Posted on 05/23/2005 11:10:50 AM PDT by QQQQQ
Cots were brought into the Capitol Monday as Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist scheduled an all-night session stretching into Tuesday to dramatize the debate over President Bush’s judicial nominees and the filibusters that Democrats have used to block votes on 10 of them.
The Senate debated the nomination of appeals court hopeful Priscilla Owen for four days last week and is set to vote on a motion to end the Owen debate on Tuesday.
Opening debate Monday morning, Frist reminded Democrats that he has offered them 100 hours of debate on each judicial nomination, an offer they rejected.
In Tuesday's vote, the key will be how many Democrats decide to join the 55 Republican senators in voting for the cloture motion. Under the current rules of the Senate, it takes 60 senators to vote to end debate.
If Frist does not win the cloture vote, he would seek a ruling of the presiding officer that further debate was dilatory. If the Senate sustained such a ruling by majority vote, then the filibuster-ending threshold would be lowered from 60 to 51.
Frist's proposed filibuster rule change would apply only to nominations, not to legislation.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
If they would just act like they are the majority consistently for 6 months - and point out that they are indeed the majority - all of the media game woiuld be exposed for what they are.
But they have been trained into submission by the Democrats.
They better watch it because they may lose their majority if they are not careul, and it may not be so easy to get back once it is gone.
It is all so stupid because Bush ran a quite open campaign on this issue (and every other.) He did not signal some "hidden agenda" to consevatives and mask that from the so called "moderate" voter. The 04 election was most particularly not about "moderates."
The GOP is really making hemselves look foolish.
They can still turn it around, but time is a wasting.
Where did you get that? These nominees have been voted out of committee, the filibuster stops an up or down vote on the floor.
Ah. Just so.
First should extend that to an all-weeker, or an all-monther if necessary to demonstrate to the American public the kind of lunatics that have shanghied the Democrat Party.
But then we DO have a two Party system. One Party has no brain or morals and the other Party has no testacles or backbone.
This stunt will go nowhere. Why bring cots, why not just start the filibuster and make em talk? Because it's just a photo op. What happened to all the threats last week about pushing the button and invoking the nuclear option? Does Frist need cots to do that? This is just more pandering for the cameras.
Actually, if we would get rid of this "gentlemen's filibuster" thing and get back to the old-fashioned idea of filibusters, it would be a moot point. What the 'Dems have done to the nominees is not stopping them by filibuster, but rather by the mere THREAT of a filibuster. Traditionally, a party carrying out a filibuster must continue to speak on the floor of the Senate 24 hours a day, seven days a week or end the filibuster. No other Senate business can be done during a filibuster. If they quit speaking, then the filibuster is over and a vote can be taken. We should force them to do an ACTUAL filibuster, rather than this threatened one. I don't see them actually speaking on the floor for more than a few days, and once they are tired and quit, we can get an up or down vote.
I agree that would end all this real quick. I would make the democrats shut everything down. And once they give up on one judge I would send up another. I would make them sleep on the floor till the backlog is cleared.
"No, they should not listen to media polls, they should listen to the voter that elected them."
I agree, and SOME of them do not listen to polls.
However, SOME of them do - like the waverers. If telling them about the Rasmussen poll gets them to do the right things, why not?
They will just delay the vote for a change in filibuster. But then, that might be a good strategy. Allow the nominees for the lower courts through and delay the battle unilt the next SC nominee where RINO's in the Senate will be much more likely to balk at a true conservative judge.
Those "moderates" need strong candidates facing them in the primaries and the RNC's backing of those challengers.
Any of them that vote against this should be made an example of GOP wrath. Fat chance of that.
CALL SENATOR LINDSAY GRAHAM'S OFFICE IN COLUMBIA SC TO PROTEST HIS SELLING OUT TO THE DEMOCRATS BY AGREEING TO ENTER INTO A "COMPROMISE" ON THE FILIBUSTER.
DON'T BOTHER WITH THE US CAPITOL NUMBER OFR HIM; IT'S ALWAYS BUSY.
HIS NUMBER IN COLUMBIA IS: 803-933-0112
CALL SENATOR LINDSAY GRAHAM'S OFFICE IN COLUMBIA SC TO PROTEST HIS SELLING OUT TO THE DEMOCRATS BY AGREEING TO ENTER INTO A "COMPROMISE" ON THE FILIBUSTER.
DON'T BOTHER WITH THE US CAPITOL NUMBER OFR HIM; IT'S ALWAYS BUSY.
HIS NUMBER IN COLUMBIA IS: 803-933-0112
Going to the matts, or mattresses is from Mafia lingo.
It's time for the shooting war to start.
Because they actually have nothing on these nominees, the real filibuster would be over in about 2 hours.
Pleasantly surprised to see this little bit included..."
Do they mean non-judicial nominations like Bolton's too?
No prob. I was trying to point out that PMSNBC included this tidbit that most LSM stories conveniently forget.
The "odd" behavior you write of is due to the (D)s marching to the Abortion Lobby's insistence of using "any means necessary" to knock off judicial nominees they hate.
If I recall, Clemenza and Pauley were actually looking for mattresses during that car ride, and Clemenza stopped off for gnoccis and canoles on the way.
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