Senator Gregg Withdraws His Nomination!!!

Well, the Obama Cabinet will have one less Republican, as Senator Judd Gregg is out as Commerce Secretary...

Heres the Link:

http://www.cbsnews.com/blog s/2009/02/12/politics/polit icalhotsheet/entry4798161.s html

A great line is in the comment section of the blog:

They must of found out that Gregg paid his taxes and was an honest and decent fellow - No room for him in the Obama Administration!!!

What do you guys think? I know many of you wont cry over this, but once again it just shows that the Obama administration is either incompetent or just plain out stupid.

Which is it?

:)
< Who Keeps Screwing Us Over? | After hearing Cenk and Stacey >

Poll

Will Obama ever find someone to be his Commerce Secretary.
Yes 45%
No 9%
Who cares, commerce isnt important to the economy 18%
lol wut 27%

Votes: 11
Results | Other Polls
 Display:
http://www.citizensforethic s.org/node/37046    

A former congressional aide to Commerce Secretary-nominee Judd Gregg has been caught up in a long-running investigation into a Capitol Hill lobbying scandal.

    A person familiar with the case confirmed Wednesday that "Staffer F" in court documents is Kevin Koonce, who worked as legislative director in Gregg's Senate office from 2002-04. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is still under investigation.

    Staffer F was cited in a guilty plea last week by Todd Boulanger, a former deputy to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In federal court, Boulanger admitted he plied the staffer with front-row tickets to a hockey game, meals and drinks and other tickets to a baseball game, and in exchange received favors in spending legislation.

    The total value of the gifts Staffer F took from Boulanger exceeded $10,000, court papers said.

    The biographical details about Staffer F contained in court documents -- his job title at the time in the Senate office -- correspond to Koonce's.

    Koonce has not been charged with any crime. He now works at a private firm, Sorini Samet & Associates LLP.

http://tpmmuckraker.talking pointsmemo.com/2009/02/repo rt_staffer_who_got_gifts_fr om_team_abramoff_wa.php

Last week, when Todd Boulanger pleaded guilty to his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, he cited a Staffer F in his plea. That staffer had received tickets to hockey and baseball games (with champagne and filet mignon provided, in the latter case) from Boulanger and Team Abramoff.

And today the Associated Press reports that Staffer F is Kevin Koonce, a former legislative director for New Hampshire GOP senator Judd Gregg.

Koonce, who has not been charged with a crime, now works at a private firm, Sorini Samet & Associates. But he told the AP he's on personal leave. Another staffer who received similar favors from Team Abramoff, Trevor Blackann, pleaded guilty last fall to failing to disclose the gifts on his tax returns.

Gregg was announced yesterday as President Obama's pick for Commerce Secretary.
Asked about that inconvenient fact by a reporter just now at a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stressed that Gregg is not a target of the investigation, and that Koonce left Gregg's office in 2004.

by gatekeeper50 on 02/12/2009 05:34:41 PM EST

...that Obama's attempt to be bi-partisan didn't work. Why are you so defeatist?

"They must of found out that Gregg paid his taxes and was an honest and decent fellow - No room for him in the Obama Administration!!!"

Or, they found out Gregg was mired in the middle of yet another Republican political scandal...

"it just shows that the Obama administration is either incompetent or just plain out stupid."

Because they can't find an honest Republican? That seems to benot so much Obama's problem as the GOP's problem. Or are you saying Obama is stupid for trying to reach across the fence to the minority party?

Which is it?

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 02/12/2009 06:20:10 PM EST

  You  have  got  to  be  kidding  us.  We  have  elected  a  President  who  ran  on  transparentcy. He  said  we  would  all  have  at  least  48  hours  to  read  and  review  legislation  and  it  would  be  posted  on  the  internet. And  the  first  piece  of  legislation  that  comes  down  from  the  hill is  1,100 pages and no  one  not  even  Obama  has  read  the  dam  thing. It  has  amounts  of  money in  it  that  were  scratched  out  with  a  pencil  and  larger  amounts  put  in  there  place. He also  said  just  days  ago  that  there  were  no  earmarks  or  pork  in  it  well  how  could  anyone  honestly  say  such  a  thing  about  something  they  have  not  read. A  fool  and  his  money  will  soon  be  seperated  and  I  must  say  we  elected  a  man  with  no  experience  so  we  should  not  expect  anymore  than  we  will  recieve and  yes  the  whole  world  is  laughing  because  we  are  the  modern  day  Romans  and  Obama  will  be  our  last  President  because  a  fool  will  fall  for  anything  and  we  are  a  nation  of  fools and  we  are  about  to  fall  for an  election. but  what  the  hell  lets  hang  this  on  bush's  ass  or  even  better  yet  lets  just  hang  him  by  the  throat

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:29:25 PM EST

[ Parent ]
at this URL

http://www.speaker.gov/blog /?p=1694

go read it

The conservatives didnt read it thats for damn sure

As far as the world laughing at us... bull shit.. they are breathing a sigh of relief.


by Chinese Democracy on 02/14/2009 01:42:47 AM EST

[ Parent ]
  a  little  late.  yes  we  are  turning  to  them. and  that  is  not  what  America  is  about. My  for  fathers  left  to  create  a  new  world. and  thier  idea  does  not  resemble  yours  at  all. not  a  single  soul  on  this  planet  read  that  bill  defore  your  buddies  crambed  it  through.  and  it  is  not  stimulous  it  grows  government  nothing  but  pork. The  red  team  is  winning  and i  know  that  makes  you  happy  commie  bastard.

by maximus on 02/15/2009 01:40:15 AM EST

[ Parent ]
buzzword is socialist not marxist

If your fathers where conservatives. I could give a flying rats ass what they wanted to build. Im happy to disappoint them.

I know you watched the conservatives make as big a deal as they could out of the stimulus bill  trying to get any traction at all. It was all theater and you got sucked right in.

figures

:)


by Chinese Democracy on 02/15/2009 02:59:19 AM EST

[ Parent ]
He likes young boys. To me, I'm with Cenk, this is a cause for celebration. One less rethug to worry about stabbing President Obama in the back.

by mijoh on 02/12/2009 06:27:08 PM EST

"Obama nominates child molester for Commerce!" Oh please mijoh, let your statement come true!!! Its not like it could do any more damage to the GOP, but it would absolutely DESTROY Obama's credibility!!! Great Thought!!! :)

by bobo1 on 02/12/2009 07:17:38 PM EST

[ Parent ]
The idea of a black man being President of the United states is just now sinking in. He was in denial until recently.

the conservative party is the one with no credibility.

awwwwwwwww

boohoo  poor baby


by Chinese Democracy on 02/12/2009 07:54:11 PM EST

[ Parent ]
 You  are  the  one  with zero credibility. You  like  your  friends are  able  to  do  the  impossible. You  can screw us in the but  while looking at  us  squarly  in  the face  and  you  do  it  so smoothly we dont find  out  until we  go  to  the  Dr. and find  out  you  have given  us  aids.

by maximus on 02/12/2009 11:17:27 PM EST

[ Parent ]
maximus phonicus; the only aid you've ever gotten is government aid, but you obviously squandered that on something other than an education.

by gatekeeper50 on 02/12/2009 11:30:48 PM EST

[ Parent ]
 well we  know  now  why  they  call  you  gatekeeper.

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:37:35 PM EST

[ Parent ]
but you have proven to all so well your educational limitations.  For your edification, allow me to elucidate your error from the online dictionary.


Your attempted correction:

Main Entry: aide 
Pronunciation: \ˈād\
Function: noun
Etymology: short for aide-de-camp
Date: 1777
: a person who acts as an assistant ; specifically : a military officer who acts as an assistant to a superior officer;


whereas aid as I spelled it:


aid (d)
intr. & tr.v. aid·ed, aid·ing, aids
To help or furnish with help, support, or relief. See Synonyms at help.
n.
1. The act or result of helping; assistance.
2.
a. An assistant or helper.
b. A device that assists: visual aids such as slides.
c. A hearing aid.
3. An aide or aide-de-camp.
4. A monetary payment to a feudal lord by a vassal in medieval England.

by gatekeeper50 on 02/14/2009 12:32:22 AM EST

[ Parent ]
  once  again  you  show  that  you  just  dont  float.  you  never  do  have  a  point.  hey  go  look  up  ass  hole  and  tell  us  if  it  is  one  word  or  two. our  is  there  just  a  picture  of  you. shittykiss

by maximus on 02/15/2009 01:44:16 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Always a hoot when someone tries to score points by pointing out a "spelling error" only to showboat their own lack of education!!!!

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 02/14/2009 07:48:47 PM EST

[ Parent ]
 you  are  doing  the  impossible  you  are  still  sucking  air.

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:40:12 PM EST

[ Parent ]
  you  better  worry  about  your  own  ass  obama  has  protection

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:34:19 PM EST

[ Parent ]
do the facts bear out this statement:

once again it just shows that the Obama administration is either incompetent or just plain out stupid.

So, are you incompetent or just plain stupid?  Which is it?

by jarett on 02/12/2009 09:37:16 PM EST

  hey  wake  up  dover  he  was  talking  about  you

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:42:54 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Gregg probably realized he could not bring himself to work for the common good.
Being a republican means hot having to listen to other views or care about anything but the party line.
This was a brave attempt and I am glad he realized early on that he could not compromise and got the hell out.

by Maverick on 02/13/2009 12:35:39 AM EST

by the conservatives yet again. The bill passed without a single conservative vote.

They are paying for the stance in the polls.


by Chinese Democracy on 02/13/2009 03:45:15 PM EST

[ Parent ]
  hey  commie  speaking  of  polls  go  sit  on  one

by maximus on 02/15/2009 01:47:00 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Why should you have a problem with it KenTroll?

You are ok with it when conservatives do shit like that all the time.

You know the problem with your predictions? They rely on your version of reality.

:)


by Chinese Democracy on 02/13/2009 01:22:12 AM EST

Why would Obama risk his entire career on an extra seat or two? How would anyone mess with something this public?

Just because something is possible does not mean that something will happen.

Now explain what we are supposed to do with all the Saudi, Wahabi schools that have been built all over the Middle East, particularly Pakistan. Have you ever seen what is in those textbooks?

Why have I never heard a single fucking Republican criticize either Bush for all that hand-holding?

by YuryTheEnglishTutor on 02/13/2009 03:52:53 AM EST

which was my original point. I get that they could play crazy partisan games, but why would Obama risk a scandal like that before the election?

by YuryTheEnglishTutor on 02/13/2009 01:31:46 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Try again please. I am asking you why no Republican of stature ever criticizes the Saudis.

Obama is doing something about it; he is talking to Iran, the sworn enemy of the Saudis. If he did anything else, the conservatives would hammer him for attacking our "allies." They would talk about how the Saudis help us all the time, and possibly even show videos of Saudi police killing terrorists.

Me? I would play the countries against one another, rather than take sides and allow our "allies" to drain us of resources in the name of short-term happiness.

lol, your list of questions for liberals. I have a question for you. How can any Republican on earth meld the atheism of Ayn Rand's Objectivism with the fundamentalism of the American Religious Right?

"You just set yourself up." The only things I set up are comprehensive curricula.

 

by YuryTheEnglishTutor on 02/13/2009 01:45:33 PM EST

[ Parent ]
the conservatives,  and for 8 years bush as he and Cheney shreded our constitution.

You have zero credibility on the subject.

But thanks for the post. It helps show what ideological nut jobs the Limbaugh conservatives really are.


by Chinese Democracy on 02/13/2009 03:49:32 PM EST

[ Parent ]
  i  got  money  that  you  cannot  back  your  fact  jack.    name  one  sentense  that  he  or  his  administration  violated. you  are  such  an  ass. forgive  me  i  did  not  intend  to  compliment  you. you  savage  communist  bastard

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:49:37 PM EST

[ Parent ]
be advised that it is reality based though . Not just a bunch of lies Hannity pulled out of his ass.

Why the Bush Doctrine Violates the Constitution

at this URL

http://www.counterpunch.org /vanbergen01122006.html


by Chinese Democracy on 02/14/2009 01:48:51 AM EST

[ Parent ]
   you  lose  you  should no  violation.  at  this  url  is not  evidence. That  is  probably  one  of  those  sites  that  shares  opinion  no  fact  jack.

by maximus on 02/15/2009 01:54:04 AM EST

[ Parent ]
jack?  

You are funny


by Chinese Democracy on 02/15/2009 03:03:06 AM EST

[ Parent ]
"Liberals always take the side of America's enemies, whether it is Breshnev, Castro, Ortega, Saddam, Imadinnerjacket, Ho Chi Minh, Mao."
 
Could you slow down. It's getting hard to keep track.

"At the same time, they love to castigate and abuse our allies. There is no need to ask why Republicans support U.S. allies."

"Support" such as when Republicans sold surface to air missles to Iran? Or when Republicans "supported" Pakistan while it educated and supplied the Taliban and sold nuclear weapons technology to North Korea?

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 02/13/2009 04:06:30 PM EST

[ Parent ]
So when can I expect your apology?

http://www.theyoungturks.co m/comments/2009/2/9/123919/ 8933/14#14

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 02/14/2009 08:26:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]
  you  make  fudge  sense

by maximus on 02/13/2009 10:44:37 PM EST

[ Parent ]

The first thing that came up was an article about the very thing we were discussing.

Article.

Nothing really about Rand and Gingrich. Also, Newt Gingrich was not the architect of the Religious Right.

The question was about mixing "American is a Christian Nation" with "The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive- a definition that invalidates man's consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence...Man's mind, say the mystics of spirit, must be subordinated to the will of God... Man's standard of value, say the mystics of spirit, is the pleasure of God, whose standards are beyond man's power of comprehension and must be accepted on faith....The purpose of man's life...is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question."

How do you mix "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven" with "Run for your life from any man who tells you that money is evil. That sentence is the leper's bell of an approaching looter."

by YuryTheEnglishTutor on 02/14/2009 02:02:10 AM EST

[ Parent ]

There is only one side that anyone should try to take, and that is the side in which the truth rests.

We are not talking about these "liberals" from whom you fashion straw men. I asked you why Republicans still think Saudi Arabia is our ally, yet criticize "Islamo-Fascism," which stems from Saudi Arabia.

by YuryTheEnglishTutor on 02/14/2009 02:12:53 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Gregg is unlikely to run for the Senate in 2010.

Lovely.

by calturner on 02/13/2009 11:58:17 AM EST

Why do we allow Congressional districts to be drawn only by those in power?

by jarett on 02/13/2009 06:39:29 PM EST

The people NOT in power? Yeah, that'll work just dandy! How about ole Rahm leaving the Census where it belongs and stop trying to Gerrymander districts for Democrats for the next decade! Let the STATES do their jobs!!! :)

by bobo1 on 02/13/2009 11:59:15 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Don't use that Notre Dame education very often. Who would you like to establish congressional districts, if not ONLY the people in power? The Catholic Church? The Liberatarians? The Unabomber? Please, enlighten us with your wisdom! :)

by bobo1 on 02/14/2009 10:54:44 AM EST

[ Parent ]
WHAT ABOUT THE PARTY THAT IS NOT IN POWER?

by jarett on 02/14/2009 02:34:57 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You think that the party NOT is power (the Republicans) should determine the congressional districts for the next election? Are YOU being that stupid, jarrett? - Congressional and local districts should be determined by the State legislatures. Period. Why do Liberals want to take this power away from the states (where it really belongs) and give it to Rahm Emanuel, a Chicagoland mafia goon? If you let Rahm "Fix" the census, then the states will be hamstrung (I love U 2 Jesse) and the Federal government will be even more powerful. Is that what you want, Jarrett? :)

by bobo1 on 02/14/2009 02:50:12 PM EST

[ Parent ]
I think bipartisan state panels should determine the Congressional districts for the next election.

If you are really THAT incapable of making the intellectual leap from what I was saying to that conclusion, your Internet license should really be revoked.

by jarett on 02/16/2009 12:46:06 AM EST

[ Parent ]
regardless of who's in charge.  It would make a lot more sense to have a bipartisan board in charge of drawing those districts.

by jarett on 02/14/2009 02:35:56 PM EST

[ Parent ]

legislatures are the ones drawing up the boundaries.  The complaint is that the census has not counted minorities correctly and conservatives don't want them counted accurately.  They believe that it will shift too many states toward the Democrats.  Tom DeLay got himself in big trouble in Texas after the last census and this census will see many more people from outside the area move into the last bastion of red-state supremacy.

Reapportionment to benefit Sun Belt

Thursday 25 December 2008

by: Reid Wilson, The Hill

photo
(Photo: www.census.gov)

   

 

 The country's population center continues to shift south, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and congressional districts will follow after the 2012 reapportionment.

    The new figures suggest that Texas will be the big winner following the nationwide census in 2010 and the attending decennial reapportionment process. The Lone Star State, fueled by explosive growth in its Hispanic population and an influx of transplants from other states, is projected to pick up as many as three congressional seats, according to a report compiled by Election Data Services, Inc.

    Fiv e other states, all in the Sun Belt, are projected to gain one House seat each, including Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Georgia. Southern and Western states have continuously grown at a much faster pace than those in the Midwest, Rust Belt and Northeast.

    Sta tes set to lose a seat are largely in the industrial swath of the country, areas that have traditionally lost seats over the last several reapportionments. Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have all lost seats in recent population estimates. New Jersey and Iowa, both beset by economies that have grown slower than other states in the past decade, are also projected to lose a seat.

    Lou isiana, which lost thousands of residents in the aftermaths of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, is the only state south of the Mason-Dixon Line projected to lose a member of Congress.

    Rec ent trends have caused census-watchers to reassess projections from earlier this decade. Population growth rates have slowed considerably in Texas and Arizona, enough so that estimators have projected each will win one fewer seat after 2012 than many had expected.

    Pop ulation growth had increased sufficiently in both Ohio and Missouri to save seats in those states; the Buckeye State was expected to lose two seats in four years, while Show-Me Staters had been slated to drop one of their nine seats.

    EDS projections suggest population movements could still cause shifts before census-takers hit the streets in 2010. Long-term trends beginning in 2000 suggest that states in the Pacific Northwest - Oregon and Washington - are just a few thousand new residents away from winning new seats, while South Carolina would win a seventh seat in Congress.

 

by gatekeeper50 on 02/14/2009 03:08:25 PM EST

[ Parent ]
fudge sense

maximinimus is a hoot


by Chinese Democracy on 02/15/2009 03:04:00 AM EST

[ Parent ]
 Display: