Deal averts filibuster showdown

MSNBC ^ | May 23, 2005 | Associated Press

[kennedy]

Centrists from both parties reached a compromise Monday night to avoid a showdown on President Bush’s stalled judicial nominees and the Senate’s own filibuster rules, officials from both parties said.

[AlGone2001]

Bye-Bye!

I am not leaving FR.

I just have the courage to admit we were stabbed in the back.

Everyone else can stay on Fantasy Island, but the GOP just gave the farm to the democrats tonight.

I'm not supporting the GOP any more because they quit supporting me.

When was the last time you saw the GOP Chairman on TV? Was he pushing for the rule change? Was he warning the RINOs that they'd not get a penny from him if they compromised?

Where was Frist all week? Was on TV applying pressure.

No. They all treat our money as though it were pay for a 9-5 job. Not one more penny from me.

Why is it that they aren't bombarding the airways with commercials in favor of the rule change? It's because they are cowards.

Say what you will, but all honesty compels one to admit that the Christian conservatives propelled the GOP to a massive victory last year. They just betrayed us.

I didn't leave the GOP. They left me.

[LS]

Call me a hack then. I think we win. The media won't spin it that way, but look at the confirmations. Oh, and Bolton gets in, too.

[Les_Miserables]

Re Your POST 225: Good post. Same for us here in Georgia. Let's all get busy on the RINOs and the RNC and get this fixed. I had a discussion with someone on another thread who viewed RINOs as preferable to loony RATS. Not me brother. At least you can depend on a RAT to be a RAT. We have made good progress but tonight makes it clear the job is not over and we can't give up before we get it done. Take the good from this and press on. Next fight is SCOTUS and we must win that one. And come November 2006 let's remember tonight and act accordingly.

[Nuc1]

The RATS got more than the filibuster they just sank the Republican Party. The RATS know it and the Republicans are clueless. I'd bet the Repubs learn more about how much this cost them this week.

[jeremiah]

Yeah, sure........this is a win for conservatives...Just like the Campaign finance reform....

[DCPatriot]

I'm just ragging on you a bit.

I'm disappointed too, but realize that if the Dems renege as we get further into President Bush's 2nd term...it will spell a disaster for their (DEM) eventual nominee.

I didn't mean to infer you were leaving FR...I was referring to your statement of leaving the GOP Party...which I truly believe is cutting off your nose to spite your face.

[Les_Miserables]

Sorry but Harry has been pretty consistent and his RATs are still in line..can't say that for the RINOs. Time will tell...true...but my money is not on the RINOs supporting the Constitutional Option until they get a dent in their helmet that let's them know who they work for.

[AlGone2001]

This looks like an incremental win for us & the fight continues.

No.

How about the fact that the democrats and RINOs will filibuster those who hold extreme views? Hmmmm..... That means "pro-lifers" and "traditional marriage".

There is nothing incremental about this.

The only ones who won were the democrats, because those judges would have made it with the rule change.

The GOP just stabbed the Christians who elected them in the back. I am one of them.

[California Patriot]

"We"? Six Republicans have just demonstrated for all time that they're disloyal to their party. Without them, we can accomplish nothing and the Rats run the Senate.

The pool of "moderate" and cowardly Republicans is larger than most people realize. The dopes you saw at the press conference today were just the front men and front women.
There are more. Today, they seized control of the Senate.
Frist is hung out to dry, and the GOP will never win another tough vote in this congress. We have also taken a big step toward a bad '06 election and a disastrous '08.
Can you say President Hellary?

[jeremiah]

Republicans DID cave, they could have actually made the Democrats filibuster, not just say they were going to do it. When there are 70-30 split in the Senate, THEN will conservatives agenda be served?

[Archon of the East]

I'll bet that less than 1 in 100 voters even knows the name of the GOP Chairman. Everyone knows Howard Dean.

This is absolutely true, after you stated this I was going to sarcastically say" Is it still Mehlmen" but it creeped into my mind that I better go check, and it is in fact still Mehlman.

[LS]

Check back in about six weeks.

[LS]

You really do need to read a little military strategy. Sun Tzu's "Golden Bridge." Everyone from Tommy Franks to "Major Bob" Bevalaqua agreed with that one.

[California Patriot]

Yeah, that might happen about 50 years from now.

If the United States still exists.

[AlGone2001]

"I didn't mean to infer you were leaving FR...I was referring to your statement of leaving the GOP Party...which I truly believe is cutting off your nose to spite your face."

No. They cut off their nose to spite their faces. They betrayed a longtime financial supporter and voter.

Mark my words. I was here last year telling everyone that the GOP would win big because they ran nationally on a socially conservative agenda (anti gay marriage).

I am telling you tonight that they are going to get trounced in 2006 if Frist doesn't find a way to turn this around.

Where has the GOP Chairman been? I see Dean every day.

[Eagles6]

I doubt if we could get any of the posers away from the GOP feed trough. I live in PA and we have 2 Republican senators. Santorum is pretty good but Specter is a RINO. We can still support the GOP(as distasteful as it may be) and also support a 3rd party candidate. Haven't figured out all the ramifications. Definitely can't let the dems win. A 3rd party with that 10-15% would wield considerable power.

I like the GOP stand on the 2nd Amendment and the WOT but they don't seem to want to get in the gutter and fight. The only hope of getting Roe v Wade overturned is to get pro-life judges appointed to SCOTUS and if the GOP isn't going to fight for that they will lose my family and me.

[FreeReign]

Excuse me???? Frist is the head of the GOP in the Senate. If his party caved, then HE caved as well. Guilt by association. I will no longer vote GOP, or anyone for that matter.

Frist didn't cave. You're caving. Bye.

[Mark Hamilton]

I don't know how old you are, I suspect much younger than I. For 35 years I have voted Republican, I've worked for the party, I've chaired groups devoted to the GOP.

Everyday, here in California, I've gone to work and defended conservatives. They need money, I've sent it. They need advocacy, I've provided it. When Ford dumped Reagan in 1976, I ate crow and supported Ford (the loser). All I have ever expected from the party, and fellow Republicans, is loyalty.

Yet, in those 35 years I've never seen loyality by liberal Republicans (we used to call them Rockefeller Republicans). Whenever there is a crunch, they run like rabbits...but whenever they need help, they feel free to pull the Republican card in donations, manpower, and votes.

There comes a point when enough is enough. The compromise is a rotten and horrible deal, even worse than all the rumored compromises. THREE, THREE JUDGES...that's it. No promises, filibustering as a tactic is embodied in an agreement.

You say, "thats okay, be a sucker, continue to work". I say "F that, I'm not being exploited". If I wanted to lose, and maintain self respect, I'd be a libertarian. If I wanted to win, I'd be a democrat. If I wanted to be a foolish sucker, I'd vote Republican.

Frist has made it clear "We've sent a message about abuse of power to Bush"...what is Frist's response...he squeaks like a mouse with tepid assurances its not really a loss.

Unless Frist says, "Anytime the Democrats filibuster I will submit the constitutional option for a majority vote" he is lost.

We lost. I accept that. We were stabbed in the back, I will not accept that.

Tomorrow I quit the party. The next day, I will only work for party's and canidates that are moral...the Warner's and McCains of the world should be eliminated. If necessary I would work for democrats to see that happen.

[FreeReign]

"So you're leaving the GOP because 7 GOP Senators made a weasely deal? What about the 48 GOP Senators who *didn't* betray our principles?" They did betray us. Where were they all week when they could have been placing heavy pressure on the betrayers?

How do you know what pressure the other 48 applied?

[byablue]

Now is not the time to bolt the Republican party.... way past time to do some serious house cleaning....Both he and Byrd need some real serious opposition.
Absolutely. Byrd needs to be put in a home. It was stressed that this agreement is based on "trust" and "faith". Mentioned several times in broadcast. Byrd is a snake. He has manipulated Senate rules to death and will do it again. Of course Dems call it mastery of Senate rules but when Republicans do it it's manipulation. That's why we need to cool out, get Owen, Pryor, and Brown officially in place, then start from there.