Sen. Judd Gregg: Obama's Agenda Means 'No Child Left a Dime'

Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said his party's victories on Tuesday reflected Americans' anxiety over their own finances, as well as concern about the out-of-control spending in Washington.

Gregg's rebuke of the Obama administration is notable because he nearly joined the Obama team last February as the president's Commerce secretary.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Gregg said the best description of the new American approach to spending is "No child left a dime" because of the debt the administration is leaving for younger generations. "Our kids' quality of life is going to be fundamentally undermined. They won't be able to buy their home. They won't be able to send their children to college," he said.

"Some of the vote last night was people saying, 'Hey, federal government, take a pause. Think about what you're doing in the area of running up deficits and running up debt and passing on to our children and grandchildren a situation that isn't fiscally sustainable."

Gregg addressed the big-ticket items on the Obama administration's list of proposals, including one announced two weeks ago to give $250 to every Social Security recipient, which would add $13 billion to the deficit. "It's not worth it," he said.

Also on the list, a fix to doctors' reimbursement rates, costing $250 billion; a highway transportation bill for $150 billion; and the House version of health care reform, which Gregg said will cost $2.4 trillion every 10 years once it's fully implemented. "We'll basically have a government piling more debt on top of debt we can't afford," he warned.

"It's not sustainable, it's not affordable, and it's not right," he concluded. "One generation should not do this to another generation."

When Obama chose Gregg to head the Commerce department last year, he said, "Clearly, Judd and I don't agree on every issue, but we agree on the urgent need to get American businesses and families back on their feet."

Gregg accepted the nomination, but withdrew days later, saying he'd "made a mistake."

The video of the speech is available on C-SPAN.org HERE.