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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - President Bush counterpunched at Democrats on Thursday, saying their criticism of the war in Iraq has turned their party into one of "cut-and-run" obstructionists. At a GOP fundraiser, Bush accused Democrats of using a new intelligence estimate that ties the war in Iraq to rising extremism to win votes in November. The National Intelligence Estimate - compiled by leading analysts across 16 U.S. spy agencies - concluded that Iraq has become a "cause celebre" for jihadists, who are growing in number and geographic reach. If the trend continues, the analysts found, risks to U.S. interests at home...

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an Idaho judge Thursday for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., vowed to block full Senate action. The 10-8 party line vote came after Feinstein stormed out of the committee room to try to deny a quorum to approve the nomination of 6th District Judge Randy Smith. Feinstein wants the judgeship to go to a California judge. "This is the only way ... to give me leverage with the White House. We cannot lose another judge for California. Holding this judge in committee would...

WASHINGTON -- Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne's nomination for interior secretary could run into trouble from Senate Democrats who want to use it as a bargaining chip to stop more oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, or at least assure their states get a cut. Ahead of Thursday's hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said he would try to block Kempthorne unless Republicans back off their plan to open 3.6 million acres of the central Gulf to oil and gas drilling. Nelson, citing the potential for environmental damage, said Wednesday he...

The BEST thing about the defeatism now prevalent among the Left, is the HILARIOUS material such an attitude provides as you can see in this DUmmie THREAD titled, "We are past the point of partisan solutions to our nation's problems!" DUmmie IndianaGreen (recently Tombstoned from DUmmieland for daring to disagree with Pied Piper Pitt but now allowed back in) wrings his hands over the fact that the Left will NEVER get back in power via the ballot box. His solution? Either non-violent mass marches against the EVIL Bush regime ala Gandhi's Salt March in 1930 or exile. Of course,...

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced today that Senate Democrats are blocking final approval of six nominees to the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors who were nominated by President Bush. Frist, R-Tenn., did not name any Democrat holding up a final floor vote or suggest how long the delay may last. The nominees were approved without objection in a Senate committee Wednesday. "These highly qualified nominees were unanimously approved by the Environment and Public Works Committee and deserve confirmation by the full Senate," Frist said in a written statement. "Their business skills and management expertise provide...

Dems Clap On Account Of Not Acting On Bush’s Social Security Proposal (VIDEO) PRESIDENT BUSH: We must also confront the larger challenge of mandatory spending, or entitlements. This year, the first of about 78 million baby boomers turn 60, including two of my Dad’s favorite people — me and President Clinton. (Laughter.) This milestone is more than a personal crisis — (laughter) — it is a national challenge. The retirement of the baby boom generation will put unprecedented strains on the federal government. By 2030, spending for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid alone will be almost 60 percent of the...

WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito told senators Friday that he sees protection in the Constitution for privacy, but he refused anew to divulge his thoughts on the Supreme Court's landmark abortion rights decisions. Just as he did during his five-day confirmation hearing last week, Alito in written responses to questions submitted by six Senate Democrats refused to delve into several abortion-related issues, including the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing abortion rights. "Because Roe concerns issues that may well come before the Supreme Court, it would be inappropriate for me to comment directly on it," he wrote. The...

Washington -- The Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up its weeklong confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on Friday with civil rights advocates warning that he would turn the clock back, while a diverse group of former aides and colleagues praised his fairness. The committee's top Democrat indicated that the panel's vote on Alito, scheduled next Tuesday, would likely be delayed for a week. In another development, committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., a moderate who supports abortion rights, announced his backing for the conservative nominee, saying he was satisfied with Alito's answers on abortion and presidential power, the dominant...

High court nominee ends his testimony with some positions not clear. Washington -- Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, finishing his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, frustrated Democrats' efforts today to stake out positions on a wide range of legal issues, including presidential war powers, congressional power over the courts and citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. The veteran jurist's answers during 18 hours of questioning over 2½ days "don't illuminate how you really think,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. He said Alito's reticence compelled the conclusion that the nominee still held views he first expressed as a government lawyer...

WASHINGTON — The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support. Drilling supporters fell four votes short of getting the required 60 votes to avoid a threatened filibuster of the defense measure over the oil drilling issue. Senate leaders were expected to withraw the legislation so it could be reworked without the refuge language. The vote was 56-44.

Bush Raps Senators on Blocking Patriot Act By JENNIFER LOVEN WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that senators who are blocking renewal of the terrorism-fighting Patriot Act are acting irresponsibly and standing in the way of protecting the country from attack. President Bush said Saturday that senators who are blocking renewal of the terrorism-fighting Patriot Act are acting irresponsibly and standing in the way of protecting the country from attack. "In the war on terror, we cannot afford to be without this law for a single moment," the president said in a live broadcast from the White House of his...

"God forbid that there be a terrorist attack that could have been prevented by the Patriot Act after it has expired," Sen. Jon Kyl said yesterday after the Senate failed to overcome a filibuster of legislation that would have reauthorized the Patriot Act. "If that happens, those who have supported the filibuster will have to answer for it, and the American people will have a very hard time understanding what their objections were." Got that, Sens. Larry Craig, Chuck Hagel, Lisa Murkowski and John Sununu? As the four Republicans who voted to continue the filibuster, they now bear the unenviable...

The Senate's pre-9/11 mindset Published December 17, 2005 "God forbid that there be a terrorist attack that could have been prevented by the Patriot Act after it has expired," Sen. Jon Kyl said yesterday after the Senate failed to overcome a filibuster of legislation that would have reauthorized the Patriot Act. "If that happens, those who have supported the filibuster will have to answer for it, and the American people will have a very hard time understanding what their objections were."     Got that, Sens. Larry Craig, Chuck Hagel, Lisa Murkowski and John Sununu? As the four Republicans who voted to...

WASHINGTON - In a strong rebuke of President Bush, Senate Democrats and a small band of renegade Republicans blocked a vote Friday to extend the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law that broadened law enforcement powers after the Sept. 11 attacks.

WASHINGTON -- The GOP-controlled Congress hit several speed bumps in its rush to wrap up the legislative year, with increasing Democratic-led opposition in the Senate threatening GOP priorities on anti-terrorism, deficit reduction and oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife preserve. The House easily passed the USA Patriot Act reauthorization on Wednesday, but a bipartisan group of senators was building support for blocking final passage of the House-Senate compromise, saying the measure would give the FBI a dangerous amount of power. "We don't have to accept bad provisions in order to make sure good provisions become law," said Sen. Russ Feingold,...

Finance Committee conservatives capitulated to the will of centrist Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) yesterday by supporting a package of tax cuts that does not include an extension of the 15 percent rate on income from dividends and capital gains. But proponents vowed to fight to ensure those tax cuts will be restored to the package either on the floor of the Senate or in conference negotiations with the House, which was expected to mark up its version of the tax reconciliation legislation last night.“This is just the first step in the process,” Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said at yesterday’s mark-up.Sen...

Democrats in the state Senate rejected his choice to head the California Air Resources Board, so Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger found a new job Wednesday for controversial appointee Cindy Tuck that doesn't require Senate confirmation. Tuck, rejected on a party-line vote earlier this month by Senate Democrats who said she was more concerned with protecting business interests than the environment, was appointed assistant secretary for policy at the California Environmental Protection Agency. The agency, where Tuck will advise the secretary on a variety of policy issues, can influence the air board and the position denied to her by Senate Democrats. "She...

It's my recollection that the enviro-fascists have spent the past 40 years blocking the US Army Corps of Engineers from reinforcing the levees in New Orleans. I do not have access to the documentation but clearly remember the more militant tree-huggers trying to defund the Corps of Engineers year after year in order to "save the environment for the lesser tree fart frog" and other such species. Well, we've seen the result of their efforts. Anyone have references to such documentation?

-snip- HIGH COURT SUCCESSOR Rehnquist's death raised the possibility the hearings on Roberts' nomination could be postponed and gave Bush the opportunity of nominating Roberts as chief justice, a possibility administration officials have talked about in the event Rehnquist died. Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), a Massachusetts Democrat, said the consideration of successors to Rehnquist and O'Connor should be held off to allow the Bush administration and Congress to focus on the Katrina disaster. "We should proceed carefully and appropriately in filling these important vacancies. With Justice O'Connor committing to stay until her replacement is named, we can...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats plan to question Supreme Court nominee John Roberts about a disavowed Justice Department memo that critics say led to torture in foreign prisons, top Senate Judiciary Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont said Monday. Leahy said he gave Roberts a copy of the so-called "Bybee memo" during a meeting Monday in the Senate's Russell office building. It was the second meeting between the two men since July, when President Bush nominated Roberts to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Then-Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee argued in a Jan. 22, 2002, memo that the president has the power to...