It is time, past time actually, for the Republicans in the US Senate to use their oft-threatened “Nuclear Option” and get the President’s judicial nominees approved by the Senate wih a simple yea or nay vote by a simple majority vote of the entire Senate.
As much screaming and hollering as the Democrats are doing, you’d think this was against the law, or something. It’s not. It is constitutional and, in fact, has been used before… in 1975.
Senator Bill Frist, the Senate Majority leader, has a responsibility to get the President’s nominees through the Senate. The Democrats are playing their usual obstructionist games and threatening to filibuster the nomination and keep it from coming to a vote. The “Nuclear Option” would solve that and allow the full Senate to vote and approved the nominees.
As we look down the road, a ways, we can see a Supreme Court Justice retiring and a Presidential nominee to replace him, or her, on the bench. Now is the time for the Republicans to serve notice that they will get the Supreme Court nominee brought to the full Senate and get a simple up, or down, vote on his/her nomination.
Do it now and let the Democrats get used to it.
It is very likely a new Supreme Court Chief Justice will be named shortly. I strongly urge the President to appoint Antonin Scalia to that post.
In a few months I expect a second opening on the court. So, the Republicans need to set the precedent, now, with the so-called “Nuclear Option”, to prove they mean business and will have no more of the bullying from the Senate Democrats.
Senator Frist, just do it!
Your Obedient Servant,
“Longstreet”
“God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it.” ... Daniel Webster ... These posts will reflect my personal opinions, and views, of the world in which we live from, of course, the viewpoint of a conservative "Southern American".
3 comments:
I'm not sure what the term "Nulear Option" means. but I agree that it is time to push back. If the obstructionists want to 'filibuster', I say let them filibuster but make them filibuster the proper way...like Strom did way back when. When they have no more wind, VOTE.
As we write this, the Senate is debating the nomination of mining and cattle industry lobbyist William Myers III for a lifetime appointment to the Circuit Court of Appeals -- the second highest court in the land. Myers is the first of 20 nominees Bush has re-submitted in his second term. All 20 repeat nominees were rejected last term by Senate Democrats (as compared to 204 judges they accepted) because these nominees consistently sided with corporate special interests over the rights of ordinary Americans.
The Senate has the power to approve or reject judicial nominations because judges -- above all else -- must be trusted by Americans on all sides to rule fairly. So why does Bush refuse to send new nominees both parties can agree on? Because while his presidency will be over in 4 years, the judges he appoints will be on the bench for the rest of their lives. This is Bush's big push to lock in his hard right, corporate-friendly ideology for decades to come -- and that is exactly why we must not back down now.
The fight begins today. The Myers vote is a key test -- and may well determine whether Bush can stack the judiciary, all the way up to the Supreme Court, with a steady stream of hard right, pro-corporate judges.
Here's a brief summary of just the first three of the 20 partisan judges re-nominated by President Bush.William Myers III has never been a judge and spent most of his career as a lobbyist for the cattle and mining industry.[1] He has written that all habitat conservation laws are unconstitutional because they interfere with potential profit.[2] In 2001, Bush appointed him as the chief lawyer for the Department of the Interior. In that role he continued as a champion of corporate interests, setting his agenda in meetings with former employers he promised not to speak with, and even illegally giving away sacred Native American land to be strip mined.[3]
Terrence Boyle was a legal aide to Jesse Helms. As a judge, his signature decisions have attempted to circumvent federal laws barring employment discrimination by race, gender, and disability.[4] His rulings have been overturned a staggering 120 times by the conservative 4th District Court of Appeals, either due to gross errors in judgment or simple incompetence.[5]
William Pryor Jr. served as Attorney General of Alabama, where he took money from Phillip Morris, fought against the anti-tobacco lawsuit until it was almost over, and cost the people of Alabama billions in settlement money for their healthcare system as a result.[6] He called Roe v. Wade "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history," and has consistently argued against the federal protections for the civil rights of minorities, lesbian and gay couples, women, and the disabled.[7]If we falter now, then decades down the road dozens of judges like this will still be ruling in favor of unchecked corporate greed and against the basic principles of accountability and fairness.The Bush Administration is prepared to stop at nothing to smash Democratic resistance and stack the courts. As President of the Senate, Dick Cheney has even threatened to push these 20 through by using a parliamentary trick so abusive even he calls it the "nuclear option." If they can get away with it, the "nuclear option" would eliminate the right to filibuster -- a rule that has allowed 40 or more Senators to keep extremists from all sides off the courts for centuries.If that happens, when Supreme Court vacancies begin to open up in a few months there will be no motivation for Bush to nominate justices acceptable to both parties, and no ability for Democrats to oppose even the most dangerous extremists.We must draw the line here, by stopping Bush's 20 repeat nominees. They were rejected once -- they can and must be rejected again.Please sign the petition today:
http://www.moveonpac.org/judges/Thanks for all that you do,--Ben Brandzel, Eli Pariser and the whole MoveOn PAC Team
Tuesday, March 1st, 2005Notes:
[1] "Unfit to Judge," Community Rights Council, 4/2/04.
[2] "Myers Troubling Legal Philosophy," People for the American Way.
[3] "Environmental Group Calls on Senate to Block Myers Nomination: Ethical Problems and Anti-Environmental Activism Make Him Unfit for Judgeship," Friends of the Earth, 2/5/05.
[4] "Federal Judge Terrence Boyle Unfit for Promotion to Appeals Court," People for the American Way, 2/23/05.
[5] "Eastern District of North Carolina Terrence Boyle Nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit," Alliance for Justice.
[6] Eric Fleischauer, "Pryor Called a Tobacco Sellout," Decatur Daily News, 10/30/02.
Thanks for your comments! It always helps for the opposition to make my points for me.
It now appears the "Nuclear Option"
will be used. Thank goodness! It is about time.
Your comments underscored my reasoning for using every legal tactic at our disposal to get those nominees thru the Senate and into office so they can stop the liberal juggernaut.
Thank you, again!
"Longstreet"
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