(Flashback) Democrats, Block Those Bush Appointees

prospect.org ^ | 12/19/01 | Robert Kuttner

[cotton1706]

Republicans now control the executive and legislative branches of government and are aiming for a lock on the third branch, the federal courts. All that stands in their way are 50 Democratic senators, 40 of whom can mount a filibuster. But will the Democrats be as unified and as tough as the Republicans?

We will get a preview of the Democrats' resolve when the Senate takes up the nomination of Ted Olson as solicitor general. Olson, who was less than candid with the Senate Judiciary Committee about his role in the Clinton-bashing Arkansas Project, would be the most partisan solicitor general ever.

[Slings and Arrows]

“The issue is never the issue. The issue is the revolution.”
—David Horowitz, quoting unnamed SDS leader.

[Ben Ficklin]

The dems opposed all Bush nominees that were Federalists. Not just judges but also Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General.

Many dems subscribed to the conspiracy theory that the GOP was using the free trade agreements(NAFTA, CAFTA, FTAA) as a means and method to roll back US regulatory law including the New Deal and this method had begun at the Federalist Society.

The dems opposed not just members of the Federalist Society, but also any appointee with a federalist paper trail.

This theory of the GOP using FTAs to roll back US regulatory law began with William Greiders' article in the Nation Magazine(Nov, 2001)

The Right and US Trade: Invalidating the 20th Century

After the article came out, Hillary would proclaim the Federalist Society to be the cornerstone of the VRWC and the dems would organize the Constitution Society as an offset to the Federalist Society.

Today, many democrats think Obama is in cahoots with GOP because he is pushing the Trans Pacific Partnership, an FTA that they think is bigger and worse that NAFTA.

[Kenton]

Sorry Dems, you guys are responsible for the unwritten "Harry Reid" rule that kept legislation that passed the House in Harry Reid's waste basket unless it suited Harry.

The Republicans better hold firm on this. If McConnell blows it, it will be political suicide, not the sort of thing that McConnell wants to be the final event of his legacy. It will also be the end of the GOP as we know it.