The Discerning Texan
All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke
-- Edmund Burke
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Finally showing signs of life? Senate Republicans reportedly to invoke Nuclear Option soon
Part of the Republican strategy to get a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority
in the US Sentate is to paint the Democrats as exactly what they are: more interested on obstruction than bipartisan cooperation for the good of the country.
Even for legislation that is obviously in the national interest (e.g. increased energy independence--which would lower gas prices, a booming enconomy and the role of tax cuts in making that happen, an immigration bill that really does protect our borders, tax reform, reforming social security, and most importantly: giving the President the funds and tools he needs to win the global war on Islamist terror), Dems do not want a Republican Congress and President to get the political credit for things the voting public clearly wants. So they obstruct...and obstrct...and obstruct. And then they try to blame President Bush for the failure to move through meaningful legislation.. And in the game of election-year politicsit is in the obvious interest of Republicans to ensure the public understands the Democrats' obsturct-at-all-cost mentality, and to raise the public's consciousness of the high cost to the country's security that this party-over-country mindset brings.
This is why when I saw this note from Robert Novak, which shows the Republicans possibly finally making a long-overdue decision to stand up to the Democrat tactics of filibustering appeals court judges they don't like--a tactic, by the way, that is unprecedented in American history--it gave me great hope for the fall elections; because should the Republicans be forced to play the "nuclear option" in the coming months, it will clearly show the Democrats to be the obstructionists they are.
On the other hand, the Democrats know this is coming; so when the rubber meets the road, the Democrats could back down on two Bush appointees they have been blocking for several years now. Either way, I hope Novak is right here--I think it is a win-win for the Republicans to make this move. I just hope Frist has the cajones to do it:
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Thursday quietly blocked consideration of President Bush's 3-year-old nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh as a federal appeals court judge, beginning a process that may trigger a constitutional test.
Under committee procedures, the Democrats can automatically block such a nomination only once. Kavanaugh is expected to be voted out of Judiciary on a straight party-line vote this coming week. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will come under heavy pressure to conduct a filibuster.
Assuming that Republicans cannot get the 60 votes needed for cloture, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist then intends to invoke the so-called nuclear option to confirm Kavanaugh by a majority vote. The showdown is expected within the next month. The same procedure may be used to try to confirm U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, whose appeals court nomination has been on the Senate floor for a year.
in the US Sentate is to paint the Democrats as exactly what they are: more interested on obstruction than bipartisan cooperation for the good of the country. Even for legislation that is obviously in the national interest (e.g. increased energy independence--which would lower gas prices, a booming enconomy and the role of tax cuts in making that happen, an immigration bill that really does protect our borders, tax reform, reforming social security, and most importantly: giving the President the funds and tools he needs to win the global war on Islamist terror), Dems do not want a Republican Congress and President to get the political credit for things the voting public clearly wants. So they obstruct...and obstrct...and obstruct. And then they try to blame President Bush for the failure to move through meaningful legislation.. And in the game of election-year politicsit is in the obvious interest of Republicans to ensure the public understands the Democrats' obsturct-at-all-cost mentality, and to raise the public's consciousness of the high cost to the country's security that this party-over-country mindset brings.
This is why when I saw this note from Robert Novak, which shows the Republicans possibly finally making a long-overdue decision to stand up to the Democrat tactics of filibustering appeals court judges they don't like--a tactic, by the way, that is unprecedented in American history--it gave me great hope for the fall elections; because should the Republicans be forced to play the "nuclear option" in the coming months, it will clearly show the Democrats to be the obstructionists they are.
On the other hand, the Democrats know this is coming; so when the rubber meets the road, the Democrats could back down on two Bush appointees they have been blocking for several years now. Either way, I hope Novak is right here--I think it is a win-win for the Republicans to make this move. I just hope Frist has the cajones to do it:
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats on Thursday quietly blocked consideration of President Bush's 3-year-old nomination of White House aide Brett Kavanaugh as a federal appeals court judge, beginning a process that may trigger a constitutional test.
Under committee procedures, the Democrats can automatically block such a nomination only once. Kavanaugh is expected to be voted out of Judiciary on a straight party-line vote this coming week. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will come under heavy pressure to conduct a filibuster.
Assuming that Republicans cannot get the 60 votes needed for cloture, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist then intends to invoke the so-called nuclear option to confirm Kavanaugh by a majority vote. The showdown is expected within the next month. The same procedure may be used to try to confirm U.S. District Judge Terrence W. Boyle, whose appeals court nomination has been on the Senate floor for a year.
