John Feehery: Speaking Engagements

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Gregg Breaks Off the Wedding

Posted on February 13, 2009

Gregg Breaks Off the Wedding


 


“It’s not you.  It’s me.”  That is what Judd Gregg said to the Obama White House.


 


But as anyone who ever lived through high school knows, when somebody says that its not you, it really is you.


 


Judd Gregg is embarrassed that he had to do what he had to do.  But he shouldn’t be.  If the match isn’t right, it is better to call off the wedding than to get a divorce after saying “I do”.


 


Gregg said “I don’t” chiefly because he didn’t like the direction the new Administration was going. 


 


President Obama promised to change politics in Washington.  Gregg discovered – belatedly – that the President meant regime change.  The new politics is just like the old politics, except that left-wing ideology has replaced right-wing ideology. 


 


The first clue came with the so-called “stimulus” bill.  Nancy Pelosi drafted it, Harry Reid protected it, and Republicans voted against it.  It contained every liberal wish-list item from last decade, but little that could be construed as true stimulus.  Gregg discovered that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t physically support the President in getting this behemoth passed.  He voted against it in Committee and took a walk when it came to the Senate floor. 


 


The final straw came with the battle over the census.  Gregg, a former House member and governor, knows how important counting the populace every decade can be politically.  And he can smell a rat.  Rahm Emanual is no rookie when it comes to politics, and wanted to direct the count from the White House.


 


Counting the citizenry should be a simple process.  Hire a bunch of people and start making the rounds.  But that is not how the Democrats see it.  They want to use obscure statistical models to basically guess about the size of the population, especially in the big cities.  This helps Democrats over-estimate how many people live in their communities, which gives them more clout when it comes funding formulas and redistricting.


 


Counting the people is one of the top jobs of the Commerce Secretary (or it has been in the past).  This naked power play by the Obama team was too much for the senior Senator from New Hampshire, and he decided that he could have more influence if he stayed put in the Upper Chamber.


 


            The families of both the bride and the groom are relieved that this union did not go through.  Republicans didn’t want to lose one of their most effective and smartest Senators, only to have him replaced by a nominal Republican who supported Obama for President.  Democrats, especially members of the Congressional Black Caucus, are thrilled because they didn’t want Gregg screwing up their scheme to skew the census. 


 


            So everybody is happy, except maybe the caterers.  




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