Judd Gregg's Attempt to Grab Control Over Census Foiled... by HuffPo

Do not believe for a moment that Judd Gregg withdrew his nomination because of the stimulus bill, or the firestorm that arose because of his not voting on the stimulus bill.

Remember, Gregg approached the White House for the job, not conversely, when the substance of the stimulus package was well-known, especially to Gregg who is ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

Moreover, Gregg supported the basic concept of stimulus on CNBC, but said it was inappropriate for him to cast a vote while he was under consideration for the Commerce Secretary's post. He flummoxed Larry Kudlow by asserting that the federal government was the consumer-of-last-resort in a contracting economy, and Kudlow came back later pleading with Gregg to remain true to Kudlow's principles.

Gregg also told Kudlow that deficits (for which Gregg maintained his hawkishness) would actually be worse if the stimulus did not pass due to decreased tax revenues and increased unemployment and Medicaid payments than the money they were spending.

So, Gregg was fully on-board not just with joining the Administration, but with the stimulus policy. The President had expressed, and Gregg was there to provide in internal councils, a need to reform major entitlement programs.

Do not, therefore, believe the baloney that Gregg withdrew because of disagreements on the stimulus or profound differences on other economic matters.

He withdrew because control of the Census Bureau was withdrawn. His ploy, on behalf of the Republicans, was foiled. And, these pages began its unraveling.

Commerce had the Census Bureau. The Census will occur again in 2010. Republicans want control over the Census, and Gregg's becoming Commerce Secretary would have provided that control. Historically, Republicans have improved their own legislative percentages after redistricting based upon census information.

So, for Republicans, the Census is a very big deal. It is for Democrats, too, but they have not been as Census-savvy as the Republicans in past decades.

Upon the announcement of Gregg's nomination, while others were opining on Gregg's fiscal hawkishness, and his opposition to the Commerce Department's existence, these pages immediately pointed out the bigger political problem of Judd controlling the Census, and called upon President Obama to clarify whether all the work, all the nights on couches, all the trudging through snows, ought to provide control of the Census to a rightwing Republican. ("Judd Gregg to Control 2010 Census. And, Why Not Trade Lieberman for a New Hampshire Democrat?", February 3, 2009).

Several days later, the president announced that he was shifting the Bureau of Census from the Commerce Department to the White House.

Had Gregg immediately withdrawn his nomination, the ploy would have been too obvious. Now that enough time has passed, and the stimulus could be raised as an excuse, the cover-up of his ploy has been launched.

Judd Gregg avoided Vietnam because of acne (!) (aren't these rightwingers beautiful? no one, apparently, had told him about tetracycline). For someone who could concoct that ploy with a straight face when he was only 18, this grand idea -- that could have put himself in a position to gain kudos from Republicans around the country, and thus perhaps a run at president or vice president -- is not out of character.

Gregg saw in the president's honest desire for unity and diversity of opinion an opening to foster rightwing political interests.

He almost pulled it off.

Comments

[bayside]

Very good.. We are getting better at uncovering their real motives or they are slipping..­Keep it up..

[KofTX]

Wow, very enlightening. I knew something was fuzzy about all of this. Thanks for the article!

[dayala]

thanks for an enlightening article.

Obama seems to be beating the Repugs at their own game while keeping a nice bipartisan smile on his face....in due time I believe Obama will surpass Clinton for the top title of "Master Politician".

[BowlingForRevenge]

I believe Obama is using the internet to keep tabs on the Republicans!
I'm sure every Obama team member is net savvy and like this article says they READ...som­ething no one in the Bush administration did...EVER­YTHING they find.
It's called research and it will be the Republicans undoing!

[CessnaDriver]

Obama: Crazy like a fox. As a student of JFK-who's main mistake as president was trusting that repugs wouldn't destroy the country to get their way-BHO lets the bastards hang themselves. He can always say, "Hey, we tried and they just obstructed!".

[IslandGyal]

Thanks for the information; I never put it together, that was their motive. I did however read about Blackburn's threat to "investigate" the Obama Administration because they pulled the census from Gregg. That should have been a clue.

[jll2008]

Don't forget, also on February 3, Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) wrote about her concerns about Gregg's nomination re: Commerce and the Census: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-barbara-lee/senator-greggs-nomination_b_163692.html?page=2 and she also appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show on February 4 speaking about the same issues. I'm certain she was working very hard behind the scenes to bring the census issue to light, so let's give credit where credit is due.

[Paul Abrams - Huffpost Blogger]

The goal of any article with a point is for others to take it up, spread it around and, for those who have the power, to do something about it. So, I am more than happy that Barabara Lee took it up and got something done--and very quickly! Kudos to her!!
Her main point about Gregg and Commerce, and the Census, was whether it would be fully-funded. My point was that he would politicize it, and seek what Republicans always seek, to count as few people as possible, especially minorities and especially in the inner cities.

[bpress]

Obama handled this well. He accepted Senator Gregg knowing the Repugs had set it up. That's why after a short time, he moved control of the census into the White House. He probably would have left it under Richardson's care. The Senator would either have to continue without control of the census for the Repugs or withdraw. He chose to withdraw and used everything he could think of as a reason, with the census being stated as a minor item (not the major, which is was). Obama showed bipartisanship and kept the Repugs away from the census.

[privategirl]

Maybe we should not be so harsh on Gregg, I myself included, because he may have showed a little integrity. He could have gone all the way and gotten confirmed then made a bigger deal about Obama giving him a job and not trusting him with the responsibilities. The media would have been more than happy to jump on that and back the Repubs just to stir up the fire. Instead his people put pressure on him and he cracked. So maybe it was the Repubs fault for attacking him about the stimulus package.

They focused more on the little fish and allowed the big fish to get away. Now the whole boat has sunk. But something tells me we have not heard the last of the Reubs.

[mmgbizgirl]

He gets no credit in my book. He is one of many Republican Moles. He was to burrow in and use his power for the team and not for the American people. That is what they do. The only reason he backed out is because he was found out.

[DEvans1]

Kudos on a great article! I am a die-hard Obama supporter but now I even find myself wanting him to cool it just a little on all the bipartisan talk. While we all know his intentions are very honorable, my fear is that the American people may begin to take his virtue for weakness..­.and that is NEVER a good thing.

[ozwald888]

Excellent point, I agree with you 100000000000000%! Mr Obama should sit back and wait for the repugs to come to him. After all, he has opened the door, it's up to them to walk through it.

[Sloane7]

Someone needs to post some of those crazy districts the Republicans came up with last time if they question this. It was the most ridiculous bunch of line drawing and they were quite happy to do it because it benefited them hugely.

If you want to know how, as unpopular as Bush was in 2004, with an election as close as it was, it could turn out as it did, take a look at how the districts were drawn by the Republicans. They will scream like crazy now. And the louder they scream, the more obvious it is that their games will be exposed. Wait for Hannity now and count how many times census comes into his conversation. It will become a drinking game.

[metroretro]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/findyourreps.xpd?state=TX

Notice how the Houston area is divided into 6 districts and Dallas into 5 districts designed to maximize Rethuglican representation.

[SPQR1775]

"He withdrew because control of the Census Bureau was withdrawn. His ploy, on behalf of the Republicans, was foiled. And, these pages began its unraveling­." Yes, yes, I agree, I have posted numerous post on HP starting days ago to this effect identified. The GOP was planning an Alqueda Taliban insurgency, however others were paying attention and alerted Pres O. It is obvious if anyone look at the 2008 election, that not only is their enormous shif in population growth, but there is in states like Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, New York City, California, Nevada, that blacks, latino, white from the East have improve standing best ideal for Democrats. The GOP had hope Gregg would yet again be able to "GERRY MANDER" the numbers as the GOP has always undercount minority populations from NY to California and LA (Katrina) was allowed to happen so the GOP could have a majority representation in that State. It was not an accident it was by design. The Census Bureau has been the office wher the GOP control the numbers, yet they keep telling us America by 2028 will be a majority ethnic nation, people, it is 2020 and the GOp push the date back. Time is not on their side and they know it. Hence Colin Powell statement that they risk become a regional party, they will. New Hampshire will go totally blue in 2010 and so too will all the MidWestern/Western States except "lilly white" UTAH.

[CreoleInDC]

I continue to try and understand the Republican's way of thinking currently and keep coming up short every time. I consider myself a fair and open minded person but I'll be darned if that is possible right now. Seems as if Gregg was a trojan horse and it makes me sad that our leaders are dealing with silly stuff like this instead of REALLY trying to work together to get us back on track.

[AnnfromCA]

I don't get it. He cited the census as a reason yesterday. Are you suggesting otherwise?

[Sloane7]

Read the article again.

[LABC]

Please don't bother asking her to do that - it still won't say what she wants to hear which is "Obama bad..."

[Valerie Tarico - Huffpost Blogger]

Even to an ignorant outsider (my political focus is at the state level), it was obvious that his resignation wasn't about the stimulus package. Thank you for clarifying what the end game actually is.

[ebanks84]

The repubs are getting their @ss kicked by Obama big time. Every time they think they have a leg up, the dems knock it back down. I'm just loving it all!