After spending time in Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C., I am more persuaded that the system of government that we operate under is as close to perfect that can be had on this planet. However, it is people that corrupt the system through their greed and selfish motives.
Tonight, the Republican Senate majority has called a 30-hour session to bring a serious matter to the attention of the American people. Over the course of the past year, the Democrat minority has stomped all over the U.S. Constitution by breaking the rules of the Senate in their intent to not allow a cloture vote on the President's nominees to the judiciary.
It is the first time in the history of our Nation that the minority party has attempted to change the rules to their advantage, forsaking the adherence to the Constitution that has gone before for nearly 230 years. There is no problem with attempting to filibuster discussion on a nominee for a period of time. However, there is NO precedent for filibustering an up or down vote on a President's judicial nominee. Well, the Democrats are changing the rules... again.
I hope the Republicans do everything within their power to take control of this situation and allow the nominations of these judges to come to a Senate up or down vote. The story is making news.
Hey, you Democrats... when are you going to figure out that you are on the wrong side of what is right for America? Do you doubt it? Perhaps you should pick up a copy of A National Party No More: The Conscience of a Conservative Democrat by Zell Miller. Zell is a lifelong democrat, has served in the Georgia State Senate, as a two-term Governor and now in the U.S. Senate. He is the only democrat I know of that has the courage to stand up and tell the truth about his own political party. Highly recommended for those of you still in denial about what the beloved Democrat party has become.
Smell the coffee? Time to wake up...
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
November 13, 2003 09:49 AM
Are you an unread idiot? The Republicans blocked more than 100 of Clinton's nominations in the 2 terms he was in office.
What a Republican Telescope.
November 13, 2003 01:06 PM
Time to educate you, my friend. Have a seat and learn something.
Every Clinton nominee that was reported out of the Judiciary Committee received a floor vote, and were ALL confirmed.
Those that were "blocked" were never reported out of committee, and the majority of them were appointments advanced in the last few months of Bubba's tenure.
I know it is difficult to swallow the fact that your Senators are successfully fooling you, but open your eyes and walk into the light!
November 13, 2003 06:01 PM
I think what is relevant is that the Republicans have blocked a much higher percentage of Democratic nominees than Democrats have of Republican ones. I don't see any difference between the Republican-controlled judiciary committee blocking a full vote of the Senate and Democrats in the Senate using the fillibuster to block a full vote of the Senate. Republicans started the judicial war and now they get to reap the consequences.
November 13, 2003 06:05 PM
Sorry Joel #2, but that's where your conclusion is wrong. The Senate committee is all part of the Constitutional process. If a nominee doesn't get out of committee, no one has attempted to hijack the system. Using Senate rules, which are not based on law, to filibuster an up or down vote is an abhorent abuse of the system.
And for the record, you have your numbers wrong too. The telling statistic is the "overall confirmation rate", which tracks all nominations sent to the Senate, and takes into account all those confirmed vs. the total sent up. In Clinton's case, this number was about 53%. With GWB, its about 35%. Who started it?
November 13, 2003 11:20 PM
Joel,
The Constitution provides that the president makes nominations with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. It doesn't say with the advice and consent of the Judiciary committee. If it is Constitutional for the Judiciary committee to block appointments, then it is Constitutional for appointments to be blocked by filibuster.
Republicans in Congress are big crybabies. Congressional Republicans used the full power of their committees to repeatedly investigate the most trivial of matters regarding the Clinton administration, but they refuse to permit any investigations of the Bush administration.