Posted on 01/30/2006 6:07:16 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Judge Samuel Alito stands just one step away from a lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court after a spirited ninth-inning campaign by some Democratic senators to block his nomination fizzled Monday evening.
The final vote on Alito's nomination is now scheduled for Tuesday morning, and, with at least 57 senators on board, approval is virtually assured.
Alito's supporters in the Senate, as expected, cleared the final roadblock Monday when senators, by a vote of 72-25, decided to cut off debate and proceed to a final vote, rebuffing an attempt by a cadre of liberal senators to talk the nomination to death.
The vote easily exceeded the 60 votes needed to pass the motion. ()
In the end, only 24 of the chamber's 44 Democrats went along with the filibuster, a maneuver allowed under Senate rules to block a vote by extending debate indefinitely. It was also supported by the chamber's lone independent, Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont.
Arguing against cutting off debate, Sen. John Kerry -- who spearheaded the filibuster effort with his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Ted Kennedy -- said Alito's record during his 15 years on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given "the extreme right wing unbelievable public cause for celebration."
"That just about tells you what you need to know," Kerry said. "The vote today is whether or not we will take a stand against ideological court-packing."
But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said the move to cut off debate fulfilled a "very straightforward principle -- a nominee with the support of a majority of senators deserves a fair up-or-down vote."
"The sword of the filibuster has been sheathed because we are placing principle before politics, and results before rhetoric," Frist said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
It is incredible how pathetic and foul-mouthed the DU creatures are! They remind me of the great unwashed of the Viet Nam college protests.
I see old hippies with computers.
Harkin, Ensign and Hagel didn't vote.
Love it!!
I lost again, I should be running the Supreme Court "John Kerry"
How absolutely disgusting....they're all a disgrace to this country...I wish they could be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail car.
I'm afraid I've forgotten why cloture needs 60 rather than a simple majority, is this a relatively recent development ?
Listening to the rabid Mike Malloy tonight - he is in a rage. He is so full of gloom and doom that I almost expect Bush to launch ICBMs on our major coastal cities tonight, wiping out huge numbers of DemonRATs. Malloy claims all those evil Bush things he has been warning everyone about are now going to happen. He is telling everyone the DemonRATs don't have a chance at getting back either house or the WH much before 2020. I wonder if the show is archived someplace within Errhead Amerika - it is a hoot. You cannot imagine how he is screaming at the 25 RATs who voted for cloture, he is going to bust a blood vessel.
Right you are! LOL
The "no filibuster" was an easy "prediction" - - a slam dunk from the beginning (that was one of the things the "Gang of 14" resolved long ago). But your 57 votes prediction deserves kudos and applause! That's 54 Republicans (all but Chafee) and three Democrats (Byrd, Nelson, and Johnson?). It looks like you are right on the money.
My prediction from two weeks ago was 82. So much for me and my crazy predictions.
Regards,
LH
Oh, wow. Mike Malloy, I'd forgotten about that guy. I used to pick him up on late night drives from WLS Chicago. What a useless freak he was. Him and "Nate Clay, yer hos'..." That was during impeachment when I used to listen to those guys for laughs.
Nice face!
"Spirited" idiots. Their campaign got them exactly 25 votes.
to quote Nelson Muntz: ha HA!
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