Gregg compares use of budget reconciliation to ‘embracing’ Hugo Chavez’s ‘politics.’
Gregg compares use of budget reconciliation to ‘embracing’ Hugo Chavez’s ‘politics.’
With Democrats holding out the possibility that they could use the budget reconciliation process to pass health care reform by a majority vote, conservatives have been hypocritically decrying the tactic as “as an act of violence” against the minority party. In a budget meeting today, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) compared the potential use of reconciliation to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s strong-arm tactics:
With a mix of cutting terms and dire warnings, Republicans expressed outrage over the prospect of employing the procedural process known as reconciliation to pass such a major policy initiative.
Senator Judd Gregg, alluding to the recent encounter between President Obama and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, accused the White House and Congressional Democrats of abusing their power. “I can understand shaking Hugo Chavez’s hand, but I can’t understand embracing his politics,” said Mr. Gregg of New Hampshire, the senior Republican on the Budget Committee.
As ThinkProgress has previously noted, Gregg supported the use of reconciliation when Republicans controlled Congress and the White House. “We are using the rules of the Senate here,” said Gregg in 2005 as he defended using reconciliation to open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. “Is there something wrong with majority rules? I don’t think so.”
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April 27th, 2009 at 6:04 pmWhen was this hypocrite complaining when that Texas idiot did it routinely. Gregg you’re just another jag-off, if you don’t want to contribute and assist with getting the country in the right direction again, just sit on the sidelines and keep your mouth shut. Crying foul is not a plan, you jerk.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pmReally? Is this all they have? Everything is “Chavez” or “socialism” or some other such nonsense? At this rate I expect them to base their entire 2012 campaign on Bill Ayers, Reverend Wright, and the whole birth certificate/Muslim crap. Anyone with an IQ over room temperature is running from the republican party as fast as possible.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:14 pmWhat an obvious hypocrite Gregg is…and he knows it! He probably couldn’t even have said it with a straight face! I’m glad he isn’t the Commerce Sec. after all…..The GOPers can keep on touting this ridiculousness all they want….they have nothing else to offer….between mouthing off about “banana republics” and now this…no wonder they are and will be for many years a Party in exile!!
April 27th, 2009 at 6:16 pmWhat a twerp.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:17 pmAnyone with an IQ over room temperature is running from the republican party as fast as possible.
rue as tha may be, I see no reason other than corpoRat cowardice why some enterprising tv type didn’t have that clip on his notebook, showed it to Gregg, and asked h im to comment on the apparent discontinuity of his sentiments.
Gregg’s remarks get stenographed and repeated, but never critiqued or interpreted by the ‘press.’
o, i know that’s no longer their job.
still some of us remember when it was…
April 27th, 2009 at 6:17 pmWill Judd Gregg please retire or shut up?
April 27th, 2009 at 6:17 pmHey Gregg, you know why Tedisco lost in the NY-20 election? It was all Hugo Chavez, funded by George Soros, and the vast left-wing conspiracy! They’re also planning to poison our children’s juice boxes!
April 27th, 2009 at 6:18 pmIt’s time for serious people to offer serious solutions. Judd Gregg is not one of those people.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:19 pmthis just in… republicans say Obama is embracing!
Republican contribution to policy – Obama is ____ing! Lies in the label, label, label.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:22 pmHypocrite, heal thyself.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:23 pmWait a minute, Republicans. You guys keep saying Hugo Chavez is a dictator. How is using a majority rule procedure equivalent to a dictatorship? Any of you Republicans in Congress want to try to explain that one to me, or do you realize you already look stupid enough?
April 27th, 2009 at 6:24 pmGregg compares use of budget reconciliation to ‘embracing’ Hugo Chavez’s ‘politics.’
Well, what would one expect from the leader of a “banana republic?”
The ramp up in racist rhetoric isn’t coincidental. This is white man’s terror, as party platform. I just can’t for the life of me see how they are going to transmogrify their racial hatred into political power, given the shifting demographics. Ethnic voters will remember the way repubs have treated them since Obama’s election, And there aren’t enough Cao’s (and too many Tancredos), for the party to right itself by ‘10.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:26 pmBut while W was president the republicans routinely used this procedure on the budget. Judd Gregg is another lying, hypocritical, azz wipe with (R) associated with his name.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:35 pmDon’t look now Repukes, but last time I checked, Chavez was elected by a majority of the voters. If memory serves me correct, that does not a dictator make.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:38 pmWords mean nothing to the right side – all energy and emotion. Their audience are dumb as posts, so they must lie to get their point across. Why do 25% of the population like being lied too? Is it pathological or are they simply lazy and naive? This is too confusing for me to understand. I am wondering if they would continue to see a dentist who lies to them – or maybe a lawyer.
THE GOP IS LYING TO YOU!!!!!!! DON’T YOU CARE?????
April 27th, 2009 at 6:42 pmI will be donating to UNELECT this bastard traitor to our democracry.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:51 pmStratRat–some people LIKE lies. They suit their bigotries. And we should not dismiss the burblings and rantings of the psychotic bigots on the right. How quickly will it turn into this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/europe/27hungary.html?_r=1
But then we already have a glib acceptance of torture, extraordinary rendition, starting wars based on lies (and ineptly botching them), the death penalty, homophobia and the NOM-nuts, persistent racism, and more money for banksters (not health care). Collectively, the latter represent a form of economic genocide.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:04 pmI can’t wait til that smug loser is out of the senate.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:17 pmThe Republicans are sitting ducks. Obama and the Democrats don’t have to expend to much political capital on this one. I assume the Republicans seem to think that the public’s attention span is long enough to get a beer out of frig. Maybe the voter is too apathetic to give a damm!
Guess what, the Republicans are going to be surprised when all those ghosts in the closet come to haunt them.
humbly, flight
April 27th, 2009 at 7:17 pmWhat a complete stooge Gregg is. Absolutely no shame.
The GOP is using him as the attack dog because Obama offered him a spot in the administration.
And the press says that it is OBAMA who is not being bipartisan, right?
This is a complete joke. So I guess when Gregg and his GOP counterparts enacted reconciliation during the Bush years, it is pure Democracy.
But when the Congress wants simple majority rules under a Dem president, then it is CHAVEZ SOCIALISM! No credibility whatsoever.
BTW, perhaps it wouldn’t come to this if they didn’t fillibuster EVERY BILL!
April 27th, 2009 at 7:22 pmHugo Chavez has been elected three times by 60% or better. Bush and buddies tried to kill him twice at least and overthrow him who knows how many times. If Obama was acting under the same pressure as Chavez he would declare martial law, shut down Congress, jail Rush and others of his kind and nationalize the energy and financial sectors. He would then institute national health care for all by edict. Finally, he would use waterboarding as a reeducation tool for all the malcontented conservatives…..Please! Please! Call the White House right NOW and encourage Obama to be more Like Chavez!!!
April 27th, 2009 at 7:23 pmOf course. Chavez has long been an advocate of the U.S. Congress’ “budget reconciliation” procedural maneuver. Wait, what?
Considering the way we’ve behaved toward Latin America for the last century, I’m just glad anybody there can stand us at all. We’re lucky they’re not all a bunch of revolutionary Marxists calling for our heads. Not that Chavez is. But still.
.
Chris LeJeune Says:
They’re also planning to poison our children’s juice boxes!
Shhh, don’t tell them.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:28 pmMost Americans wouldn’t be aware of Chavez if Republicans weren’t always bringing him up.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:29 pmGregg is just a complete idiot. These Rethuglicans continue to spew bogus nonsense and offer zero viable solutions. The GOP has become a part of the problem in our country. No wonder so many Republicans are now calling themselves Libertarians. Conservatives have also begun to distance themselves from the GOP of No.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:36 pm100% of the leftover R’s in Congress have now joined the
Hysterical Ninny Caucus.
April 27th, 2009 at 7:44 pm“Do as we say, not as we do.”
April 27th, 2009 at 8:03 pmHypocrisy is SOP for the GOP.
It is just amazing how all of you liberals have convinced yourselves…that you actually think you know what you are talking about.
Some day in the near future…democRATs will really wish they hadn’t pulled this cheap trick of reconciliation…when it comes back to bite them in the azz.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:17 pmSo he must be saying that Bush acted like Chavez twice when he used the reconciliation process to pass two of his budgets.
April 27th, 2009 at 8:41 pmRealityCheck Says:
——————————————————————————–
It is just amazing how all of you liberals have convinced yourselves…that you actually think you know what you are talking about.
Some day in the near future…democRATs will really wish they hadn’t pulled this cheap trick of reconciliation…when it comes back to bite them in the azz.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
RealityCheck
I believe it has already bit Democrats in the azz a few times. What goes around comes around. You Republicans are such sore losers, it is becoming embarrassing. Go on home with your football and let the real men run the country.
Can the threats, its getting really old.
smirking, flight
P.S. I think you Republicans haven’t heard the news as of late. The Democrats won the election, fair and square. The Republicans’ behavior will be remember for a long time to come. Count on it!!!!!
April 27th, 2009 at 8:42 pmElBruce Says:
Of course. Chavez has long been an advocate of the U.S. Congress’ “budget reconciliation” procedural maneuver. Wait, what?
Considering the way we’ve behaved toward Latin America for the last century, I’m just glad anybody there can stand us at all. We’re lucky they’re not all a bunch of revolutionary Marxists calling for our heads. Not that Chavez is. But still.
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Boy thats for sure. It is a wonder that they didnt call for HANGING Raygun
April 27th, 2009 at 9:14 pmRealityCheck Says:
Again you show how utterly ignorant and brainwashed you are. US liberals DO know what we are talking about. You RePUNKs are the ones so stupid you can only mout what your screechmonkeys TELL you to spew. I guess you would LIKE it if ONLY soulless braindead rePUNKS use reconciliation. TOUGH PUNK. You LOST the election. You guys arent getting near the levers of power for a LONG time so keep snivelling, and lying and showing what a petulant piece of garbage you are. It isnt your call and it wont be for a LOOONNG time. Til you can win back Congress just STFU
April 27th, 2009 at 9:19 pmWingnuts never let a little thing like the truth, facts, or reality get in the way of their total disregard of the truth. I have watched no less then five republicans lying their asses off on television today. They lie about things they have signed. The reason they are misinforming on torture and the reconciliation is that they are talking to the braindead 21%ers. They have a base too dumb to question their lies.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:30 pmEugene atrax robustus Debs Says:
Boy thats for sure. It is a wonder that they didnt call for HANGING Raygun
Oh, it goes way back before that. What was Teddy Roosevelt famous for before becoming President? Why, fighting a battle in Cuba, of course. What was an American doing fighting a battle in Cuba, you may ask? A: The usual.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:32 pmStill can’t believe Obama wanted this egghead to be Commerce Secretary.
Never saw the logic in that one.
Luckily, it didn’t happen.
April 27th, 2009 at 9:33 pmElBruce Says:
Oh I know. Smedly Butler said it all. We have invaded both Nicaragua and Haiti four times this century. Guatemala,Dominican Republic, Panama only EXISTS because we wanted a canal otherwise it would still be Columbia. Yeah our history in Cen America is shameful
April 27th, 2009 at 10:53 pmI don’t know why this jerk was ever considered for a cabinet position. He seems to be a most disagreeable, partisan hypocrite, much like the rest of his party.
April 27th, 2009 at 11:30 pmEugene atrax robustus Debs Says:
Smedly Butler said it all.
Yep: Corporate industrialists are trying to turn America into a fascist dictatorship. It would seem that little has changed since then:
…even the same actors today.
April 28th, 2009 at 12:04 amElBruce Says:
The more things change the more they stay the same
April 28th, 2009 at 1:30 amWhat do republicans think when they listen to other republicans going off in their tirades and whines?
Playing back enhanced irritant republican wild accusations to the ones that say it may in fact be the only way to come to grips with reality.
The “Mirror treatment”.
Forces them to (admit to themselves) their caught in a lie. Then forces them to lie to cover their confronting lying selves with a snother lie.
Continue the process where;
replaying a republican statement, Then the latest position that differs from the original, Then again, replay both the first staement, 2nd opposition, then the 3rd hypocritical statement.
The mirror in a mirror in a mirror treatment.
April 28th, 2009 at 2:10 amI think you Liberals need to go smoke some more weed. If the Republicans had used reconciliation to drill in Alaska…you would have slit you’re wrist and jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bunch of “Tards”
April 28th, 2009 at 7:27 amRepublicans are acting like the nerds in high school who sit in the corner of the lunch room dissin’ the popular kids. It may make them feel better but the popular kids don’t even know or care who they are.
April 28th, 2009 at 8:13 amRealityCheck Says:
——————————————————————————–
I think you Liberals need to go smoke some more weed. If the Republicans had used reconciliation to drill in Alaska…you would have slit you’re wrist and jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bunch of “Tards”
April 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am=============================================================
Excuse me, Sparky, before you call us tards get some perspective. Reconiliation is for budget issues. Drilling in Anwar was not a budget issue expect for those trying to make money off it. The republicans used reconciliatio every year they were in power. You would do well getting information from a reliable source instead of the wacked out reichwingnut bigot on your talk radio and that phoney television network.
It is a huge risk to take something as critical to each American as health care, to make such a huge fundamental change without allowing serious public discussion.
Take the plan to the people, explain all the what and why, and stand up for it.
They have the votes, a good plan will get the needed public support.
Hillary’s mistake was comparable, about the same issue. She locked herself away , decided who would have input, and it blew her right off the map.
No need to make that mistake again, nor is there any need to hurriedly make some secret plan and rush it through. The votes arew there, the support is there, do it in a methodical, planned, public and open manner, and the people will be solid with it.
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