Obama Dodges a Scandal

President Obama's once-upon-a-time designee for Commerce Secretary, Senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) reportedly... supposedly... allegedly turned it down for ideological reasons. The Republican claimed, in effect, that he was too conservative to stomach Obama's reform agenda.

Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Obama lucked out. Turns out Gregg was just another corrupt rich guy on the make to get richer at taxpayer's expense.

These days, that may be a requirement for joining the Grand Old Party:

President Barack Obama's former nominee to become commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, steered taxpayer money to his home state's redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there, an Associated Press investigation found.

Gregg, R-N.H., personally has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cyrus Gregg's office projects at the Pease International Tradeport, a Portsmouth business park built at the defunct Pease Air Force Base, once home to nuclear bombers. Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.