Posted on 11/13/2006 4:26:15 PM PST by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Now that the elections have given them control of the Senate, leading Democrats on judicial issues have a message for President Bush. They don't want him to send up for confirmation any judges who would be hostile to legalized abortion or they plan vote down or filibuster them.
Democrats now have 51 votes in the Senate and will likely have a slim one vote majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee when Congress starts its new session in January.
Though they technically have enough votes on the panel and in the Senate to defeat any Bush judicial pick, they may still have a tough time keeping their caucus together as some moderate Democrats joined a group of Republicans in making sure filibusters weren't used to hold up nominees.
But leading pro-abortion Democrats tell Bush he needs to pick someone without a record opposed to abortion in order to get judges -- especially for the Supreme Court -- confirmed in their Senate.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, told Newsday that Bush should nominate only "consensus" nominees.
Sen. Charles Schumer, of New York, was more strident and vowed to block any nominee he feels is too extreme on abortion.
"We will do everything in our power to see that that happens," he told Newsday, saying filibusters should be expected. He added that Bush "will have to negotiate with us, because we'll have the majority."
There are no current Supreme Court openings, but pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens, who was the subject of retirement speculations shortly before the elections, is 86 years-old and battling significant health problems.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, another abortion advocate is 73 years-old and has her own health concerns.
Had the GOP kept control of the Senate, the liberal judges may have waited to retire, but they could step down feeling that the chances they would be replaced by a less conservative judge are higher with Democrats heading up the chamber.
How Bush reacts to Democratic control may be seen in whether he chooses to re-nominate six conservative appeals court judges who have yet to be confirmed.
Should a Supreme Court opening develop closer to the 2008 presidential elections, that may put more pressure on Senate Democrats to hold off on confirming a replacement until afterwards.
Good points.
I never had any confidence in them.
Fence straddlers . . . deserve barbed wire.
It sure cements home some of the points revealed doesn't it?
Let God arise and His enemies be scattered . . . the worst of them . . . in the worst ways.
It may depend on whom? the President believes he must listen to most . . .
the puppet master, or Jesus The Christ.
That's the same choice looming larger and larger for all mankind.
One is sometimes reminded of pharoh's heart being hardened.
Perhaps God is setting the infanticiders; those who throw children in the altar fires of convenience . . . setting them up for a very dramatic fall.
They are likely to learn what's convenient to God may not at all suit their notion of comfort and convenience.
Friends,
We will get a few district and appellate judges out of the Judiciary Committee, but the pace will slow in 07 and grind to a halt in 08. Some conservatives without much of a paper trail will be confirmed.
The RATS will bury in committee the best of the conservative judges. The media will be complicit in not informing the American people of this obstruction. This is exactly what was happening in 01 and 02 (after the Jeffords switch) before the President made judges a huge priority in the 02 midterms.
As to Catholics who did not vote Republican, I don't recall the President making much of a pitch regarding judicial appointments in the '06 elections. It is hard to fault the voter when GOP doesn't even make the case to independents/Catholics.
Now, as to potential Supreme Court vacancies, do not despair. The media cannot cover up a Supreme Court vacancy. Even if the nominee is rejected in the Judiciary Committee, we can win a floor vote for a conservative, strict constructionist judge.
My huge Catholic family has finally seen the light re Dems...they all vote Repub...have since 92
Frist is/was weak... but the gang of seven stabbed us all in the back. And they'll stab us again and again over the next two years by dealing with the Dhimmi's... setting us up for an even bigger loss in '08.
While I don't doubt their inclination to do that, I also think there are going to be some blue dog Democrats that will side with Conservatives on some issues. This may cut both ways for a change.
The D's doth protest too much.
They sold their soul to get back the committee chairs, but the current crop of DINO's are pro-life.
Popcorn time to be sure.
"Hope the Catholics who turned to the rat party of death are pleased."
Sadly, fully 90 percent of American Catholics are cafeteria Catholics and a lot of those probably think abortion is "a woman's right."
An obedient Catholic is a hard thing to come by.
Evangelicals vote majority Republican, but there are still millions of them who, for one reason or another, vote Democrat. Not all of these voters are necessarily among the Reprobate. Some of them are just badly informed or stupid. Same with Catholics.
It's part of the Catholic tradition that goes back to the 1830s -- voting Democrat. The Whigs were seen as anti-Catholic, and the Catholics have never forgotten. Actually, though the Whigs didn't know where they stood other than opposition to Jacksonianism.
GWB should just name recess appointments to the courts for the rest of his term and forget the Senate. And the real court battle can be postponed until 2009, when the terrain may be a little more favorable, but I doubt it would be any better. People don't change that much in two years.
Mr. Bush should ignore the Democrat swine in the Senate.
If "justice" John Paul "Never met a baby killing I didn't love" Stevens retires before the end of Mr. Bush's presidency, or Ms. Ginsburg, too, just rely on recess appointments.
Dear Ivan,
Mr. Webb ran as an open pro-murder candidate.
Mr. Bush can't hold his feet to the fire on the issue of abortion, as Mr. Webb is an all-abortion-all-the-time kinda guy. And he was quite open about it.
It was actually one of the reasons he cited for joining the Party of Satan.
sitetest
As for Webb, he went down still further in my estimation...if that was possible.
Regards, Ivan
Dear MadIvan,
Messrs. Casey and Tester have six years before standing for election again. They'll vote against pro-life judges for four years, make a couple of token pro-life votes during that time, and then mind their manners carefully for a couple of years.
By then, Mr. Bush will be long-forgotten, along with any threats to hold their feet to the fire come re-election.
Although I understood the frustration of many conservatives who didn't want to vote for folks like Messrs. Allen, Talent, and Santorum, nonetheless, the effect of their abandonment by conservatives (in some cases, a just reward for their abandonment OF conservatives) is that conservative causes will suffer tremendously.
That's why I overcame the stench of folks like RINO Gov. Ehrlich of Maryland, and voted a straight Republican party line.
But hey, that's just me.
sitetest
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