McCain's Psychology

There's an interesting piece today in the Politico, making several points, but mainly that McCain doesn't really stand for anything on economic issues. Ari Melber cites the repeated references by McCain that this is all just a psychological problem, and then makes the point that "when former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), McCain’s then-chief economic adviser, chastised Americans for whining about a “mental recession,” he was actually channeling McCain’s psychological view of our economic problems."

It's the central point that all of McCain's economic policies are derived from -- that we're really just in a "mental recession" and therefore don't need real solutions to our economic problems:

His tax cuts ignore middle-class workers — about 100 million households, including 37 million seniors, would get no relief. [...]

Then there’s that McCain penchant for scheduling economic help a few years down the road. (Although perhaps the psychological boost is instantaneous.) The only plank of McCain’s tax agenda that is not tailored for the superrich — boosting the exemption for dependents — would not even start until 2010. And it would not take full effect until 2016, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which recently issued a 39-page report on both candidates’ tax plans.
[...]
McCain’s plan is so narrowly focused on the demands of elite activists, even conservative stalwarts are blanching. In a recent editorial, National Review shared its “worries” that McCain’s plan ditched middle-class Americans: “It offers very little in the way of direct benefits to Americans in the middle of the income scale.” And that’s from a magazine enthralled with tax cuts for the rich.

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