Judicial Confirmation Hypocrisy-(Dems pontificating on "NO Filibuster," when they had majority)

CENTER FOR INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM.ORG ^ | MAY 19, 2005 | EDITOR

[Qwinn]

Um, the majority of those quotes are in regards to -legislative- filibusters, not judicial nominations.

And yes, there's a huge difference.

Qwinn

[Qwinn]

Oh, and you might ask, why were Republicans defending legislative filibusters? The Democrats couldn't possibly have been so baldly hypocritical as to have opposed even -those-, which unlike judicial filibusters really -do- have hundreds of years of precedent and tradition behind them.

Actually - yes, they could be that hypocritical. And they were.

Filibuster Rules: Then & Now

In 1995, 19 Democrats voted to eliminate all filibusters.

by Sean Rushton

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D., Conn.) on Wednesday held a press conference to criticize Republican efforts to restore Senate tradition to the judicial confirmation process. But another proposal regarding Senate rules somehow escaped his ire, and has received scant attention despite the New York Times editorial board’s recently saying it would go “even further than the ‘nuclear option’ in eliminating the power of the filibuster.”

That proposal would amend Senate rules to end all filibusters, not just those against judicial nominees. The proposal’s sponsor said that “the filibuster rules are unconstitutional” and was quoted as saying “the filibuster is nothing short of legislative piracy.” He announced his intent to end all filibusters with an unambiguous statement: “We cannot allow the filibuster to bring Congress to a grinding halt. So today I start a drive to do away with a dinosaur — the filibuster rule.”

Despite its support by several senior senators, you haven’t heard about this proposal in the MoveOn.org ads blasting Senate Republicans. And you probably haven’t heard about it from Senate Democrats who now give their full-throated support to filibusters against President Bush’s nominees. Why? Because the proposal wasn’t offered by Republicans; it was introduced in 1995 by senior Democrats, including Sens. Lieberman and Tom Harkin (D., Iowa). When it came to a vote, 19 Democrats, including leading blue-state senators such as Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, supported the measure.

Link: National Review

Qwinn

[Beth528]

A minority of Senate Democrats are effectively changing the law with their obstructionist tactics."Fully qualified individuals are being denied due process by partisan-minded Senate Democrats."