According to our Senior Senator, if the Obama Administration uses the budget, and the reconciliation process that follows it, as a vehicle to enact what the people voted for on climate change and health care, it'll be "an act of violence against the system here in the Senate."
Wow. Those are strong words to describe Sen. Gregg's own modus operandi:
..."There's no point of stepping into the exercise if we're going to be shut down in our ability to influence it."
Gregg has familiarity with the matter. In 2005, when Gregg chaired the Budget Committee in the GOP-led Congress, Republicans sought to use budget reconciliation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The effort came close to succeeding but collapsed in the House when GOP moderates joined Democrats in opposition.
But Gregg said climate legislation -- which he called a "national sales tax on energy" -- is a different story. "ANWR was not an all-encompassing event that was going to affect every American in a dramatic way," he said.
Anti-climate change action hero Sununu Senior must be so proud.
As a side note, I think it might be wise strategy for the NHDP to emphasize in the 2010 elections just how out of touch the Republicans in this state are with the electorate on the environment.
