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It looks like 3 times will not be a charm when it comes to getting someone - anyone - honest enough and subservient enough to run the Department of Commerce for President Obama. First, it was Bill Richardson who somehow slipped under the radar of Obama's super sharp vetters, having problems with cronies back in New Mexico. Then it was Judd Gregg who withdrew his name after Obama blindsided him by politicizing the census. Now it's Gary Locke - former Governor of Washington and now lobbyist for a firm that does a lot of business in China - who may...

Former Washington governor Gary Locke is likely to be President Obama's choice to head the Commerce Department, according to several administration officials briefed on the decision. Locke would be the third person put forward by Obama for the job, after withdrawals by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), because of an ongoing pay-to-play investigation of his administration, and Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who backed out after concluding that his ideological differences with the administration could not be resolved. Locke did not reply to an e-mail seeking comment, and the White House said no announcement would be made about the post...

President Barack Obama will "likely" name Gary Locke, the first Chinese-American governor in US history as his pick for Commerce Secretary, a senior administration official said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's likely third pick for Commerce secretary is former Washington Gov. Gary Locke, a senior administration official said Monday. Locke, a Democrat, was the nation's first Chinese-American governor when he served two terms in the Washington statehouse from 1997 to 2005.

Does that mean, when Obama finally finds someone who has no integrity, has paid their taxes, and isn’t involved with phony contracts, that we will end up with a third rate Commerce Secretary? (or will third rate, be over qualified for Obama's team?)

The House Democrats' $825 billion legislation released on Thursday was supposedly intended to "stimulate" the economy. Backers claimed that speedy approval was vital because the nation is in "a crisis not seen since the Great Depression" and "the economy is shutting down." That's the rhetoric. But in reality, Democrats are using the 258-page legislation to sneak Net neutrality rules in through the back door. The so-called stimulus package hands out billions of dollars in grants for broadband and wireless development, primarily in what are called "unserved" and "underserved" areas. The U.S. Department of Commerce is charged with writing checks-with-many-zeros-on-them to...

New Hampshire Senator (again) Judd Gregg has been called many things in the past few weeks. With Obama's courting, like a quarterback trying to get his hands in a cheerleader's blouse before never talking to her again, Gregg was placed in a national spotlight he would never attained by being mere Senator of one of our 57 States. But now that he slapped away the quarterback's hand and fled the backseat, what now for poor Judd? It seems there are only three ways to view him: Devious Manipulator, Moral Statesman, or complete Dumbass. Larry Kudlow, in National Review, takes the...

When the Obama administration moved oversight and accountability for the 2010 Census from the Department of Commerce directly to the White House, few noticed until Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) took his name out of consideration for the post of Commerce Secretary. Gregg cited this obvious politicization of a Constitutional function as one of the reasons he withdrew. So what’s the big deal? The data compiled from the Decennial Census -- one of the few governmental functions specificed in the Constitution -- affects directly how our representative government works, from the Electoral College allocation and the allotment of seats in the...

White House political advisor David Axelrod says the Obama administration’s plan to take over the U.S. Census Bureau by placing it directly under the control of top White House officials will, nonetheless, remain in the hands of experts to run the program Axelrod, appearing on "FOX News Sunday With Chris Wallace," said despite the move by the West Wing to manage the bureau, the census would continue to “be in the charge of the professionals who conduct it." Republicans, who oppose the move on the grounds that it will politicize the upcoming 2010 census, say supervision of it by the...

The once-a-decade census is more than a national nose count. It's used to divvy tax dollars for roads and hospitals, spot population trends for schools, business and social programs, and - did we forget? - play high-stakes politics. The task comes loaded with importance, and that's why the Obama team is making a mistake by requiring that the next census director report to the White House instead of the Commerce Department bureaucracy. The decennial count is about information gathering, not partisan score settling. The political gamesmanship has just produced its first casualty or trophy kill, depending on your vantage point....

President Obama said in his inaugural address that he planned to "restore science to its rightful place" in government. That's a worthy goal. But statisticians at the Commerce Department didn't think it would mean having the director of next year's Census report directly to the White House rather than to the Commerce secretary, as is customary. "There's only one reason to have that high level of White House involvement," a career professional at the Census Bureau tells me. "And it's called politics, not science." The decision was made last week after California Rep. Barbara Lee, chair of the Congressional Black...

Unfortunately for the Obama administration, Judd Gregg’s withdrawal as commerce secretary has highlighted the effort by the White House to wrest control of the census (and with it, the groundwork for the 2010 Congressional reapportionment). Gregg took a second or third tier issue and vaulted it to the front pages. Since word had broken that the White House intended to take oversight of the census out of the Commerce Department and give it to the hyper-partisan political operator Rahm Emanuel, the Republicans had worked feverishly to raise public awareness. The White House power grab to apply "oversight" of the national...

Politics: Judd Gregg surprised the Obama administration by withdrawing from his Commerce job offer. But it shouldn't have been a surprise. Commerce itself is being devalued in this administration. That needs to change.It's likely that the Republican senator from New Hampshire intended to be a brave, if lonely, voice for private business inside the Obama administration at a time when stimulus dominates the news and little focus was put on how to help business. That's a shame, because a stimulus promises to create 3 million jobs at best, and currently 11.6 million people don't have work. Only the private sector...

REVIEW & OUTLOOKFEBRUARY 13, 2009 Team of (Former) Rivals Judd Gregg's "change of heart." Judd Gregg's withdrawal of his nomination to be Commerce Secretary indicates that President Obama's life with the left-wing of his party may become a sea of troubles. Senator Gregg said late yesterday the controversy that erupted this week over the independence of the Census Bureau was "only a slight" reason for his withdrawal. Still, the Democratic left had put in motion the events that led to this embarrassment, publicly suggesting that the Republican couldn't be trusted to conduct an honest 2010 census count. The Census Bureau,...

The bombshell news that Senator Judd Gregg, citing policy differences over the stimulus bill and Census, is pulling out as Commerce Secretary is a major blow to President Barack Obama. Here's a quick take on why: To have a fiscally conservatives Republican in the Cabinet alongside fellow Republicans ... gave Obama something tangible to back up his claims of a bright bipartisanship dawn heralded by his administration. That's gone now. ... Obama's now lost two Commerce Secretaries ... as Oscar Wilde would have blogged: "To lose one Commerce Secretary, Mr Obama, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both...

Robert Gibbs, the White House press spokesman, said Gregg "was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the president's agenda". "Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama's key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways."

While speaking at the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial in Springfield, Illinois on Thursday, Barack Obama took a shot at Rep. Judd Gregg, who withdrew himself earlier in the day from consideration as the President's secretary of commerce: "Here in Springfield," Obama said, "it's easier.. to reflect on Lincoln the man, rather than the marble giant, before Gettysburg..., before emancipation was proclaimed.... In 1854 Lincoln was simply a Springfield lawyer who served just a single term in congress, possibly in his law office, his feet on a cluttered desk, his sons playing around him, his clothes a bit too small to fit...

Here is video of Sen. Judd Gregg's Press Conference today announcing his withdrawal as President Obama's nominee to be Secretary of Commerce. Gregg cited differences with Obama over moving oversight of the coming U.S. Census from the Commerce Department to the White House, and the Stimulus Package as factors in his decision. Gregg has done the right thing. His withdrawal shows that Obama's agenda is indeed more radical than many people realize. Gregg apparently realized the last couple of days that he could not in good conscience go forward with the nomination. . . . . . (Watch Video)

Hey guys. Just wanted to let everyone know. Watching FOX just now and learned that Judd Gregg is withdrawing his nomination for Commerce Sec. His reasons, if I'm correct, is that he's not supporting the Porkulus Plan and that he hasn't been guaranteed that a Republican or an Independent would get his spot in the Senate. Also, he had some very understandable concerns about the One's grab of the Census. GOOD FOR HIM!! Looks like another embarrassment for Barry and maybe some hope for us. Cheers.

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