Sen. Gregg stated, I want to thank the President for nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as Secretary of Commerce. This was a great honor, and I had felt that I could bring some views and ideas that would assist him in governing during this difficult time. I especially admire his willingness to reach across the aisle.
However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.
Obviously the President requires a team that is fully supportive of all his initiatives.
I greatly admire President Obama and know our country will benefit from his leadership, but at this time I must withdraw my name from consideration for this position.
As we move forward, I expect there will be many issues and initiatives where I can and will work to assure the success of the Presidents proposals. This will certainly be a goal of mine.
Kathy and I also want to specifically thank Governor Lynch and Bonnie Newman for their friendship and assistance during this period. In addition we wish to thank all the people, especially in New Hampshire, who have been so kind and generous in their supportive comments.
As a further matter of clarification, nothing about the vetting process played any role in this decision. I will continue to represent the people of New Hampshire in the United States Senate.
#4
didn't like getting played over the census is the real reason. Judd grew a pair
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2009 17:38 Comments ||
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#5
I'm guessing the Census issue never came up when he talked with Bambi. It was only after he was nominated that the progressive groups started complaining about a Repub being in charge of the census, and Bambi -- I think -- seriously miscalculated.
He could have told the progressives "don't worry, we'll take care of this quietly", but that wouldn't have satisfied them. So he did it publicly and made Gregg look like a fool. To Gregg's credit, he called Bambi on it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2009 18:06 Comments ||
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#6
This is a Constitutional issue with the census. The Constitution the power to clooect a census to the Commerce Department. Obama seems to have overstepped and Gregg doesn't want to be at the center of a Constitutional fight.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/12/2009 19:36 Comments ||
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#7
Didn't want to be the "cover" from Rahm's census grab ("look the Republican Commerce Secretary is OK with it"). Obama tried to play him for a sap.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/12/2009 19:47 Comments ||
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#9
Absolutely. The one spot he pics for a trunk is the one area he needs his ass covered for his extra-constitutional power grab.
Luckily for us, the MSM is all over this aspect of it.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/12/2009 19:50 Comments ||
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#10
From Ed Morrisey at Hot Air:
"Barack Obama will take another big hit to his transition, but the man who really deserves the obloquy this time is Rahm Emanuel. The census ploy was a transparent attempt to hijack the data for political purposes, and pulling that stunt after Greggs appointment made Gregg look like a political eunuch. It was classic overreach, and its classic Emanuel.
Now hes embarrassed himself, made his boss look impotent, and managed at the same time to damage Obamas most critical piece of domestic policy legislation. If Gregg hits the media circuit to criticize Porkulus, his credibility as an Obama appointee will create a lot of heat on other Republicans and even a few Democrats to stop the runaway train of this bill and force it back into debate."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/12/2009 20:07 Comments ||
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#11
Were Dem's looking ahead to 2010 to win over NH Senate seat by hoping he would accept this offer ??
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
02/12/2009 21:09 Comments ||
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#12
possibly, but they were also looking for "bipartisan" cover for Obama's porkulus package, economic policy, and more particularly, IMNSHO, the Census switch scam
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2009 21:16 Comments ||
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#13
Were Dem's looking ahead to 2010 to win over NH Senate seat by hoping he would accept this offer ??
What amazes me is that NH used to be a solid red state (Manch Vegas was my home town until 1987, when I became a Masshole). Now it's up for grabs on many levels. If I didn't hate that fucking rathole so much, it might be depressing...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid played a little high-stakes chicken with each other at the tail end of Wednesdays shotgun stimulus talks.
Its not clear who won or who blinked.
According to a half dozen Congressional aides and members, Reid went before the cameras Wednesday to announce a stimulus deal before Pelosi had agreed on all the details of school construction financing.
Its ruffled feathers, big time, said a House Democrat speaking on condition of anonymity. The speaker went through the roof.
Added one House Democratic aide: He tried to roll her and she knew it.
A few minutes after Reid announced the deal, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) convened a public meeting of the House-Senate conference committee.
It was supposed to be a glorified photo op. But there were no House Democrats in the room and Inouye hastily announced the meeting would be scrapped pending a Pelosi briefing of members on the details.
The problem, according to people familiar with the situation, was that Pelosi hadnt completely signed off on the Senates approach to restoring some of the $21 billion in school construction funding. House Democrats are pushing to have school-repair funding listed as a recurring expense; Senate Republicans want such an allocation to be a one-time-only deal.
The approach adopted by the Senate still infuriates many members of her caucus, and Pelosi had yet to fully make her case to dissenters, a source told Politico.
The result: Pelosi summoned Reid to her office her turf to hash out unspecified modifications to the package prior to a 5:15 re-convening of the conference committee.
People close to Pelosi painted a different picture one that portrays Reid as the one being rolled. Pelosi, they say, strategically permitted Reid to make his announcement and then held up her approval to extract a slightly better deal.
Contradicting other sources who said that Pelosi had been blindsided, a House Democratic aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that Reid had placed a heads up phone call to Pelosi before announcing the deal.
A Senate aide concurred, saying that Pelosi "wasn't blindsided" and "didn't say no" when Reid announced he was going public. The staffer added that Pelosi spent much of the day trying -- unsuccessfully -- to convince the three Senate Republicans to make changes.
Pelosi told reporters late Wednesday that she had some success selling the Senate on unspecified legislative language "that spoke to the purpose of school construction."
Whatever the real story, Pelosis members were more than a little bewildered and headed into Wednesdays nights negotiation singing their Kumbayas through gritted teeth.
[Senate Democrats] dont know everything thats in the bill, said a laughing Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Committee. So Im afraid to go to that damned conference.
Even Senate Democrats seemed a little flummoxed. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), briefing reporters after the Reid presser, stopped short of actually saying he was 100 percent sure a deal had been cut.
"There was general agreement," he said. "It doesn't mean everything is locked in yet. But if we didn't have an agreement, then there wouldn't have been a news conference."
#3
The Weehawken wooded clearing at dawn. Seconds, Wogdon & Bartons with #6 shot at four paces please. Bring plenty of extra shot and powder as neither have any decernable skill. No media or press allowed.
#5
[Senate Democrats] dont know everything thats in the bill, said a laughing Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Ways and Committee. So Im afraid to go to that damned conference.
Sorry, but I do not think thats f@k'n funny. @shole.
House Republicans are challenging Speaker Nancy Pelosi's claim that the massive stimulus spending bill contains no pet projects after uncovering in the bill more than $30 million for wetlands conservation in her San Francisco Bay area district, including work she previously championed to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse.
"This sounds like spending projects that have been supported by a certain powerful Democrat in the past," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. "It certainly doesn't sound like it will create or save American jobs," he said. "So can Speaker Pelosi explain exactly how we will improve the American economy by helping the adorable little critter?"
A spokesman for Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said the claim was "fabricated" by Republicans. "The speaker nor her staff have had any involvement in this initiative. This is yet another contrived partisan attack," Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said. "Restoration is key to economic activity including farming, fisheries, recreation, and clean water."
#10
She's not gonna be carried out in a straight jacket. Dingel's been there for 159 years now. They were just celebrating the fact day before yesterday.
Those bastards will be there until they die of old age because their constituents will keep sending them back every two years.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2009 16:00 Comments ||
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#11
Let em duke it out. Maybe they will both self-destruct and melt.
#12
what Fred said. I've been trying to vote out my two D-Sens from MI every time it comes up. Unfortunately the morons in the unions keep cancelling out my vote.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to send the nomination of Leon Panetta as CIA director to the full Senate for confirmation. If approved, Panetta, 70, would become the oldest person to head the spy agency.
Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-California, said Panetta would mark a "new beginning" for the CIA. "He has the integrity, the drive and the judgment to ensure that the CIA fulfills its mission of producing information critical to our national security, without sacrificing our national values," she said.
Sen. Kit Bond, the ranking Republican on the committee, said he supported Panetta after receiving assurances from him that he will "use all appropriate and lawful means" to keep the nation safe.
Whatever that means ...
During his confirmation hearing last week, Panetta was peppered with questions about the Bush administration's interrogation, detention and rendition program and President Obama's efforts to change the policy. He called waterboarding -- the interrogation technique that simulates drowning -- torture, but he said the intelligence officers who carried it out should not be prosecuted.
Obama has signed an executive order limiting interrogation techniques to the 19 outlined in the Army Field Manual, but Panetta conceded those might not be enough. He said he would not hesitate to go to the president and ask for additional authority if there was "a ticking bomb situation."
And Bambi will ponder it for a good long while ...
Panetta vowed not to send suspected terrorists to other countries where they could be tortured. But he insisted such renditions are an "appropriate tool" if the United States got assurances from the receiving country that the individuals would not be treated inhumanely.
Looks like we're hosting the Uighers ...
Regarding Obama's plan to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, he said the task is a very difficult one. Although some prisoners will be tried and others transferred to other countries, he acknowledged there may be a group of prisoners who will have to be detained without trial for a long time.
Panetta said he did not see the need for any wholesale changes at the agency. The CIA has the tools to deal with the threats, he said, but it needs to stress the training, language capabilities and diversity that will produce better intelligence.
How about keeping rogue agents under control and not have them interfering with domestic politics?
Panetta's nomination initially created a stir among both Democrats and Republicans who questioned the advisability of appointing someone with his lack of experience in the intelligence community at a time when the United States is fighting two wars and battling terrorists. But his lack of experience barely got mentioned at his confirmation hearing.
Since the power is in some unnamed office at the White House anyways ...
Senators seemed satisfied that he has the confidence of the president, would have a good working relationship with Congress and would retain the top leadership at the CIA.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If approved, Panetta, 70, would become the oldest and least qualified person to head the spy agency.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved William Lynn, a former Raytheon Co lobbyist, to be deputy secretary of defense after he received a special White House waiver from strict new rules meant to close a "revolving door" between government and big business. Lynn, the Pentagon's chief financial officer from November 1997 to January 2001 under former President Bill Clinton, was confirmed by a vote of 93 to 4 on Wednesday.
At Raytheon, the world's biggest missile-maker and the Pentagon's No. 6 supplier by sales, he was registered as the company's top lobbyist to the Defense Department from July 2002 until last year.
President Barack Obama's new ethics rules bar lobbyists for two years from working as appointees on matters they had lobbied about. The White House Office of Management and Budget gave Lynn a waiver to further "the public interest."
Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican noted for holding federal officials to account, deplored Lynn's nomination in a floor speech before the vote. "I think the Office of Government Ethics will have to set up a full-time department just to handle Mr. Lynn's conflicts-of-interest Raytheon waivers," said Grassley, who voted against confirmation.
Lynn has said he will steer clear for a year of decisions involving six big arms programs on which he lobbied on behalf of Raytheon. They are the DDG-1000 multi-mission combat ship, Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air missile, F-15 airborne radar, Patriot missile "Pure Fleet" modernization, the National Reconnaissance Office's Future Imagery Architecture, and the Missile Defense Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicle.
How much can he do then?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2009 00:00 ||
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Within the beltway, saying you are a "former lobbyist" is like saying you are former consumer of oxygen. Neeeeeext!
Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track."
The $500-per-worker credit for lower- and middle-income taxpayers that Obama outlined during his presidential campaign was scaled back to $400 during bargaining by the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. Couples would receive $800 instead of $1,000. Over two years, that move would pump about $25 billion less into the economy than had been previously planned.
Officials estimated it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year when withholding tables are adjusted in late spring. Next year, the measure could yield workers about $8 a week. Critics say that's unlikely to do much to boost consumption.
"The most highly touted tax cut in the original proposal now translates into $7.70 a week for middle-class workers," said Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
#3
What kind of latte and cookie? Because it better be my organic, fair-trade, half-caf soy latte along with my non-GMO, low sugar, gluten free cookie in the morning or else.
#1
will be rewarding their financial advisers with controversial retention payments
Keeping your job is the payoff. Did I miss something that showed with the collapse of so many banks and investment firms their former employees disappeared off the face of the earth? In a capitalistic model of supply and demand, there would seem to be a lot of people with these same skills available to be hired and fewer job openings at other similar businesses. The fact that their corporations had to borrow money to stay afloat certainly indicates these are not the 'best and brightest' [why would you want to stay with a firm on the edge anyway if you were that talented?].
These employees haven't claimed be the best or the brightest but they also aren't government workers, who do claim to be the best and the brightest. It seems reasonable to pay people for performance, which is what this is.
I also see no reason for the government to bail out companies and this is an example of why it should not. Let the fit survive and the weak fail. That's the way of capitalism.
Government should not be in the business fo guaranteeing outcomes, whether to Citibank or Henrietta Hughes. They're both welfare queens as far as I'm concerned. And the donk government likes it that way.
#3
These employees haven't claimed be the best or the brightest but they also aren't government workers,..
When you take money from the Mob government, you work for the Mob government. When other governmental entities have taken federal money for decades, they all knew no matter how small the overall amount was in their operations, they had to comply with the orders from Washington. When businesses take a government contract, they have to comply with all the federal regulations. This is not new. As the courts have pointed out in a number of challenges to this modus operandi, don't take the money if you don't want the consequences.
#4
And to add insult to injury, the banks have used HIB visas to import the "best and brightest" to replace American workers at lower wages, enabling bigger "cash rewards".
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid played a little high-stakes chicken with each other at the tail end of Wednesdays shotgun stimulus talks. 
Obama, who has campaigned energetically for the legislation, welcomed the agreement, saying it would "save or create more than 3.5 million jobs and get our economy back on track." 
