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Hell Tim, they have approved over 160 of Dubyas
judges. Damn site better than the other side did for Clinton. He has
98% of his judges confirmed.
Mick
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 1:13
PM
Subject: Re: [Sndbox] Senate Begins All
Nighter
So they have to vote on whether or not to vote?
I
think there should be a way for the President and the Courts to
make them
vote on it.
It is worse than childish. They are controlling the
political balance
of one branch of government while being the minority in
another
branch of government.
On Thursday, November 13,
2003, at 10:26 AM, Charles wrote:
In order to vote yes or no they
have to reach cloiture. Which is an arcane rule that means you must
have a super majority in order to proceed. In other words they have to
have a 2/3 majority in order to proceed to a vote. They can't get that
2/3 because the dems are holding these nominees
hostage.
It really
makes the dems look childish. They are saying we don't like them, so
we won't even let them be voted on.
Charles Mims
http://www.the-sandbox.org
<image.tiff>
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Tim Harder
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 9:08
AM
To: The Sandbox Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Sndbox]
Senate Begins All Nighter
I have
been watching this... I am proud of the GOPs. I hope it works.
I
don't understand that whole fillibuster thing.... Why can't the
President
and or the Supreme court make them vote yes or now on judges? I
don't
get it...
On Thursday, November 13, 2003, at 10:30
AM, Jen -- wrote:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With humor, anger and
a show of GOP unity, senators launched 30 hours of uninterrupted debate
Wednesday on President Bush's nominees not making it to the federal appeals
bench, setting up cots and preparing to cast blame at one another throughout
the night.
Most of the Republicans marched into the Senate
together just before 6 p.m., sat down and listened to Majority Leader Bill
Frist of Tennessee open the debate by condemning Democratic filibusters to
block judicial nominees.
"Tonight we embark upon an extraordinary
session. For the next 30 hours Republicans and Democrats will debate the
merits of three judicial nominees," Frist said.
"We will be
considering the meaning of our constitutional responsibilities to advise and
consent on nominations. We will discuss whether there is a need to enact
filibuster reform so that nominations taken to the floor can get a
vote."
Democrats, some appearing amused by the pomp and circumstance,
were already in the Senate chamber waiting for the beginning of the
debates.
The Senate had just finished a vote, and many of the GOP
senators had to leave the chamber just to be in the group marching back
in.
Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa held a sign for television
cameras and Republican senators as they entered the chamber: "I'll be home
watching 'The Bachelor.' "
Another Democratic sign, a big purple one
with gold "168 to 4" written on it -- the number of judicial nominees
confirmed by the Senate as opposed to the number blocked by Democrats --
upset Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
"That is clearly
against the Senate rules," said Gregg, who had Democrats remove it until
their turn to speak.
Republicans say the Democrats' filibusters
against judicial nominees are also against the rules.
"That's why
we're standing here tonight, to let the American people know that an abuse
is occurring," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Democratic Sen. Robert
Byrd of West Virginia condemned the Republicans for leaving work on an
appropriations bill to launch the debate.
"I'm not participating in
this, this marathon, talkathon, blameathon, whatever you want to call this,"
Byrd said. "I'm not interested in that right now. I'm interested in the
appropriations bill."
As the night grew late, fewer than 10 lawmakers
were left on the floor as senators started preparing for the late night
shifts.
While most of the focus will be on the Senate floor, senators
plan to buttress their cases by holding news conferences throughout the
night condemning the opposing side for its tactics: Republicans on the
Democratic filibusters, Democrats on the Republicans' "reverse
filibuster."
Democrats have used the threat of a filibuster to block
four U.S. Appeals Court nominees so far:
Alabama Attorney General
William Pryor, Texas judge Priscilla Owen, Mississippi judge Charles
Pickering and lawyer Miguel Estrada.
Others, including California
judges Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown, are expected to be blocked by
Democrats as well.
Frustrated at the delays, Estrada withdrew his
nomination in September.
In turn, Republicans -- who control the
Senate -- scheduled the 30-hour debate despite their effort to finish bills
revamping Medicare and energy policy, plus eight overdue spending bills in
time to adjourn by November 21.
"We only wish they would devote the
kind of attention they are to these 30 hours to the matters that the
American people care most about," said Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South
Dakota.
"They care a lot about the fact that 3 million of them don't
have jobs. They care a lot about the fact that their health insurance is
rising by more than 15 percent a year."
But Republicans want to draw
attention to the blockades, having failed multiple times to get the 60 votes
to force the confirmations in a Senate split with 51 GOP senators, 48
Democrats and one independent.
"Through our actions tonight,
Republicans hopefully will be able to focus more attention on this problem,
which in turn might stimulate enough outrage by the American public to sway
at least a
few more Democratic senators to do the right thing and
give these nominees a vote," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona.
Not since
1994 has the Senate been in session past 4 a.m., Senate observers
said.
Both sides set up strategy rooms right off the Senate floor
with large screen televisions and props to help make their case to reporters
and late-night C-SPAN viewers.
Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of
Vermont, for example, had a T-shirt saying "We confirmed 98 percent of
President Bush's judges" on the front and "and all we got was this lousy
T-shirt" on the back.
<image.tiff>
The Senate has
confirmed 168 federal trial and appeals judges since Bush took office and
Democrats have only blocked four.
Just in case someone gets sleepy,
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 GOP leader, said 12 to 15
senators have asked for cots to be set up so they can nap near the Senate
floor.
Advocates of civil and abortion rights that have led the
opposition against the four Bush nominees distributed to Senate offices care
packages that included coffee, analgesics and breath mints.
A senator
from each party will be on the floor at all times until at least midnight
Thursday. For example, a Republican will talk from 3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. while
a Democrat watches.
They will switch roles for the next 30 minutes
and then head home to bed, replaced by two others for the next shift lasting
as little as one hour.
Because Senate rules require agreement from
both sides to quickly confirm a nominee, the GOP cannot force a confirmation
vote as long as a Democrat is present on the floor to object.
But if
they fall asleep or stop paying attention, the GOP will immediately confirm
the nominees, said Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
"They're
forewarned: If the floor is not protected, the vote will be" called,
Santorum said. "We are going to do everything we can to do what they're
doing, ratcheting up the intensity on this issue."
In turn, Daschle
said, if Republicans stop paying attention, they will immediately pass
Democratic legislation such as a bill to raise the minimum wage or one to
create a tax credit to stimulate creation of manufacturing jobs.
"The
Republicans are consumed by those four jobs and ignore the 3 million jobs
that we've lost over the course of the last three years under this
administration's economic policies," Daschle
said.
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