It seems that Sen. John McCain has some real gems advising him on economics.

McCain admitted early in his campaign that he doesn't really understand the complexities of economics, so he enlisted the help of one of his best friends, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm as his campaign's economic advisor.

Gramm, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in economics and taught the subject for 12 years at Texas A&M, was supposed to lend some legitimacy to McCain's campaign and offset the Arizona senator's shortcomings in this crucial area.

And what conclusion has the good senator reached on the current state of our economy - there is no recession - its all in our heads.

That's right, we aren't in a recession.

Tell that to the 62,000 people who lost jobs in June 2008 or the 438,000 since December 2007.

Or the 252,363 families that had to file for foreclosure on their home last month.

Are we imagining that gas is selling for an average of more than $4.00 a gallon across the country?

Gramm apparently believes that all these indicators point to a healthy economy, and we should all just quit our whining and suck it up.

Frankly, this should not come as a shock to anyone. Gramm is a vice chair for UBS, a Swiss banking company that lost $37 billion as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. As a UBS employee, Gramm lobbied Congress for the banking giant to stop the re-regulation of the mortgage industry. Not exactly a man the average voter should feel comfortable having as an economic advisor for a presidential candidate.

Would you believe it gets worse?

We can also thank Gramm for the Enron debacle. Gramm pushed legislation through Congress authored by Enron lobbyists that created the infamous "Enron Loophole" that allowed for the exclusion of certain types of energy trade from government regulation.

Deregulating the energy markets allowed speculators to drive the price of oil futures to $145 a barrel, which is a big reason we're paying $4 a gallon for gas.

This is the guy that McCain chose to help author his economic policy? Between Enron and UBS, Gramm is directly connected to two of the nation's worst economic crises in recent history.

McCain quickly came out and distanced himself from his economic advisor, throwing him under the proverbial bus by stating that Gramm does not speak for him.

Really? In that case we should just use McCain's own words, words that reflect the same sentiment Gramm expressed about the state of our economy:

"I think psychologically - and a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological - the confidence, trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, ability to keep our own home." - April 19, 2008, Sen. McCain on Neil Cavuto, Fox News

The fact is that we are in a recession. McCain and Gramm might think that its all in our heads - in their defense, millionaires tend to have a skewed perception of reality - but millions of Americans know the truth.

In November they will let McCain and all his condescending cronies know its time to turn this country around.