Judd Gregg Symbol For Republican Madness

TW: Gregg issued a statement saying he reneged on Commerce because he was not going to control the census bureau and he had differences of opinion with the White House. That is BS.
Larry Kudlow's quote would have the slightest bit of validity IF Obama had barfed the stimulus out of thin air sometime within the past two weeks and never mentioned the census bureau issue prior to Gregg accepting the nomination. Of course neither is true.

Sullivan pretty much nails it. But I am already very tired of another Republican Congress mired in ideology to the detriment of actual policy. How the hell are we meant to ever address our nation's challenges if there is never even the narrowest window during which policy can be made without ideological warfare. Gregg was rolled by his own party, and now he is done as a politician.

The Republicans are trying to cap Obama's knees, they have failed to date and will fail ultimately. Will have more on this later.

From Larry Kudlow:
"Judd Gregg has more backbone than anyone in politics today. He did his best to cross over and help Pres. Obama. But as Gregg and I discussed in a recent CNBC interview, the senator has a long and outstanding record as a tax-cutter, budget-cutter, deficit-cutter, and debt-cutter. All of these principles have been badly violated in the so-called stimulus package. And of course the White House move to steal the Census Bureau during a crucial political-reapportionment period was a low blow."

From Andrew Sullivan:
"It gets clearer. When Judd Gregg approached the Obama administration to see if he could be a part of it, he was assuming that his own party wasn't going to adopt a policy of total warfare against the newly elected president in a time of enormous economic peril. Between that moment and the current all-out ideological assault on Obama, his position became untenable. His recusal on the stimulus package provoked fury at home (check out the comments here) and dyspepsia among the GOP who are intent on responding to an open hand with a clenched fist.

I have to say even I am a little taken aback by the force of the Republican assault. Even in a downturn as swift and alarming as this one, even after an election that clearly favored one approach over another, even after the most conciliatory efforts by an incoming president in memory, these people have gone to war against the president. The president should stay cool. The rest of us should realize what motivates the GOP: the opportunism of selective ideology. "