Posted on 07/06/2005 3:52:15 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Democrats say the courtesy calls they've received from President Bush and his top aide, while appreciated, fall far short of the advice and consent consultations they expect before Bush announces a Supreme Court nominee.
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois got a call Wednesday from White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who is with Bush in Europe for the Group of Eight summit.
Card has also called Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Charles Schumer of New York and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, but no names of possible nominees were mentioned, according to their aides.
The Democrats said they want to know more — specifically whom the president is considering — before Bush sends his first Supreme Court nomination to the Republican-controlled Senate for confirmation.
"To be meaningful, consultation should include who the president is really considering so we can give responsive and useful advice," Kennedy said.
Bush and White House aides have been calling senators since Friday, when Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced she would retire once her successor is confirmed.
Among the first to get a call from Bush directly was Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee that will hold hearings on the nomination.
After voting as a bloc to stop several of President Bush's appeals court choices, Democrats have been demanding for weeks that President Bush consult with them before naming a Supreme Court nominee.
An agreement in May struck by the "Gang of 14" — seven Democrats and seven Republicans — includes a pledge not to filibuster judicial nominees except in extraordinary circumstances. At the same time, they agreed to oppose attempts by GOP leaders to change filibuster procedures that Democrats have used to block nominees.
Nelson played a pivotal role in bringing those 14 senators together, while Durbin, Kennedy and Schumer all sit on the Judiciary Committee. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record), another Judiciary Committee Democrat, also got a call from the White House, but her spokesman would not say who called.
Nelson told Card that Bush's "No. 1 goal should be getting a good jurist who won't be an activist judge" and that they would talk more once the president makes it back to Washington, said David DiMartino, the senator's spokesman.
Bush has said he would consult with senators on both sides, but Republicans say the White House will not be able to do enough to satisfy Democrats and liberal groups.
"For some senators and outside groups, no amount of consultation will ever be sufficient," said Texas Sen. John Cornyn (news, bio, voting record), a Judiciary Committee Republican.
Leahy and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are expected to go to the White House on Monday along with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to talk more with Bush about the upcoming vacancy.
HELLOOoo? HELLLOOoooo ?
What part of 'L O S E R' don't the libs understand????
It's not their turn to do anything....they don't have a turn....they LOST!!!
There, that's better...
That's funny, I don't remember bill clinton making courtesy calls on the Republicans when he proposed controversial appointments. He was far too busy playing gold, going to fund raisers, or traveling to foreign parts with his cast of thousands.
I think Bush should meet with these folks....and then pin their ears back about the renegade nature of the courts, how he and the Republican Senate are going to rectify the situation, and how they (the Dems) can do nothing to stop them.
"...fall far short of the advice and consent consultations they expect..."
That sentence would sound so much better if it ended with "that the Constitution requires." Or perhaps "that all past Democratic presidents have done."
golf.
*Snort*guffaw*snicker*....He has been at so long, the lies all seem like truths to him..
The May agreement was just a delay of the inevitable. This posturing is only a prelude to the filibuster which is a certainty. The Republicans will have to match the audacity of the Democrats or cede control of the federal courts to the minority party.
..DAMN!...not Specter. :((
These guys aren't even trying to disguise what they're trying to do, they're so desperate. All they want is a bunch of pinatas they can flail away at over the summer recess, in the hope they can weaken them to the point where they have no public support and are thus that much easier to filibuster and pound on during the confirmation hearings.
President Bush is playing his cards very close to the vest, and I'll bet it's well into August before he even announces his nominee. These increasingly shrill demands to release the list NOW are going to get mighty tiresome.
Why not ask the Dems to present a list of their candidates.
Like social security they wouldn't have ideas, they only want to tear down. They are totally berift of ideas or meaningful proposals.
If they did supply a slate of candidates we would at least get some serious yucks.
I suggest Bush schedule the meeting at French Gay nightclub so that Kennedy can get even more stinkin' drunk,
Durbin can discuss treason with the Frogs, and the Democrats can take it up the ass!
Agree, well into August and between now and then the librules are going absolutely bonkers. They should everybody alive disqualified by then.
Great strategy.
The President should wait til the depths of August to announce his nominee (Janice Rodgers Brown), when Teddy will be too busy getting drunk and chasing barmaids in Palm Beach to notice.
This is so much bullshiite it takes the breath away!
The Founding Fathers didn't want or expect the perfumed princes Senators to have any more input other than a simple "yeah" or "nay" vote on the matter.
Here is what the men on the scene when the Constitution was actually written had to say about this matter, and before it was even ratified:
"It will be the office of the President to NOMINATE, and, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to APPOINT. There will, of course, be no exertion of CHOICE on the part of the Senate. They may defeat one choice of the Executive, and oblige him to make another; but they cannot themselves CHOOSE, they can only ratify or reject the choice of the President." - Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 66, 1787
(emphasis in the original)
The Liberals, as usual, are trying to rewrite the constitution to their own advantage.
Considering the animosity and disrespect the leftists have shown to the President, I'm amazed he calls them at all.
He should invite them into the oval office, administer molten iron enemas to them all, then ask them to state their concerns.
-PJ
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