RUNNING BEFORE THE BOMB DROPS

 
2:30 PM MAY 17, 2005

RUNNING UPDATE
Because You Never Know When the Blast Will Go Off

REID BLOWS FRIST'S GIMMICK RHETORIC AWAY

Yesterday afternoon the Majority Leader and I met one last time trying to reach a compromise that would avert the so-called nuclear option. That effort was unsuccessful.

It appears that the Majority Leader cannot accept any solution which does not guarantee all current and future judicial nominees an up-down vote. That result is unacceptable to me because it is inconsistent with constitutional checks and balances. It would essentially eliminate the role of the Senate minority in confirming judicial nominations and turn the Senate into a rubberstamp for the President’s choices.

I can only conclude that the true purpose of the nuclear option is not to win confirmation of some or all of the small handful of nominees Democrats filibustered last year. Rather, the goal of the Republican leadership and their allies in the White House is to pave the way for a Supreme Court nominee who would only need 50 votes for confirmation rather than 60. They don’t want consensus, they want confrontation.

Yesterday, after rejecting our last attempt at a compromise, the Majority Leader issued a statement. In this statement, the Majority Leader talked about the upcoming debate over judicial nominations and said he hoped the upcoming debate is free from “procedural gimmicks like the filibuster.”

Mr. President, the filibuster is not a “procedural gimmick.” The filibuster is an important check on executive power and part of every Senator’s right to free speech in the United States Senate.

Over the years, the filibuster has proven to be an important tool of moderation and consensus – which partly explains why Republicans today are so opposed to it. They aren’t interested in moderation. They’re only interested in advancing their right-wing political agenda.

I was in the House gym this morning where I ran into Congressman Rush Holt of New Jersey. Congressman Holt’s father served in this Chamber. In the 1930s, Senator Holt led a filibuster to protect wage and hour protections for American workers. He wasn’t using a “political gimmick.” He was using an important tool to stand up for working men and women in this country.

Of course the filibuster has not always been used for good. Just as it has been used to bring about social change, it was also used to stall progress that this country needed to make – such as Civil Rights legislation. But at these times, the people have spoken and public opinion has spurred this Chamber into action.

So you see, the filibuster is not a “political gimmick.” It’s part of the fabric of this institution.

Also this morning, I ran into another congressman, a Republican congressman. He came up to me and said – “I never thought I’d say this to the Democratic Leader, but I’m praying for you and for the Senate.”

Mr. President, as the moment of truth draw near, I too am praying. I pray that cooler heads will prevail and that responsible Republicans – like this Congressman who spoke to me this morning - will join Democrats in standing up against this abuse of power.

 

Should I My Breath? Maybe Frist Won't Pull the Trigger So Quickly.
But the reason the filibuster exists is to weed out extremists. Not that Janice Brown is extreme.  Not too much.  Mother Jones: As Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist insists that this is the week—no, really, this is the week—that Republicans flout Senate rules and take away the Democrats' ability to filibuster President Bush's judicial nominees, the new buzzword among conservatives is "fairness".

Let's cut the crap. Frist's "nuclear option," as former Majority Leader Trent Lott first dubbed it, has nothing to do with making the confirmation process more "fair" and everything to do with placating an increasingly agitated religious right. It's a power ploy, and no sense pretending otherwise.

Brad Plummer is on to something.  BS has a distinct red hue just now. A gentle reminder to Republicans who talk about hearing the Will of the Majority: the fortyfour Democrat senators represent a larger population than your fifty five. MORE At Talk Left.

Harry Reid probably can count on four votes from the other side.  He needs two more: AP: Republicans hold 55 seats in the Senate, meaning they can afford five defections and still triumph. Already, though, Sen. John McCain (and Sen. Lincoln Chafee  of Rhode Island have said they will break ranks. Vote counters on both sides have sad they expect Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine to do likewise.

Hagel, Murkowski,  Warner, and Specter lurk in the background. Warner is going both ways right now, even in the language he uses:  WAPO Senator Warner has not indicated which way he will vote on the nuclear or constitutional option," said his spokesman, John Ullyot. "He is a traditionalist, and recognizes the historical importance of the filibuster to the Senate, but also feels that it has been misused in recent years with respect to judicial nominations.

The Battle Of Rhetoric Rises. Who will lose and how?  Frist is getting savaged for wanting to change the rules. Now he calls them  gimmicks: WAPO: Republicans believe in the regular order of fair up and down votes and letting the Senate decide yes or no on judicial confirmations free from procedural gimmicks like the filibuster

Speaking of rules, the Dems rule over Frist, at least  here.

Somebody Really Blows, But Who Blows the Most Department. The Republicans want you to think only Democrats blow, at least as far as the nuclear option goes. WAPO: The filibuster is a Senate rule that's been changed many times over the years," says Bob Stevenson, Frist's communications director. It wouldn't be a "nuclear option," he says, except for the threatened retaliation of Senate Democrats. GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch has said it's the Democrats who will "blow up the Senate" if Republicans exercise their constitutional right to simply "debate and vote. . . . ..  .

…. Bad Democrats, Bad . . .  WAPO: "The implication of 'nuclear option' is way too hot and extreme," says GOP pollster Frank Luntz . . . Someone comes up with a cute phrase, like 'nuclear option,' and all of a sudden the debate is named.  This is an example of how cute phrases can kill.”

No Democrat is cited in that last WAPO piece


 

Comments

[NeoCon Crusher]

Its all part and parcel with the NeoCon Sith Lords plans to consolidate power and incease their empire's hold on the world.

There is no one who can stop the Evil Sith Lord Darth Rove who slayed Jedi Rather down last year. No one will dare oppose the Sith Lords now.

[The Blaghdad Cafe]

Nice piece, Heretik...

[Idyllopus]

It is. Thanks for keeping with the updates.

[denisdekat]

Frist is what is wrong with our government culture, yes men make it to the top...

I like Reid more and more...