Who is Kent Conrad? On 1600 saying he is cutting $600bil. from Obama's budget,

[Parker CA]

and that he agrees 100% with Gregg that we are on the wrong track in terms of proposed spending. It seems Obama can't win with either side on this budget issue right now. Is Conrad one of the Blue Dogs dissenting from his proposals?

[Sebass1271]

1. yeap.. he is a blue dog that should switch parties already..

[Parker CA]

2. Figured as much, but the lead in from Shultz said that Conrad 'has Obama's ear' on spending issues

and budget suggestions. The guy was smirking when he said he would be cutting $600billion from Obama's budget, but that he 'would try' to maintain the core issues Obama feels are important.

[MarjorieG]

3. And these guys are entrenched, in leadership, with many contributions.

[hfojvt]

4. Democratic Senator from North Dakota

a deep red state, but still should not be agreeing with Gregg.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/beat_the_press_archive?month=03&year=2009&base_name=judd_gregg_doesnt_have_a_clue

"Judd Gregg Doesn't Have a Clue: Where's the Ridicule?

When politicians say things that are silly (or sometimes not so silly) the media is usually not shy about ridiculing them. Remember the obsession over President Obama's comments about "bitter" working class people in Pennsylvania? The media kept commenting on it for weeks.

So, where is the ridicule when Senator Judd Gregg, a person who prides himself as somewhat of a budget expert, was reported in the NYT as saying: "The practical implications of this is bankruptcy for the United States. ...There’s no other way around it. If we maintain the proposals which are in this budget over the 10-year period the budget covers, this country will go bankrupt. People will not buy our debt; our dollar will become devalued."

There are probably no economists who would claim that the government will go bankrupt based on the spending path in President Obama's budget. One would expect a member of Congress to be informed about such issues.

The dollar will almost certainly fall, but that would happen whether or not the government runs a budget deficit. The dollar will fall because the country is running a huge trade deficit, which is the result of the over-valuation of the dollar. The fall in the dollar is needed to bring down the trade deficit, which will be a necessary part of a stable recovery. It is remarkable that Senator Gregg apparently has no understanding of how the economy works."

--Dean Baker

[Parker CA]

5. Gregg was on earlier today, and when asked what he would line-item veto from the budget he said:

health care, education, and all discretionary spending. Supreme ass-hattery on display. These guys just don't get it.

[msongs]

6. gee Mr. Conrad, let's cut flood disaster relief for N. Dakota from the budget 'k? nt