ALL the good news is going the GOP's way today !!:Supreme Court won't block TEXAS GOP's redistricting plan
Excerpt:
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court refused Friday to block a hard-fought Republican redistricting plan in Texas that could cost Democrats as many as six seats in Congress.
The justices will announce later this year whether they will consider an appeal from congressional Democrats and others who claim that the map dilutes minority voting strength. In the meantime, they rejected an emergency appeal that sought to stop the state from using the new boundaries in this year's elections.
Report: Bush installs Pickering on appeals courtPresident's move bypasses Democrats who had blocked him
03:07 PM CST on Friday, January 16, 2004
WASHINGTON - President Bush installed Charles Pickering on a federal appeals court Friday, bypassing Democrats who had stalled his nomination for more than two years, sources said.
Bush appointed Pickering by a recess appointment which avoids the confirmation process. Such appointments are valid until the next Congress takes office, in this case in January 2005.
Pickering, a federal trial judge who Bush nominated for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, has been waiting for a confirmation vote in the Senate.
Democrats have accused him of supporting segregation as a young man, and pushing anti-abortion and anti-voting rights views as a state lawmaker.
They also have said they wouldn't be able to trust Pickering to keep his conservative opinions out of his work on the federal appeals court.
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