The Right Man at Commerce

The Right Man at Commerce By Andrew Cline FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, February 05, 2009

Announcing his selection of New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg for secretary of commerce this week, President Barack Obama said Gregg will “be an outstanding addition to the depth and experience of my economic team, a trusted voice in my Cabinet.” The question for conservatives and for the country is, how trusted?

If President Obama truly listens to Sen. Gregg and takes his advice, we are likely to get a stimulus package much better for the country than the one being considered in the Senate this week, as well as significantly better economic recovery policies down the road. However, if he merely attempts to use Gregg as a salesman to pitch the administration’s plans to Republicans in Congress, that will be a problem for everyone.

The beauty of this selection is that Gregg is a man who will not be the slightest bit shy about speaking his mind to the president. He will actively attempt to shape administration economic policy for the better. Still, Republicans are rightly wary of losing Sen. Gregg’s voice in the Senate. He has played a significant role in improving some of the most important legislation of the Bush administration. He was a key advocate of more tax cuts and lower spending, having to fight not only Democrats but also, from time to time, President Bush. But what Republicans lose in the Senate they gain in the White House. That trade-off might well pay off.

When it comes to economic policy, Republicans now have an advocate inside the White House, and one who has respect among Democrats and the ear of the president. That is no small thing. We saw in the Democratic presidential primary last year what political pressure did to supposedly fiscally conservative Bill Richardson, Obama’s initial commerce pick. He went from advocating tax cuts and mocking the far-Left wing of his party to parroting everything Barack Obama said. Richardson would have been an ineffective advocate for low taxes and restrained spending within the new administration. No Democrat would make the case for sound economic policies as well as Sen. Gregg will, and no other Republican would do it as well while being palatable to Democrats.

When President Obama began talking with Sen. Gregg about the commerce position, Gregg made it clear right away that he would not take the job unless New Hampshire’s Democratic Gov. John Lynch named a Republican to replace him. That’s a good early sign. Right off the bat, Gregg stood firm on a matter of great importance to his party. If he would risk losing a Cabinet position on principle, he certainly will not be reluctant to press the president for improvements in administration economic policy.

Gregg can be counted on to push the Obama administration to craft a truly simulative economic recovery plan. He also can be counted on to relay to the president what such a plan must include if it is going to win the support of Republicans in Congress and nationwide. There is no question that the president will send Judd Gregg to Capitol Hill to sell the administration’s plan. But there is good reason to believe it will be a much better plan than it would be were Gregg not commerce secretary. The only reason for the administration’s recovery policies not to get better as a result of this selection would be the president’s refusal to listen to Judd Gregg.

As for the Senate, Republicans do lose something in this deal for the next two years. Gregg’s replacement, J. Bonnie Newman, already has indicated that she does not come from quite the same place in the party that Judd Gregg does. Newman was an assistant secretary of commerce under Ronald Reagan and was Judd Gregg’s chief of staff when he was a U.S. representative from New Hampshire’s 1st District. But the Lawrence, Massachusetts, native made clear when she was presented by Gov. Lynch on Tuesday that she is a moderate Republican, or as she phrased it, “a reasonable Republican.”

Uh oh........

I just don’t see this working as well as Kline thinks...this is a no-shheeet socialist regime...

Gregg’s final act as a Republican Senator is to...screw the Repubican Party and its base of support.

Gregg is a Republican turncoat: a traitor to his Party and his Nation. You NEVER work with the Enemy.

Anyone that believes that there will be a “Republican” voice in an Obama administration is severely in need of a reality check.

If Obama had any idea that naming Gregg to Commerce was anything more than depriving the Republicans of one more vote in the Senate he would be holding off on the ‘stimulus’ bill until Gregg was in the position. Once this bill is law it won’t matter much what Obama claims Gregg can bring to the position. Obama knows full well that once that bill is law the jig is up. And before the charges of racist start flying look up the phrase “the jig is up”!

Gregg can be counted on to push the Obama administration to craft a truly simulative economic recovery plan.

Obama: "We democrats now have a bipartisan plan to 'simulate' an economy"

Freudian slip on the author's part?

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