By GottaLaff
I'd like to thank Senator Gregg for his thorough explanation. He might want to explain something else now.... why he is arguing with himself these days:
2005:
Republican Judd Gregg explains Senate reconciliation rules - an up or down vote. March 15, 2005.
Gregg has officially gone into the Lieberman wing of people I detest. He's just straight up calling the president a liar.
The White House may renege on passing fixes to the Senate's healthcare bill once the House has passed it, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) claimed Thursday.Because they said they would you asswipe.
Gregg, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, suggested that President Barack Obama may back off making changes to the Senate bill through the reconciliation process, which the White House and the Senate have said they would use to make changes to the Senate bill in order to placate House members.
"They're using reconciliation to pass the great big bill," Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. "Once they pass the great big bill, I wouldn't be surprised if the White House didn't care if reconciliation passed. I mean, why would they?"
By GottaLaff
Oh, did you think that quote was recent? Silly you:
"The idea that it is outside the rules to proceed within the rules is a very unique view on the rules... The point is this: If you've got 51 votes for your position, you win."
-- Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), defending the use of the budget reconciliation process to pass legislation in 2005.
By GottaLaff
Not only is he a crankpot, he's an inaccurate one:
Judd, Judd. Specifics are a problem for you, are they?
On MSNBC this afternoon, deficit peacock Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) got into a heated exchange with anchors Contessa Brewer and Melissa Francis, challenging their “integrity” and calling them “irresponsible” and “duplicitous” after they tried to get him to offer specific ways he would cut spending to lower the deficit. [...]When in doubt, blame.
His outrage over the insinuation that he could cut education funding is peculiar, considering that he voted for an amendment in 1996 that “would balance the budget faster by killing the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Education, Commerce, and Energy.”
By GottaLaff
Mental image: Rushpublic TeaTantrumers writhing all over the floor screaming, "Nononono!" like toddlers. The difference is, toddlers aren't responsible for taking lives by withholding health care. And interestingly, they are usually taught to share.Sen. Judd Gregg has hundreds of procedural objections ready for a healthcare plan Democrats want to speed through the Senate.
Gregg (N.H.), the senior Republican on the Budget Committee, told The Hill in a recent interview that Republicans will wage a vicious fight if Democrats try to circumvent Senate rules and use a budget maneuver to pass a trillion-dollar healthcare plan with a simple majority.
The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) leaves Democrats with 59 Senate seats — one shy of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. That, combined with the pushback from Republican negotiators, has prompted Democratic leaders to look more closely at using budget reconciliation to push a healthcare overhaul through. [...]
Republicans, however, warn that if Democrats attempt the maneuver, their healthcare bill will end up looking like Swiss cheese.
Gregg said that Republicans could file “hundreds” of points-of-order objections to the bill, each one requiring 60 votes to waive.
Budget experts say it is too soon to tell whether Gregg will be able to carve up the Democrats’ healthcare plan. [...]Please go read the whole article.
But Hoagland said that “smart staff” may find ways to draft the public option or co-ops in a way that enables them to pass under reconciliation.
Bring it on. I'm thinking we need a couple rounds of "my cojones are bigger than yours", with Dems winning for a change of course. Via Taegan-
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) "has hundreds of procedural objections ready for a health care plan Democrats leaders want to speed through the Senate," The Hill reports.By the way, that Judd Gregg turned out to be quite the asset to the President, doncha think?
In a recent interview, Gregg said "that Republicans will wage a vicious fight if Democrats try to circumvent Senate rules and use a budget maneuver to pass a trillion dollar health care plan with a simple majority."
Got to give credit where it's due, Norah nailed Gregg on this one. Via Think Progress.
By GottaLaff
Now they tell us:
Perhaps Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) didn't back out of his nomination to be Commerce secretary due to Republican party pressure or his principled stands on the issues after all.
An Associated Press investigation finds President Obama's former nominee "steered taxpayer money to his home state's redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there."
Gregg personally invested in his brother's office projects and collected "at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investment" in the former Air Force base "while helping arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base."
By GottaLaff
"They have no idea who their Commerce secretary will be, for example."Yow! Then that whole stimulus package thing must have been a figment of our national imagination! 'Cause we all know that didn't take any coordination or real thought at all.
--Jessica Yellin
By GottaLaff
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich yesterday promised to avenge Gregg by holding up the Commerce Department completely:“The idea they would have U.S. Census [controlled by the White House] is such a terrible idea that Republican senators should announce that no member of the Commerce Department will be cleared and approved until they put the census back in the Commerce Department,” Gingrich said.
As Gregg himself has admitted, this issue didn’t play a big role in his decision and these claims are overhyped. “The way it was explained to me is that the Census would still report to the Commerce Secretary, but the White House wanted to have a major interest in the census process also,” he said on CNBC.
While taking a break trying to disprove evolution, Newtie McNoNo wants to avenge Gregg... via more obstructionist tactics. Good move.
I have a feeling it's the American people who are about to become the avengers, and it's not going to be Judd Gregg they're avenging. It will be their president.
By GottaLaff
vs. 
"The census wasn't a major issue, it was a slight issue."Yet, on Countdown, Howard Fineman claimed that the census was a major deal breaker. Which is it?
By GottaLaff
Here you go:
H/t: Hippie_Cyndi
By GottaLaff
It's short, but it's all I could dig up:
By GottaLaff
A few updates to add to what we already know:
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) withdrew from consideration as Secretary of Commerce citing "irresolvable conflicts" over President Obama's economic stimulus package and oversight of the Census Bureau.
In a statement, Gregg noted that "nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision."
Marc Ambinder: "Gregg's decision to withdraw caught the White House by surprise. The press office found out about it at about the same time as the world did. If senior administration officials had advance notice, they did not widely disseminate it." [...]
In a conference call, Gregg confirmed he will not run for re-election in 2010.
By GottaLaff
Now that Judd Gregg is out as Secretary of Commerce, will this remain a "Republican" position, or will President Obama go for a Democrat?Your turn.
By GottaLaff
Check out these headlines on the CNN website:
A Democratic source confirms to CNN that Harry Reid approached White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel about Gregg for Commerce Secretary.And White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday Gregg had initiated discussions over the position.
“Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda," said Gibbs in a statement.
"Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart”.
Sen Judd Gregg's decision to withdraw his name for Commerce Secretary is a sign of President Obama's inexperience, Republican Sen Bob Bennet of Utah said.
“I think it is a demonstration of inexperience. You don’t attract someone of Judd Gregg caliber into the cabinet and then take steps that would cause him to leave without at least talking to him and understanding that that might happen," he told reporters Thursday.
By GottaLaff
New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg has withdrawn his name from consideration as President Obama's commerce secretary, a major blow to an administration seeking to put a series of Cabinet problems behind it.This is about Republicans not playing well with others. As Judd Gregg said (see post below this one), Prez O "aggressively reached out". Apparently, the other side had the inability to reach back. "Unclench your fists," GOP. If this makes anyone look bad, it's you, not the president.
By GottaLaff
Talking to the press on TV now. Liveblogging.
He says it would be too difficult to serve in any cabinet and not be "110% of the team". "The president has been incredibly gracious... he has aggressively reached out across the aisle, and I immensely respect that and respect him. It's not about that... but it wasn't a good fit. I wasn't comfortable with that. With that in mind, I withdrew. It was unfair in many ways to do that, but if I couldn't do the job the way it should be done... [it would have been a mistake]. I believe I might be more effective [not as a part of his cabinet]."
I will "carry his water in the Senate" in other ways. ... "It was a bridge too far from me. He asked me to do it, I said yes, that was my mistake... maybe his... but it was my mistake. ... [I wouldn't be able to be a team player.]"
"The census wasn't a major issue, it was a slight issue. ...I probably won't run again."
"The president is doing an incredible job with the stimulus. I think the plan will work when it gets the detail behind it.... When the market takes a look at what's proposed, the market will react very positively..."
I made a mistake, I should have focused sooner and more effectively on being a member of the cabinet instead of doing my job. This came very quickly, over a period of a week and a half. My genuine belief that this will be a good presidency is what caused me to say yes...
[It took awhile for me to focus... I realized I had to join the team.]
By GottaLaff
Rahmbo:
A senior White House official told CQ Politics that the Obama administration intends to strip Commerce Secretary nominee Judd Gregg of census responsibilities "to assuage black and Hispanic leaders who had raised concerns about Gregg's commitment to core functions of the department."
One step involves having the Census Bureau director report directly to the White House and not the Commerce Secretary.
Republicans, however, see it as an effort by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel "to seize power over the politically delicate issue of counting Americans."
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