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New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, who must now be referred to by Village media elites in every instance as "Barack Obama’s first choice for Commerce Secretary," took time on the floor of the United States Senate in 2005 to school Democrats on how and why reconciliation was entirely appropriate.
So much for all that idiotic "nuclear option" chatter from the GOP. It sounds like they’ve known all along that reconciliation is regular order, just another Senate rule like any other.
Just imagine! There was nothing wrong with majority rule in 2005.
"If you’ve got 51 votes for your position, you win!"
Thank you, Senator Gregg, Barack Obama’s first choice for Commerce Secretary. This lecture will be very helpful in explaining to your GOP Senate colleagues exactly what the rules of the Senate are.
Not unethical, just the "rules of the Senate as they are set up to be used."
Thank you!
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It’s so helpful to have a senior Senator be so clear on the rules of the Senate for so long. I hope this clears up any confusion his current colleagues, as well as those in the media, have about reconciliation.
Judd Gregg, who was as you know Barack Obama’s first choice as Commerce Secretary, can do the country a great service by seeing that this view is well-understood everywhere.
Do you think he will?
Thanks for this reminder, Teddy!
Ah, Teddy, you show your naivete when you don’t acknowledge the First Law of the Republican Party: “When we do it, it’s good. When they do it, it’s bad.”
Why, don’t thank me — thank New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, who was (you might remember) President Barack Obama’s first choice to be Commerce Secretary.
All the more reason that Democratic presidents should staff their Cabinet with Democrats. As the scorpion said to the frog as he stung him midstream, “It’s my nature.”
Then isn’t the First Law of the Democrats: “When we oppose it it’s bad and when we want to use it, it’s good”. Hypocrisy by any other name is still hypocrisy.
I wish they would scrap the current bill and pass a good one through reconciliation. I’m all for passing legislation through reconciliation but you appear to be a partisan hack when you point out the opposition’s hypocrisy without acknowledging the same from your(our)side.
Teddy, I thought the same thing. Why is PRETENDING things are different now? The REPIGS lost yesterday and look even more like the Graham Cracker Obstructionists they really are and McLoser is so doddering, it is sickening to watch him anymore. Hayworth will end our time with McLoser, for that, we can thank TEABAGGERS.
I suppose the President could say you knew I was a centrist when you elected me, but, maybe not.
And,
I thought that the Dems did a better job yesterday too, but I keep hearing and seeing reports that it was a draw or that the other side won.
Do I believe the reports or my own lying ears? Help.
Thanks Teddy! Made me smile. First time in days.
Obama tried to tell us, and we did not listen, he was basically shouting I am going to sell out progressives.
What real Progressive would nominate Judd Greg for anything.
Solitary confinement for life??
Despite his focus on 2008′s talking points, I thought GlueHorse was in pretty good shape at yesterday’s Summit: The Summitting. Probably made a visit to Dr Feelgood on his way to Blair House, he certainly seemed peppy.
My reaction to him is the same for all Republicans. Is he still alive? Too bad!
You are welcome, me too!
Try the ice skaters, oldnslow. They make me smile too.
I think the Villagers refer to Judd Gregg this way thinking that it enhances his credibility. For me, it serves as a warning about who Obama is.
Judd “The lying, hypocritical SOB” Gregg is one of my Senators. A truly revolting person, the man they named dog shit after.
He and his brother are building, building and building useless excessive properties on the old Pease Air Force Base the consequence of is that commercial property values downtown are being hit and local property owners are hurting. The funds that Gregg is using are in part, of course, Federal Funds. He is lower than dirt, that man.
Quit pussyfootin around, how do you REALLY feel about him?
In kindness to the mods I was restrained.
Believe your ears demi. No matter what happened the right-wing hate-o-sphere will call it a Republican victory and the MSM will make it a story with two sides, every story has two sides these days in the MSM. “The score was 38 to 3 so, who won? We’ll have someone from each side to debate the issue after these messages.” Of course even when the Democrats win, they are never sure they did. They seek bipartisan support to back-up the fact that they won and then are shocked, I say shocked when they don’t get it. “Oh, so you don’t think we won? Well, I could have sworn we did, but if you say we didn’t we’ll have to take that into account.” Jeez Louise!
After a decent review of MSM sourcings yesterday and this morning I’ve determined they are all nucking futz and were NOT watching the 7 hours of the Summit I was watching.
Course, on the nucking futz part it’s business as usual and I’m once again choir preachin.
Simply incredible what the TV nets, cable shows, online sources and radio that are what one might label MSM are trying to ram down the throats of the sheeple. Sad.
On the other hand, your USUAL DFH sourcings got it tallied correctly in all ways, with clips, quotes, sourced analyses and more.
Ah well, despite Pelosi’s and Obama’s distinct closes it was a draw and the Dem’s are stymied and too liberal and are obstructing real bipartisanship.
Oops. I said the B word. Everyone drink.
Myself, I thought it was a grand spectacle and worthy kabuki to be snide, jeer and yell at the R’s on my CSPAN 3 stream.
Pressure mounts, now, with every passing day and week. It mounts on the Dem’s, to move it left on HCR. The election pressure is there, it’s visible and can no longer be concealed, and the progs are gaining traction.
PRESSURE!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and thanks TP for the snark.
FUCK Judd Gregg and the elephant he humped (too early for the F word? My bad)
Oh goody, Kooky and Maura.
Screw the republicans pass the public option any way we can
hippocrites the whole lot of them
In his two-hour special HardBall last night after curling, Tweety spent the entire time with Savannah Guthrie and Chuck Todd talking about the horse-race, competitive, smackdown aspects of the Summit: The Summitting. There was NO discussion of policy, and whenever either of the younger correspondents (?!) tried to bring it up, Tweety just yawned and talked about whether Obama was right to call participants by their first names.
It was a chattering-class performance by the best of the chattering-class. Simply execrable. Anyone who tuned in to learn anything about healthcare reform would have come away scratching their heads: it was contentless, all form.
I watched as long as I could before resorting to the ‘F’ word, bong and booze. If the Dems do not get the damn bill to the floor post haste and ram it down the gooper’s throats they may as well kiss their majority goodbye. The goopers gave as clear an indication as possible that they were not going to do a damn thing to forward any legislation until the black man gives the WH back. Pigs.
And then Willie Brown came on HardBall to answer Chuck Todd’s questions about ‘the politics of today.’ I kid you not.
NPR and PBS were equally as bad. On the News Hour they repeated that “polls” say the American people do not want HC reform. On the drive home NPR framed the coverage distinctly to the right with a majority of soundbites from Republicans and only Republican Dave DeCamp interviewed. NPR doing all in their power to preserve the status quo. It’s stunning that so many still think of NPR as the “gold standard” in reporting. 25 years ago yes. Today, not in the least.
Tweety is so hopeless. Wouldn’t recognize a good solid discussion if it bit him. And Willie Brown is a has-been.
Newly Partisan Radio
Tweety is determine to preserve his friendship with David Axelrod.
Tweety and most of the MSM ignore the problems the left with the HCR scam Bill.
Howard Dean was one of the few people to suggest that the House and Senate would be better serve to drop the individual mandate and put in a public option.
Howard Dean also reinforce what Rachel sorta said, Dems who vote for the Senate Health Care bill will probably be un-employed come Novemeber.
Somewhat OT but it does get to Obama’s original selection of Gregg to his cabinet and his awesome wisdom. Obama now makes me realize what a failed President FDR was. FDR lacked the vision and foresight to convene a bipartisan summit with the loyal opposition to address the Great Depression. Surely a failure of leadership on a colossal scale. Fortunately our current leader has the prescience to realize that bipartisanship is the true and correct course for the current age. Taking “single payer” off the table before negotiations even began was a stroke of genius. Promoting the public option before he abandoned the public option was more than clever. One always know what to expect from a Republican. With Obama, one can’t help but be exhilarated by his ever changing political calculus.
Exhilarated or exhausted?
I don’t think a real progressive would unless this senator just happens to be part of the Illinois combine?? We really need to examine just who Obama supports because he has not shown any progressive he would do anything for them. I think he is a closet republican.
I have no idea what the Hamsher Tally is at the moment for support of PO but after yesterday’s display of unity and bipartisanship I would say that the Dems should put the PO back in and go for 50 + Biden right off the bat. It would be difficult for the Dems that wanted to remain in Washington to vote against it and the neanderthal vote was not and will never be with what is good for the people.
you be the judge.
So since Indiana is such a Republican state, can I just go ahead and say the Colts actually won the Superbowl? I mean it’s only the “liberal media” trying to tell you the Saints won…
/snark
Never too Early for the People’s language Larue… Just Ask Busted…
Yeah and Mitch Daniels will win the presidency in 2012/s
Jane has a fresh cross-post already in progress: Glenzilla, Weiner Talk Health Care on Morning Joe
How revealing. You must be in a better mood than I.
I know, jealousy is not my favorite emotion. :)
Can we email this vid to Harry gutless Reid?
I’ve not been here as much lately as I sometimes used to be. Haven’t seen The Knuckles in a while. Is he good? Or, at least okay?
Hi ya Nahant.
OK and you demi?? I haven’t seen Busted for a while…
COBRA = Consolidated OmniBus Reconciliation Act. Passed by a Republican Senate in 1986.
TIPRA = Tax Increase Prevention Reconciliation Act of 2005. (which, incidentally, raised taxes on overseas Americans). Passed by a Republican Senate in 2006.
The Republicans are no strangers to using Reconciliation in the Senate when need be. Nor should the Democrats be.
Of the 21 times reconciliation has been used since 1980, the GOP has used it 16 times. It’s regular order. It’s a Senate rule. Calling it the ‘nuclear option’ is a too-clever manipulation of the media. It will backfire, and showing this video everywhere will tank it.
After all, Judd Gregg is very bipartisan-ish. He was Barack Obama’s first choice for Commerce Secretary, did you know that?
Why did it take a reconcilation to approve COBRA??? Thats downright crumby. Anything for the common working man always takes a reconcillation bill. Hmmm, hmmmm,hmmmm. I just hate rethugs!
Judd is so full of shit his sweat is brown. The fact that Obama courted this guy to be part of his administration tells you all you need to know about Obama.
Well, COBRA’s whole name is Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. The part we call COBRA nowadays was a small part of the huge budget Congress passed that year. Via reconciliation, as budgets often are.
Reconciliation has been used in the Senate 21 times since 1980 (30 years). Which means that it’s been used more years than not. And of those 21 times the Senate has used reconciliation, GOPs have used it 16 times.
Like Judd Gregg (who was Barack Obama’s first choice as Commerce Secretary, did you know that?) says in the video about, it’s a RULE of the Senate. It is regular order, business as usual, just another day at the dog track.
Unless Democrats are in charge, then it’s the Nuclear Option, a “coup” or something else horrible-sounding.