Posted on 01/30/2006 5:57:36 AM PST by ken5050
Good Monday morning, fellow Freeper political junkies. One of the more ridiculous episodes of political theater is about to play itself out on the Senate floor, as the John Kerry-led democrats mount an exercise in political futility which will further expose their total irrelevance..So join us today, or drop in on occasion, for the festivities...
Great title.. will be running out to ER soon on family matter but want to hit live stream when I get back if hearings still going on.. Will it be on CSPAN for sure..
thanks for thread..
Bump.
I think Chaffee will vote for Alito if he HAS to, same with Snowe. If they can get away with a no vote, they'll do it.
Of the remaining seven, five are against filibuster. That leaves a maximum of two Gang-of-14 Senators being willing to cast a vote for filibuster. None of them has expressed an intention to vote for the filibuster.
In order to defeat the cloture motion, the DEMs have to "flip" more than one of the "anti-filibuster" Senators, plus insure that all anti-Alito votes outside of the Gang-of-14 will vote against cloture.
Akaka, Biden, Conrad and Dorgan have expressed that they will not support a filibuster, which would put the anti-filibuster vote up to 65.
Akaka said today [Jan 27] he wouldn't support a filibuster because the Senate has heard Alito's positions in confirmation hearings.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1565978/posts
However, two Dakotan Democrats -- Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota and Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota -- have said they would vote down a filibuster. Johnson said he'll vote for Alito, and Conrad said he's "leaning in favor" of the candidate.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/01/27/alito/index.html
Senator Joseph Biden, a Delaware Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee who voted against Judge Alito there, said he would not support a filibuster and doubted one would happen.
Sens. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota made it clear Thursday night after a second day of floor debate on Alito that they would not support a filibuster, even though Akaka was going to vote against the nominee and Dorgan was still undecided.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1566155/posts
Joe Lieberman (D-CT) - NONCOMMITAL on filibuster - AGAINST the nominee
http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=250808
Ken Salazar (D-CO) - Against filibuster - AGAINST the nominee
In a [Jan 25] conference call with reporters, Salazar said he still plans to vote against Alito's confirmation but indicated that his problems with the judge's philosophy do not extend to the extraordinary circumstances that would warrant a filibuster by the minority party.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1566524/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1565006/posts
Olympia Snowe (R-ME) - Against filibuster - Noncommital on the nominee
Her voicemail box (202.224.5344) is currently "full." LOL.
NY Times - January 13, 2006
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and NEIL A. LEWIS
After Alito's Testimony, Democrats Still Dislike Him but Can't Stop Him
... The chances of a Democratic filibuster faded after the third day of hearings, as a spokeswoman for Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a moderate Republican, announced that Ms. Snowe would oppose it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1557208/posts?page=40#40
Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI) - Against Filibuster - Noncommital on the nominee.
Chafee has long signaled his worry that a filibuster against Alito would gridlock the Senate. Hourahan reaffirmed Thursday that the senator would join fellow Republicans in voting to shut off debate.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1566755/posts
Mary Landrieu (D-LA) - Against filibuster - Noncommital on the nominee.
"Because we have such a full plate of pressing issues before Congress, a filibuster at this time would be, in my view, very counterproductive. It is imperative that we remain focused on creating the tools New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast will need to rebuild. This includes passing the Baker bill and allowing our state to keep its fair share of offshore energy revenues. We simply cannot afford to bring the Senate to a halt at a time when we need its action the most. If called to vote for cloture on Judge Alito's nomination, I will vote yes.
"I will continue to consult with constituents, groups, organizations and colleagues to decide on my final vote. I do think it is important that we have an up or down vote."
http://landrieu.senate.gov/scotus/alito2.cfm
Mark Pryor (D-AR) - Against filibuster - AGAINST the nominee
He added, without prompting, that he did not support a filibuster against Alito because "one is not warranted."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1566420/posts
BIDEN just joined up and now word is out that REED and LEAHY are for filibuster.
It's a mess. Me thinks much of this is to deny the President the PR of Associate Justice Alito being in the House Chamber during the SOTU message.
Is he still pretending to be objectively thinking it over? Corzine probably told him how to vote if he wanted the Senate appointment.
Let The Desolation Begin
How's that for a bumper sticker?
If I was (ugh) a Dem I'd filibuster and make the Republicans go nuclear. Keep the 'ball in play'... so to speak.
LOL. He's trying to argue there's a need for more debate. That is, given more time (i.e., intervening time to the next cloture vote), he'd vote in favor of a cloture motion. But the DEMs didn't use much time on Friday, none on Saturday, and could have had Sunday, if they wanted to debate.
In short, he's full of crap, and it's showing again.
Corzine is too busy keeping the "culture of Democrat corruption" going on in New Jersey to bother anyone in DC.
Very big grin!
And $10 away from winning the election.....hey, wait.......
Pardon my ignorance but how can a person vote against cloture and yet "not support the filibuster"?
Here!!
Thanks for the Ping. I have to go to the dentist later, so I'll probably miss the, er, drama. Rats.
Save me some popcorn and champagne, please.
source of that rumor?
Cool!
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