Gramm got elected because he ran in Texas. Look at the people Texas has given the nation this generation.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:58 am Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 9:13 am
He won’t be able to quip his way through the coming attacks.
>Jonas Blane:
McCain is funny but funny isn’t enough.
Jul 11, 2008 - 9:59 am Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 9:06 am
Now, now …
>Jonas Blane:
I meant to say he’s an asshole. How did he ever get elected?
Jul 11, 2008 - 10:00 am Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 8:57 am
He doesn’t have a sympathetic manner …
>Jonas Blane:
Gramm is even worse when you watch and listen to him.
Jul 11, 2008 - 10:01 am Pat Skipper:Jul 11, 2008 - 8:57 am
Actually, I can’t disagree with much of what he says. The whiners stuff is shockingly impolitic for a man in his position. It almost feels like a story he’s giving on background. Unfortunately, much of what the Gramms have done since he left office (and, for her, while he was still in office) has been exposed as aiding the criminally wealthy class (the Enron-ers and the mortgage slimebags).
The Obama response (which you should post if you can find it, Bill) is among the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Thanks much for the Schmidt story. Great insider stuff.
Jul 11, 2008 - 10:36 am Jack Aubrey:Gramm has exposed the callous, greedy, fundamentally stupid thinking at the core of this generation of Republicans.
Thank you Senator Gramm for this public service.
Jul 11, 2008 - 10:39 am Hilltopper:Hard to see how McCain can legitimately separate himself from Gramm. Guess who the lobbyist is in the link below?
John McCain Housing Policy Shaped By Lobbyist
Jul 11, 2008 - 10:47 am Len:Gramm trumps Wright.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:07 am Len:Bush trumps Wright.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:08 am Len:Cheney trumps Wright.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:08 am carole w:Mental recession? SO, when I go buy gas, I am experiencing a mental image of almost $5 a gallon? What is that old fart smoking?
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:11 am Ann:Schwarzeneger’s on time! lol
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:17 am Hap Hazard:I think Gramm was referring to the politicians, pundits and the media, and whether he was right or wrong with reference to them, is probably worth at least debating. But it was felony stupid of him to make this argument in an election environment without making it “perfectly clear” that he was referring to folks other than ordinary Americans. Politically tone deaf, to be sure.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:25 am marcos leon:That is bullshit spin.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:30 am marcos leon:“A nation of whiners.”
Don’t try to spin it. McCain didn’t.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:31 am Hap Hazard:Frack you Marcos. I ain’t trying to SPIN anything, just observing what I believe to be the reality of the situation. But reality is something apparently foreign to you. Continue to spin away in this echo chamber. I think it is time for me to take an extended leave from this place. It is tiring, and is starting to become a waste of my time. Enjoy.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:38 am marcos leon:Frak me? You’ve been ragging on people for weeks.
McCain isn’t defending this jerk. Why are you?
That should be real enough for you.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:43 am Pat Skipper:Hey. HEY. Gentlemen, one of great things about this site: civility. It’s one place where it’s okay to disagree without wrestling in the mud. Please.
Jul 11, 2008 - 11:46 am Brasky:I leave for a week and Pat Skipper is forced to be the voice of reason?
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:12 pm Ann:Can’t we all just get along?
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:13 pm carole w:are you high?
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:20 pm carole w:Sorry, I am in a mood since I read the WSJ article regarding where all this oil money is going! Everywhere but here was the answer. It is time for non-gas powered vehicles.
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:25 pm Pat Skipper:Brasky, I’m ruining my reputation as the bad influence. I know. Was wondering where you went. Especially since the Webb comments elicited no response from you.
Never high before 5, ps
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:39 pm Prospero:I think it’s fascinating that two key stories that benefit Obama at McCain’s expense come from Fox News and the Washington Times. Both institutions are shoddy, but neither one needed to focus on their story. The fact that they did is close to honorable, I think. It’s almost journalism.
Jul 11, 2008 - 12:42 pm Brasky:Sorry to miss the Webb drama Pat. I have been “in the field” for several days, often away from email. Thankfully, conference calls have also been few and far between.
Jul 11, 2008 - 1:10 pm Brasky:“Never high before 5, ps”
I would only smoke it in the late evening. Oh, occasionally the early evening, but usually the late evening - or the mid-evening. Just the early evening, midevening and late evening. Occasionally, early afternoon, early mid-afternoon, or perhaps the late-midafternoon. Oh, sometimes the early-mid-late-early morning. . . But never at dusk. Never at dusk.
-Steve Martin
Jul 11, 2008 - 1:13 pm Brasky:Put down those…”cigarettes”…and get back to your keyboards. I’ve got 10 more minutes of electricity before I go native again…
Jul 11, 2008 - 2:22 pm carole w:Now, I am laughing instead of complaining.
:) 
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:16 pm Bill Bradley:That’s good …
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:21 pm Bill Bradley:You mean unplugged?
>Brasky:
Put down those…”cigarettes”…and get back to your keyboards. I’ve got 10 more minutes of electricity before I go native again…
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:22 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 2:22 pm
You know, I step away for several hours, there is angry profanity here, open discussion of drug use …
>Brasky:
“Never high before 5, ps”
I would only smoke it in the late evening. Oh, occasionally the early evening, but usually the late evening - or the mid-evening. Just the early evening, midevening and late evening. Occasionally, early afternoon, early mid-afternoon, or perhaps the late-midafternoon. Oh, sometimes the early-mid-late-early morning. . . But never at dusk. Never at dusk.
-Steve Martin
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:23 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 1:13 pm
I believe you are most prolific when you have a lot of conference calls …
>Brasky:
Sorry to miss the Webb drama Pat. I have been “in the field” for several days, often away from email. Thankfully, conference calls have also been few and far between.
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:24 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 1:10 pm
Well, at Fox I bet it was one of those “My daughter or my ducats”-type dialogues.
Rip Jesse Jackson.
But help Barack Obama …
>Prospero:
I think it’s fascinating that two key stories that benefit Obama at McCain’s expense come from Fox News and the Washington Times. Both institutions are shoddy, but neither one needed to focus on their story. The fact that they did is close to honorable, I think. It’s almost journalism.
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:25 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 12:42 pm
Yes, the Webb situation. Has Obama lost his two top military veteran options? Including Clark.)
>Pat Skipper:
Brasky, I’m ruining my reputation as the bad influence. I know. Was wondering where you went. Especially since the Webb comments elicited no response from you.
Never high before 5, ps
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:26 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 12:39 pm
America’s foreign oil addiction — and oil addiction in general — has only grown since the 1970s, which is how long it’s been an important issue.
>carole w:
Sorry, I am in a mood since I read the WSJ article regarding where all this oil money is going! Everywhere but here was the answer. It is time for non-gas powered vehicles.
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:34 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 12:25 pm
I suspect she’s ironic.
>carole w:
are you high?
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:34 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 12:20 pm
Perhaps not, Rodney King …
>Ann:
Can’t we all just get along?
Jul 11, 2008 - 3:35 pm Capitol Boy:Jul 11, 2008 - 12:13 pm
Whatever happened to Rodney King?
Jul 11, 2008 - 4:30 pm Capitol Boy:Obama is taking away states the Republicans need to win.
** OBAMA LEADS WISCONSIN. Wisconsin is one of the swing states in the Upper Midwest. In this new poll, Barack Obama has a 13-point lead over John McCain, 50% to 39%. Obama is doing better than Democrats normally do in states that border on Illinois — which he of course represents in the US Senate — such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.
Jul 11, 2008 - 4:31 pm Sacramento Solon:Mr. Hazard/Mr. Leon…
Gentlemen, far be it for me to step between you, but I must. I agree with Mr. Skipper, we be a civil group. You are both very cool people. Shake hands and come out blogging, but let’s do it as friends. If there is to be a butthead in this group, let it be me!
Jul 11, 2008 - 7:52 pm Pat Skipper:nice one, sac town.
Jul 11, 2008 - 8:22 pm Sacramento Solon:Thanks.
Jul 11, 2008 - 8:41 pm Jonas Blane:What new video today? Batman, I bet.
Jul 12, 2008 - 6:16 am Bill Bradley:Amazing.
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:13 pm Bill Bradley:Indeed.
>Pat Skipper:
nice one, sac town.
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:14 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 8:22 pm
That’s nicely put, Solon.
Especially the last line …
>Sacramento Solon:
Mr. Hazard/Mr. Leon…
Gentlemen, far be it for me to step between you, but I must. I agree with Mr. Skipper, we be a civil group. You are both very cool people. Shake hands and come out blogging, but let’s do it as friends. If there is to be a butthead in this group, let it be me!
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:16 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 7:52 pm
He may be in the process of doing that.
>Capitol Boy:
Obama is taking away states the Republicans need to win.
** OBAMA LEADS WISCONSIN. Wisconsin is one of the swing states in the Upper Midwest. In this new poll, Barack Obama has a 13-point lead over John McCain, 50% to 39%. Obama is doing better than Democrats normally do in states that border on Illinois — which he of course represents in the US Senate — such as Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, and North Dakota.
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:18 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 4:31 pm
The answer from Wikipedia …
After the riots
After the riots King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil case, and used some of the money to start a hip hop music label, Straight Alta-Pazz Recording Company.[7]
He was arrested again for spousal assault in 1999. In 2001, he was then ordered to undergo a year of drug treatment after pleading guilty to three counts of being under the influence of PCP and one of indecent exposure.[8]
On August 27, 2003, he was arrested again on similar charges as in 1991. It is alleged that King was speeding, ran a red light while under the influence of alcohol, failed to yield to police officers, and then slammed his SUV into a house, breaking his pelvis.[9]
While riding to his home in San Bernardino, California on November 29, 2007, he was shot in the face, arms, back and torso with birdshot by two thieves attempting to steal his bicycle,[10] but police characterized his injuries as “not life threatening.”[11]
In October 2008, King will appear on the second season of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.[12]
>Capitol Boy:
Whatever happened to Rodney King?
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:21 pm Bill Bradley:Jul 11, 2008 - 4:30 pm
Gramm’s talking from the standpoint of a transnational financial dealmaker. So for him, time’s are good. But he’s doing it in the guise of being the chief economic advisor for a potential president.
If you represent a Swiss bank, which Gramm does, what he’s saying makes sense.
If you represent America, which Gramm is supposed to be doing as national co-chairman of the McCain campaign, what he is saying is odious.
>Pat Skipper:
Actually, I can’t disagree with much of what he says. The whiners stuff is shockingly impolitic for a man in his position. It almost feels like a story he’s giving on background. Unfortunately, much of what the Gramms have done since he left office (and, for her, while he was still in office) has been exposed as aiding the criminally wealthy class (the Enron-ers and the mortgage slimebags).
The Obama response (which you should post if you can find it, Bill) is among the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Thanks much for the Schmidt story. Great insider stuff.
Jul 12, 2008 - 12:24 pm Sacramento Solon:Jul 11, 2008 - 10:36 am
Bill Bradley:
That’s nicely put, Solon.
Especially the last line
—-
Thanks. Thought you would especially like the last line!
Jul 12, 2008 - 1:19 pm Bill Bradley:Exactly.
Jul 13, 2008 - 2:23 pm Bill Bradley:You’ve seemed a bit perturbed for a while now, Hap, calling out such wildly disparate characters as Mike Murphy and Paul Burton.
A little perspective is always a good thing, my friend.
>Hap Hazard:
Frack you Marcos. I ain’t trying to SPIN anything, just observing what I believe to be the reality of the situation. But reality is something apparently foreign to you. Continue to spin away in this echo chamber. I think it is time for me to take an extended leave from this place. It is tiring, and is starting to become a waste of my time. Enjoy.
Jul 13, 2008 - 2:48 pmJul 11, 2008 - 11:38 am