Posted on 01/19/2006 9:09:20 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three top Senate Democrats said on Thursday they will vote against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito because they fear he would not provide an effective check to what they described as President George W. Bush's bid for expanded power.
While Alito appeared headed toward confirmation by the Republican-led Senate, Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts made the case against Bush's 55-year-old conservative candidate.
They expressed concern that if confirmed, Alito, a federal appeals judge since 1990, would push the nation's highest court to the right on a number of fronts, including abortion, civil rights, presidential powers and separation of church and state.
Even if Democrats cannot stop Alito from becoming a Supreme Court Justice, they want to set the stage to make him an issue in November congressional elections, along with Bush's recently disclosed domestic spying program without court warrants.
"I will not lend my support to an effort by this president to move the Supreme Court and the law radically to the right," said Leahy, top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, which plans to vote on Alito's nomination on Tuesday and send it to the full Senate.
"There is no reason to believe that Judge Alito will serve as an effective check and balance on government intrusion," Leahy said in a speech in Washington. "Indeed, his record suggests otherwise."
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
I wonder how the Dem base will react if there turn out to be at least 41 votes against Alito and they don't filibuster?
I am shocked! Simply shocked! (sarcasm)
I couldn't be more thrilled! If the Democrats oppose Alito, in my book, that is the best reason for me to support Alito.
SHOCKED, I SAY! WHAT? Sen. Turban and Swimmer against Alito?
Agreed the the judicial branch in general and the USSC in particular are the last bastions of real power that the Left has still a good control on it. Now they are losing the USSC with President Bush picks of Roberts and Alit., the Left is going hysteric because they know that they cannot do anything about it.
Sounds to me like they're building up to a filibuster. Do we know we have the 50 votes for the nuclear option?
I'm sure the line on this in Vegas was less than 1 to 1
Having these people vote against you should be a badge of honor.
Sounds like the very definition of an ideological litmus test.
My old college roommate's mother is friends with Judge Alito's mother. They go to the same church in Roseland, New Jersey.
Well, the judge's mother shared something with her that hasn't been in the papers and may bring a different prespective to those tears she shed in the hearing.
It seems Judge Alito's wife (the former Martha-Ann Bomgardner) has harbored disgust with Senator Kennedy since long before Splash's shameful treatment of her husband.
Long ago, the Senator was also less than kind to girl whose family was friends with the Bombgardner family. A girl that Martha-Ann knew fairly well.
A girl named Mary Jo Kopeckne.
WOW! Wait 'til that hits the newspapers!
God bless em', every one.
Maybe here's where the RATS are going: They'll say that Alito is so bad, so out of the mainstream, that they must have really extensive debate to educate the American public as to how bad he is. Like 100 hours of debate, enough to put the confirmation vote past Bush's SOTU address.
On the other hand, don't the RATS risk losing the votes of many of their Italian and Catholic supporters? Don't they know that?
Oh my God! LEAHY? Who saw that coming!?!?!?!?!? (sarcasm)
If this is news, so is John Warner, Conrad Burns, John Sununu and Judd Gregg announces their support for Alito today.
And wait, and wait, and wait...
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