In Search of a Commerce Secretary

According to news reports, Senator Gregg (R-NH) has withdrawn his nomination as Secretary of Commerce after indicating that he could not fully support President Obama's initiatives. I expect that a permanent PTO Director will not be nominated until the Commerce post is filled. President Bush did not nominate his first PTO Director (Jim Rogan) until May of his first year in office (2001). Clinton nominated Bruce Lehman in April 1993.

24 thoughts on “In Search of a Commerce Secretary

  1. 24

    Word has it that Mooney’s cojones are “trending Democrat.”

    Not that there is anything wrong with that…

  2. 23

    Mooney is my kind of guy, er, person.

  3. 22

    “It’s because the Dems cheated last time”

    That’s funny.

    “the additional seats are going to be added in places like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Utah”

    News flash: there are many parts of each of those states that are trending Democrat. Gerrymandering is the real issue, not the census.

    “there is absolutely no reason that Census should be reporting to the WH chief of staff.”

    Does the Constitution forbid it? We’re in a war, aren’t we? What would Torture Yoo say, I wonder?

  4. 21

    How is the GOP nervous about the census, the additional seats are going to be added in places like Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Utah. Seats are going to be taken away from New York, Ohio, Michigan, and even California for gawds sake.

    The Dems want to limit that damage. Now, I think the entire issue of it being reported run out of the WH is really at the margins of the debate. But there is absolutely no reason that Census should be reporting to the WH chief of staff.

  5. 20

    Mooney wrote: “I wonder if he will tell us…why the Republican party is very nervous about the census.”

    It’s because the Dems cheated last time, thereby denying the Republicans at least 2 congressional seats. I’ll give one example: The Dems did not allow Utah to count nearly 15K people who were serving Mormon missions abroad even though they are citizens of the US, usually vote (absentee), legal residents of Utah, and will be returning anytime between 1-20 months. Utah was short 250 people to get a new congressional seat.

    Now I hope you can agree, Mooney, that even though you probably don’t like those people, they are still citizens of the U.S. with the right to have representation (they still can be taxed by the US and even could be deported to the US from many of the countries where they are).

    It isn’t a grand conspiracy Mooney. I always wondered how your brain works, but now I see that it just doesn’t.

  6. 19

    ArguWM: “So….the problem with Bush is that his stimulus package (aka deficit spending) was not costly and wasteful enough?”

    From what looney tunes website did you dredge this insanity?

    Obama’s point is that Republicans are hypocrites and liars without credibility when it comes to “fiscal responsibility”. And the bigger problem for Republicans now is that most Americans know this. The Republican response, as always, is to turn up the volume on the propaganda but that doesn’t work as well as it used to. The combination of folks on the Internet mocking the bullcrap in real time along with reality (dead, wounded relatives in Iraq; Katrina; pink slips; vanishing retirement accounts) sort of throws a wet blanket on the ranting of O’Reilly, Rush, Hannity, and the rest of the lying losers.

    Remember: Bush wanted to let these miserably failing banks manage social security! Can you imagine?

    “There’s no difference between Repub and Dem except the wrapping.”

    GWB’s presidency laid that myth to rest forever except in the broken minds of Naderites, anarchists and the teenagers who get hung up on Ayn Rand.

  7. 18

    AllSeekingWingnut: “Besides, anyone who uses the term “rich” is an ignorant, class warfare baiting, poverty minded m0r0n.”

    LOL. Like when George W. Bush said: “most people in America understand that the rich people hire good accountants and figure out how not to necessarily pay all the taxes and the middle class gets stuck.”

  8. 17

    Spelling correction…

    make that Tom DeLay — not Delay.

  9. 16

    down the suckhole,

    “Looks like a great place to start for Chicago style corruption engineering”

    It looks more like a play taken from the Texas-style, Tom Delay playbook of gerrymandering in the making.

  10. 15

    “Don’t like it? Tough. Outplay him.”

    I think you’ve just been outplayed Mooney…

  11. 14

    Careful Arguing, to use a phrase he himself is so fond of, I sense Mooney’s head about to explode.

  12. 13

    I should have thought the question “do we release the (economic) brakes” might depend on whether the (economic) cycle is running down a precipitous slope, or struggling to get up one. The skill is in smoothing the progress of the (economic) cycle, isn’t it? But what has all this to do with the subject of this thread, pray?

  13. 12

    link to news.yahoo.com

    Analysis: Obama says GOP can’t criticize stimulus

    “It’s a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they’ve presided over a doubling of the national debt,” Obama said. “I’m not sure they have a lot of credibility when it comes to fiscal responsibility.”
    * * *

    Obama repeatedly reminded a national television audience that federal spending and deficits soared under George W. Bush’s presidency. He used the point to undermine GOP lawmakers opposing his plan and calling it too costly and wasteful.”

    *********************************

    So….the problem with Bush is that his stimulus package (aka deficit spending) was not costly and wasteful enough?

  14. 11

    Tax cuts have a larger stimulus effect than spending, even Obama’s own advisors know this.

    Follow the links to Romers’ paper.

    link to gregmankiw.blogspot.com

    Get a clue, MM.

    There’s no difference between Repub and Dem except the wrapping. One comes in blue paper with flowers and trees, the other in red paper with angels.

    Tear off the colorful paper, you have two identical boxes of sh!te.

  15. 10

    RE: tax cuts as stimulus

    Mooney says “thats insane”

    John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a well known Democrat you may have heard of, inter alia, didn’t think so…

    Please, if you are capable, read the following article.

    link to ibdeditorials.com

  16. 9

    As far as I know, the Republican party only encourages the dead not to vote. What is truly amazing is the number of dead Democrats who still manage to get out and vote.

  17. 8

    Republican party, Republican party, Bush, Katrina, blah blah blah,

    “cornered animals about to die” (???)

    Lighten up buttercup, have another white wine.

    I understand though, you’re out of excuses for your failure and don’t know what to do about it since there is now no one to blame…

  18. 7

    Gosh, I wonder who is behind the “tough love” puppet? ;) I wonder if he will tell us why Republican party consistently opposes efforts to encourage more people to vote, and why the Republican party is very nervous about the census.

    What are the odds that the Republican party’s nervousness has nothing to do with the well-being of the vast majority of Americans and everything to do with the well-being of the Republican party?

    These are people reciting from a script that says that government spending isn’t stimulus. That is insane. These are people who claim that a better stimulus bill would consist of entirely of tax cuts. That is insane.

    And yet, there they are. But cornered animals about to die are known to do all sorts of bizarre things. I’m sure this is just the beginning.

  19. 6

    “obliterated…”

    Gawd Mooney you are a tiresome m0r0n. And apparently you’ve just “outed yourself” again. This time as an angry little liberal suffering from arrested development. Last time it was the white wine and references to glory holes.

    No wonder you have no clue about a property rights practice like patent law.

    “rich white people and fundamentalists”

    I can empathize thought with how sucky life must look to you from wrong side of the french fry line…

    Besides, anyone who uses the term “rich” is an ignorant, class warfare baiting, poverty minded m0r0n. Why don’t you climb out of your mom’s basement, make a few bucks and join the living.

  20. 5

    “Gregg appears to have withdrawn, at least in part, because of the odd, apparently politicized, move of the upcoming Census directly to the White House, and out of Commerce.”

    LOL. As if Gregg wouldn’t have “politicized” the census himself. Obama just crushed Gregg. This is political jujitsu. Don’t like it? Tough. Outplay him. If you’re a Republican, you better hope that Obama will continue to engage so that you have a chance. If he chooses to take the power granted to him by Torture Yoo (the power that was abused by Bush) then it’s game over for Republicans. But Obama won’t do that because it’s so much better for everyone that the Republican party dies on its own terms.

    Here’s the politics behind the census: the Republican Party is about to be obliterated and an **accurate** census does nothing but hasten that obliteration. The GOP would give anything and will do anything to corrupt an accurate census, for the same reason the GOP will give anything and will do anything to prevent more people from voting.

    I mean, if your entire operation consists of appeals to rich white people and fundamentalists, why do you want an accurate census taken? You don’t want accuracy. You want fear and confusion. This has been the operating principle of the Republican party for most Americans’ entire adult lives.

  21. 4

    “The United States Constitution mandates that a census be taken at least once every ten years, and that the number of members of the United States House of Representatives from each state be apportioned accordingly. Census statistics are also used for apportioning federal funding for many social and economic programs.” – from Wiki

    Looks like a great place to start for Chicago style corruption engineering.

  22. 3

    Brian, the date (April 1993) looks right to me. Perhaps it has been edited since the original post.

    Gregg appears to have withdrawn, at least in part, because of the odd, apparently politicized, move of the upcoming Census directly to the White House, and out of Commerce.

  23. 2

    Unless Dennis has updated the entry, the Clinton nomination date looks plausible to me.

    Regarding Gregg and the Commerce Secretary position, it seems like it may be related to the census. Reports I’ve read is that the White House wants to have the census director report directly to the White House, instead of the Commerce Secretary. This seems fishy to me — even if it’s not political (although I think it is), it seems unusual.

  24. 1

    I think the date of the Clinton nomination might be off by a decade.

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