Judd Gregg: “I rise to discuss a little bit what has been talked about at length in this debate. I think it has been a very helpful…”

“I rise to discuss a little bit what has been talked about at length in this debate. I think it has been a very helpful and good debate. It has not been about Congressman Nussle and his qualifications. That seems to be universally agreed upon. It has been about the issue of policy and how we approach fiscal policy in this country. The other side of the aisle, for whatever reason, seems to think 24 quarters of economic growth, with the addition of 8.4 million new jobs over the last few years, a tax law which was put into place which has caused us to generate more receipts as a Federal Government than we ever received before over a 3-year period relative to growth and as a percent of gross national product, is something we should not have, that this is bad policy for some reason, that giving people jobs, creating economic activity, having a tax policy that is fair, is not good. Therefore, they are attacking Congressman Nussle for him being proposed to become OMB Director and for the fact he happens to ascribe to those approaches. Now, I would say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, I am not sure what they expect. Maybe they are sort of like Claude Rains in 'Casablanca,' where he comes out of the room and says: I'm shocked--shocked--to find out that there's gambling going on in Rick's. What? Are they shocked to find out the President nominated a Director of OMB who agrees with him? I mean, really.…”