The "Nuclear Option"

[fixitplez]

Quote by: bishop but both sides have done the same in years past.. you really can't just pick and choose when it's okay to pull stunts like this simply because your favored party is in power.. what would you say if 10 years from now the dems have the power and they pull stuff like this to get their agenda passed? this sets a dangerous precedent which BOTH parties could abuse.

Oh, oh, oh, I have an idea!!!! How about we LET the Republicans return to the Constitution's precepts on judicial nominees and then hold THEIR feet to the fire if they EVER try to undercut it again. What a CONCEPT!!!
Constitutional government. Wow.
Molly

[fixitplez]

Quote by: Technosoul Bishop is correct in my opinion, they should not change the rules in mid-steam just because they currently have a majority win, in fact they might as well by-pass voting all together and just let Bush give out orders directly for his appointments (because it would be clear who would be put into that seat on the Supreme Court). As least as it now stands Bush will have to come up with a name that at least the Democrats might approve of also, someone not objectionable to both sides of the asile. The only other fair atlernative choice would be to even up the votes 50-50 by having each party toss their names into a hat (two hats) and then picking 10 or so names from each hat and those selected at random would then be the ones who would cast the votes. That way you can keep a sense of balance without any need for filibustering. Now if I can sit here and in one moment think up a simple solution why can't those people in Washington do the same thing? Technosoul.

What's FAIR is allowing the ones who won the election to use their Constitutional DUTIES to perform their responsibilities. Elections nor REPRESENTATIVE government is about throwing everyone's name in a hat everytime the ones who lost scream foul because they don't have as big a voice as they want. The people have spoken over the last decade and the Republicans represent the people's wishes more than the Democrats do. I wouldn't suggest disenfranchising voters any more than the Democrats are already doing.
btw, what about the Constitution Party, the Green Party and Libertarian Party? I know, I know, they didn't actually get ANY representatives elected, but if you're going to be 'fair' then you have to throw their names in the hat, also, right? You pick the names from each party and DEMAND that Congress put them in. I got your back, lol.
Molly

[bishop]

too bad they have little interest in returning to constitutional government...

mind you, i'm a federalist, but there are some lines that i do draw in the sand, and balance of power is one of them.

[tipper 11]

I received this in my email today:

Dear Gina,

Keep the Momentum Going! Help stop the GOP power grab by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper:

www.democrats.org/action

Learn More! Learn more about this important issue and view photos of the Supreme Court rally on our Stop the Abuse of Power website:

www.democrats.org/nuclear

Today I stood in front of the Supreme Court and collected more than 1 million petitions from people all across America. Standing there, I heard your voices urging the Senate to reject any attempt to do away with the system of checks and balances our founding fathers created to protect the rights and voices of all Americans.

I want to say thank you for standing up and lending your voice to this debate.

Republicans want to go "nuclear" and turn the Senate into a rubber stamp for President Bush. They want to silence Senate Democrats -- the one remaining check on President Bush's power. If they can do away with debate in the Senate, they can get whatever they want -- right-wing Supreme Court Justices, Social Security privatization, and tax breaks for the wealthy that will plunge us deeper in debt.

But Senate Democrats are going to fight them every step of the way. And this fight will be different than any other fight in the history of the Senate -- because it will include you.

The Republicans are arrogant with power. If they don't like the rules, they break them. If they don't like someone standing in their way, they attack them. We have some Republicans in the Senate that are considering throwing out 200 years of Senate history in order to pack the courts with right wing judges. And we have a Republican Leader in the House of Representatives who attacks judges who don't agree with him and corrupts our government by running roughshod over the ethics committee.

It's a complete abuse of power by the Republicans and if they can get away with this on judges, they will get away with this on legislation like Social Security too. There is no distinction.

This is about more than a few unqualified judges, this is about protecting the rights of disabled Americans to work, the rights of minorities to vote, the rights of every American to have clean air, safe drinking water and be heard in Washington.

Thank you,

Harry Reid

[PatrickHenry]

Quote by: Mr.Vicchio PH aren't the Dems breaking that tradition by forcing a judicial nominee to have 60 votes instead of the constitutionally required 51?

I can see that point, Mr. V. But Senate rules to invoke cloture and force a vote have always been 3/5. To make an exception in this case when the Judiciary is at stake is going too far to advance a particular agenda. Bush should nominate more moderate judges, then this issue would go away...

[bishop]

most of his judges have already been approved. the only ones who aren't are his radical zealots.

[ericsp23]

The Democrats have blocked only 10 out of over 200 of Bush's appointees. That is far better than Clinton got when he was in office.
The Democrats have only blocked the most extreme candidates and the candidates who were clearly not qualified for the job they were nominated for. The job of the minority is to keep the majority from abusing its power. This is particularly true in the case of judicial nominees because they could potentially be on the bench for decades. The Democrats are not playing politics, they are just doing their job as the minority party.

[ericsp23]

It looks like we have at least one principled Republican left in the Senate who will opose this move. I wonder if any other moderates will join McCain?
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...nfilibusterban