Gregg To Cabinet, Stim Deal In Works

A statement by McConnell confirms Judd Gregg as likely to join the Obama cabinet with a Republican replacement for the Senate by a Dem governor and this below has to be the most politically civil thing I've ever heard from Schumer. It's dripping with bi-partisan deal making and he isn't alone. I wonder which Gopers are getting bought off by spending in their districts. Warren Rudman is named as a possible Gregg replacement. If so, that's a terrible deal for the GOP. He's 78 - can you say placeholder for a seat that'll likely go D in two years? The lede in Rudman's wiki claims he is such a "pragmatic centrist" Clinton tried to get him for his Cabinet. That's sure to please the R base.

Chuck Schumer, No. 3 Senate Democrat, also predicted more pork will be cut to boost infrastructure programs on the GOP's wish list.

"If there were other little things in there that Mitch McConnell and the Republicans don't like, they will come out as well," Schumer said tamely on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Obama weighs in with the same tone and I'm guessing a Daschle approval just might get rolled into the deal as well.

WASHINGTON - President Obama assured Republicans Sunday they'll get to help rewrite his massive $819 billion stimulus bill, pushing him closer to his first big victory.

"I've done extraordinary outreach, I think, to Republicans, because they have some good ideas and I want to make sure that those ideas are incorporated,"Obama told NBC's Matt Lauer in a Super Bowl pregame interview.

Here's McConnell carrying his half of the Obama water. Either that, or the Bill gets so revised as to marginalize Pelosi and the D side of the House and Rahm Emmanuel will have to start earning his salary in a big way by keeping them in line. If the Bill isn't overhauled and the Republicans get a deal as bad as Rudman for Gregg look for the base to be furious with McConnell.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) conceded a new "timely, temporary and targeted" bailout is necessary, adding that a deal "can still be done."

 He also confirmed reports that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) is likely to be tapped as commerce secretary - and therefore will become a GOP pointman on Obama's plan.

Gregg has assured him that a Republican - possibly ex-Sen. Warren Rudman - will inherit his seat, McConnell said.

Other Democrats also were conciliatory.

"I think the package will be changed," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a key appropriator, offered on CNN's "State of the Union."

Comments

[justsayno2islam]

Get ready for a sell out.

[templar knight]

The Democrats aren't doing all this to be bi-partisan. Hell, they can't get the bill passed in its present form, and they know it. And any Republican who would take a job in this POS administration ought to be tarred and feathered and thrown in a hog pen. Cause that's where all this pork belongs.

[TheSpartan]

Waaaaaaaahhhhh! This is a riot.

[mark l.]

I guess obama has maxed out on finding tax paying democrats.

The only honest men left are going to come from the gop?

[mark l.]

I'm actually starting to feel good about 2010...

40 seats in the house is a longshot, but considering you have 11 blue dogs who won't/cannot support obama's spending, 29 is almost as good.

currently 257/435=59% for a party that got only 53% of house votes.

the senate races, for the first time, are starting to look very good.

blanche lincoln-ark
byron dorgan-nd
bennett-co
burris-il
dodd-ct
reid-nv

Should the dems capture a filibuster proof majority, a significant amount of pressure on the gop will actually evaporate. The story shifts from whether the gop will block bills/appointments, to whether any of the moderate democratic senators will step up and join the gop in restricting the president's spending/decisions.

consider the case of blanche lincoln...

massive spending bill comes before her, the gop unanimously votes against it, to no avail. Lincoln might be able to create a niche' where she can vote against it, but refuse to block it by joining a filibuster-'lukewarm party'.

I wish her the best of luck explaining the action in a state obama lost by 20 pts.

ditto on supreme court nominees.

losing judd gregg now, improves the gop's chances for 2010, significantly. What moderate dem wants to be in power when the deficit spending of one year, will exceed the entire eight years of deficits from the bush administration?

[mark l.]

looking at rcp editorials:

The Stimulus Plan: A Looming Fiasco? - San Diego Union-Tribune

Dems Shouldn't Use Stimulus for Political Agenda - Los Angeles Times

very curious if there is a paper that is endorsing the stimulus bill...

opening line of SDUT editorial?

"When President Barack Obama's $819 billion economic stimulus bill passed the House without a single Republican vote, much of the media reaction treated GOP lawmakers as if they were partisan stick-in-the-muds who would rather undercut America's new Democratic president than do what's right for the country."

versus WaPo
"Though key Republicans in the Senate say they are ready to work with Obama, House GOP leaders last week orchestrated a lock-step rejection of his economic stimulus package, signaling their intent to oppose rather than cooperate with the new president."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/01/AR2009020101814.html

the wapo article is 'boldly' titled-
"Democrats Set High Goal Of Sweeping Fiscal Reform"

(I note that the wapo article doesn't come out and endorse the stimulus, just the belief that those opposing it are doing so out of opposition to the president. )

[All Mi T]

we need to figure out what we can make that the rest of the world would want to buy. our economy is bad i feel as if i am on Tax Payer Life Support

http://rawdawgb.blogspot.com/2009/02/tax-payer-life-support.html

[mark l.]

"we need to figure out what we can make that the rest of the world would want to buy."

food. we don't even have to worry about increasing production, we are already there.

42% of the world's corn.
40% of soy beans.