Lines Drawn for 30-Hour Debate (Senate Judicial Confirmations)

Roll Call ^ | November 6, 2003 | Paul Kane

[hchutch]

Can't get the damn votes, then WTF is he supposed to do? As it is, it looks as if several of the Senators may have problems that make this 30-hour run difficult at best. The only remaining option is to set things up to take them down in the 2004 elections.

Life sucks, it's f***ing unfair, and the bad guys get away with s*** all the f***ing time. At the same time, Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan have Alzheimer's, Rush had to go to rehab, and a guy like Carlos Castano is treated like crap by the State Department. None of them deserve that, but WTF else can Frist do with the crap he's been handed but adapt and do something to make them pay as big a price as he can?

If they could make the nuclear option work, I bet they'd do it. However, they can't. So, if you can't get the results, at least make them pay the price in the next election. If the margin is filibuster-proof, go for it. Or at least get enough to make the nuclear option work.

If you want to see the bad guys thwarted every time, go watch Power Rangers, Transformers, or G.I. Joe. But in real life, sometimes the bad guys get away with their schemes, at least for the short term. This looks to be one of those times, I hate to say.

So, all that is left is to make the Dems pay, and in making them pay, get enough to make the nuclear option a viable one.

[ImpBill]

Yep all show ... no substance.

They will all go home feeling like they have done something over the holiday recess.

[Bubba_Leroy]

you only need to have your 51 ready to run right in and vote

That's the problem. We don't have 51. There are enough RINOs that have said they would vote against it that we can't win the vote.

[hchutch]

I don't see how much it can work. More likely, they are going to have to go for 2004.

The bad guys sometimes get away with it. This appears to be one of those times.

[You Dirty Rats]

I agree with you -- Frist can't do anything if he doesn't have the votes. The Senate is not the House -- the Majority Leader in the Senate has nowhere near the power of the Speaker in the House.

Instead of bashing Frist, we need to spend our energy running more dirty 'rat Senators out of Washington, and Tommy is first on the list!

[hobbes1]

Read the post more carefully. You do not need 51, you need 2/3 present and voting.....


the more you have the less likely they can shuttle enough votes to the Senate in time to prevail.

[Teacher317]

I was hoping that was the real and subtle reason behind this plan. Let's find out!

[WileyC]

This all seems a bit silly - debate with a 30 hour time limit, pre-announced.

I had an interesting thought. What if Frist immediately announces another 30 hour debate scheduled right at the end of the first one? If Reps have their ducks (quietly) set up and the Dems don't... heh, heh, heh.

[hobbes1]

Me too.....

[Southack]

The concept for how this works is easy: Frist schedules 30 hours of continuous discussion. The Dems have to be there. At any point in time the Repubs can call for unanimous consent, or for a cloture vote, or if a Democrat can't hold the floor during his/her filibuster, then the vote for confirmation on our judges happens.

Thus, Frist can extend this 30 hours at his pleasure, or wait and restart the 30 hours of discussion on a future day...until such time as the Dems finally stumble.

Sharpton has already broken ranks. He's calling for an up or down vote on Brown.

In the meantime, it's to our advantage to drag this out, portray the Dems as being obstructionists, and then whip them anyway. Frist is even doing this strategy in such a manner so that we can't even be portrayed as bullies railroading our appointments through.

It's smart politics, and the Dems are clueless as to how to stop it.

[Iconoclast2]

The only good that comes from this is 30 hours when the Senate can't be hammering more nails into the coffin of our Free Republic. Can anyone really believe that this is a good faith effort by the Rs to get these judges on the bench? It's all bread and circuses for the undiscerning.

[WileyC]

And the freakin' White House won't push the damn issue!!!!

I felt the way you do until I noticed how this was a great wedge issue in the recent Governorship elections. It'd be great ammunition against a lot of Dems in 2004, I think.

[freeangel]

One can dream. ABC, CBS, NBC and most newspapers will be lucky to give these proceedings a 10th page nod. Only FOX will cover it.

[hobbes1]

ABC, CBS, NBC and most newspapers will be lucky to give these proceedings a 10th page nod.

Unless the Pubbies pull something smart, and underhanded....

[Rebelbase]

GOP in previous confirmation hearings.___________Newly fluffed 30 hour GOP debate strategery.

[Starboard]

Can anyone really believe that this is a good faith effort by the Rs to get these judges on the bench?

One thing we know for sure--its an effort that would never have happend under Lott's leadership. Let's at least give Frist a chance to pull this of and see how things unfold before reaching any conclusions.

[Warrior Nurse]

What makes you think that he doesn't carry his flask with him? Remember he is the son of a bootlegger so I am sure he is versed in the family business of concealing booze. As long as he doesn't cross the Frederick Douglass bridge while going to the capital with a female staff member he should be there.

[Cboldt]

A rule change has been proposed. S138 IIRC. It's been out there for months.

[hobbes1]

I had thought so, but I could not find the confirmation.

[1Old Pro]

Only 30 hours?