“Judd Gregg” on The Daily Caller

The U.S. Senate rejected an amendment to financial-regulation legislation aimed at preventing taxpayer bailouts of state and local governments that have defaulted or are at risk of defaulting on debt. (more)

SALT LAKE CITY—In yet another sign of the Tea Party movement’s growing power, Utah Republicans delivered a crippling blow to three-term incumbent Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) by voting him off the GOP ticket for November’s race. (more)

At first it might seem that Democratic Sen. Harry Reid (Nev.) and Republican Sen. Bob Bennett (Utah) don’t have much in common ideologically. (more)

The first amendment: An amendment offered by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, Connecticut Democrat, and Ranking Member Richard Shelby, Alabama Republican, to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act (S. 3217) was adopted Wednesday by a vote of 93 to 5. According to Congressional Quarterly, the amendment drops the proposed $50 billion resolution fund that would have covered the costs of a major financial collapse, and empowers the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to liquidate large firms with a credit line from Treasury. The amendment requires congressional approval before the government could guarantee the debt of a financial firm. (more)

Not the least bit satisfied with the government taking on the auto, housing, student loan, and health care industries – the Obama administration is now set on tackling immigration reform. (more)

“The pig has died.” (more)

President Obama tried Monday to portray the Senate’s vote on financial regulation as a simple, black and white case of Republicans blocking needed progress on Wall Street reform. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s Democratic allies in the Senate promise to cut the deficit by almost two-thirds over the next five years, but their budget plan could threaten about 30 million people with tax increases averaging $3,700 in 2012 and after because of the alternative minimum tax. (more)

One week from Tuesday, 18 men and women will begin an attempt to fix, in eight months, what is possibly the country’s greatest problem: the federal budget deficit, national debt and runaway entitlement spending. (more)

After two days of angry partisan arguments in Washington over the issue of financial regulation reform, a Republican senator from Tennessee summed up the state of play. (more)

A conservative think tank said Wednesday that a tax reform proposal by Democratic and Republican senators would create about 2.4 million jobs a year over the next decade. (more)

The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee on Wednesday disputed rumors that have surfaced this week that the Democratic-controlled Congress will not produce a budget this year. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Senate leaders laid out a strategy Tuesday to alter or even reject broad changes in financial regulations. They said Democratic proposals would perpetuate bank bailouts, and they accused the Obama administration of exploiting anti-Wall Street sentiment for political purposes. (more)

It’s funny how fast the Beltway consensus can change. A few months ago, health care reform was dead. Then it got undead. Financial regulatory reform was supposedly dead too, but now that Republicans have supposedly learned that pure obstructionism is a losing play, it’s being treated as a done deal. Democrats like Obama’s economic adviser Larry Summers and Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd are saying it’s going to pass, perhaps as early as next month. So are key Republicans like Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, who recently put the odds of passage at “100%.” (more)

With the announcement of six Republicans (Reps. Paul Ryan, Dave Camp, and Jeb Hensarling and Sens. Judd Gregg, Tom Coburn, and Mike Crapo), the lineup for President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is set. While the commission will more likely feature show over substance, it also might be an opportunity to move forward on much-needed tax reform. (more)

Are Democrats marching toward a health-care bill behind the scenes, or are they slipping backwards? (more)

Sen. Judd Gregg, New Hampshire Republican, said Democrats are “hiding” the health care bill while they buy off votes. (more)

In 1984, singer-songwriter Tina Turner asked “What’s Love Got to Do with It” in her breakthrough solo album. This year, political observers find themselves asking the same thing about the massive infiltration of social media into political campaigns—“What’s Social Campaigning Got to Do with It?” As we see it, the answer is pretty simple for candidates running for the U.S. Senate: the difference between winning and losing. (more)

The Senate passed a $15 billion spending bill on Wednesday that gives employers a tax break for new hires and authorizes billions more for transportation projects. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the bill will create or save more than 1 million jobs, while critics contended it will have minimal impact on unemployment while adding to the federal deficit. (more)

Democrats and Republicans have been using scare language in the last week to frighten seniors about Medicare reforms, despite a plea from President Obama to stop playing politics and fix the nation’s problem with runaway entitlement spending. (more)