Posted on 02/22/2003 11:22:06 AM PST by pabianice
Senate Republicans and Democrats are ready to go to the mat over an obscure judicial nominee. Here’s why
Feb. 21 — Like the rival gangs in “West Side Story,” the two parties are staking out turf for a major rumble when Congress returns next week. The country is worried about war and a weak economy, but the lead story on Capitol Hill is Republicans and Democrats at loggerheads over an obscure judicial nomination.
MOST AMERICANS HAVE never heard of Miguel Estrada, nor should they. He is someone who in normal times would clear the hurdles of confirmation without stirring much controversy. A 41-year-old Honduran immigrant and American success story, his credentials are top notch: Harvard Law Review, Supreme Court clerkship, service in President Clinton’s Justice Department, partner in the law firm that represented George W. Bush in the 2000 vote recount.
Bush nominated Estrada 16 months ago for an appellate judgeship, a stepping stone to the Supreme Court. Democrats stalled the nomination when they controlled the Senate. Now they’ve set the stage for a filibuster that could paralyze the Senate at a critical time.
The standoff is about more than Estrada. He’s not as bad as Democrats say, nor as stellar as Republicans claim. This is a surrogate war over the first nominee to the Supreme Court and a reflection of a very toxic political environment. Minority Leader Tom Daschle has managed to keep all but three of his Democrats in line, displaying a newfound discipline Democrats will need to confront Bush. Republicans need nine Democrats to flesh out their 51-seat majority for the 60 votes required to break a filibuster. The stakes are high for Majority Leader Bill Frist, who needs to demonstrate that he will not bow to Democratic pressure. Frist shrank from calling the Democrats’ bluff when it meant canceling last week’s recess, and it’s not clear whether he’ll take the fight to the brink next week.
Going to the mat against Estrada is risky for Democrats. He doesn’t have obvious political baggage, and Republicans are portraying Democratic opposition as anti-Hispanic. The fact that Estrada is Hispanic did give Democrats pause, but with Republicans touting a conservative California judge who is African-American and a woman as a potential Supreme Court nominee, Democrats can’t be choosy. “If we play dead for an Hispanic, how are we going to touch an African-American woman?” asks a Democratic strategist.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.com ...
Take the dems to the mat on this one, and rub their noses in it. The idea of not allowing an up or down vote is ridiculous.
LOL! With a capital "B".
That is my understanding as well. Under the current rules, all the demonRATs have to to do filibuster is SAY that they are going to filibuster. If the Republicans can't get 60% to override then they have to move on.
What I want to know is if the Republicans have the power to change this stupid rule back to how it used to be. If the demonRATs want to filibuster, make them really filibuster. Make one of them hold the floor for 24/7 reading the phone book on CSPAN until he drops. Then vote.
I have read that this is the case.
However, I tuned in to CSPAN to watch late one evening before last week's recess. Orrin Hatch had the floor late in the evening. He would yield the floor for a question but was careful to reserve his right to keep the floor. This is the protocol for maintaining control.
Many Republicans were present but, I think, only a handful of Democrats.
The strategy seemed to be that the Republicans have the floor and don't have to give it up to the Democrats unless the Democrats can muster 60 votes. Periodically, the Republicans will suggest that there be a cloture vote to end debate. As long as there is a single Democrat present who can voice an objection, then the motion to vote must be debated. In this way the Democrats prevent having to sustain the "lack of cloture" which prolongs the debate.
The thing that surprised me was that the Republicans are refusing to give up the floor to allow the Democrats 24/7 spewing of their nonsense. Instead, Hatch and others can spend the time presenting arguments, however repetitive, that Estrada should be confirmed ( or at least get a vote).
Since this strategy allows the Republicans sole control of the floor, it is the Republicans who must stay rested and ready. That is why allowing the recess may have been a good tactic.
I am hopeful that this Republican "Anti-Filibuster" will continue on Monday. If I am correct in my understanding of the protocol in effect, then I am impressed that the Republicans are doing it this way. It would have been terrible to allow the Democrats the floor if it is not necessary.
As long as the Republican's have their majority on the floor, the Democrats must object to holding a vote. If they fail to object, there will be a vote immediately and Estrada will be confirmed. The whole thing can end in mere seconds if there is no objection to the motion to vote.
Democrats haven’t uncovered anything incriminating about Estrada, but they have anecdotal evidence that he is far more extreme in his views than he acknowledges. A superconfident, outgoing, hotshot type, Estrada has shared his views around the water cooler everywhere he’s worked, but his various confidantes are not going to risk their futures by ratting on a guy who’s a favorite of President Bush.
If no one is "ratting" on him, how do they know he is extreme?
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