Dems: They Will Filibuster Estrada Vote

Yahoo! News ^ | Feb.11, 2003 | JESSE J. HOLLAND

[conservativecorner]

WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats said Tuesday they will filibuster Miguel Estrada's nomination to the federal appeals bench until he reveals more of his judicial thinking.

President Bush (news - web sites) called the move "shameful politics."

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle accused Estrada of stonewalling Democrats last year when they questioned him about his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

"Every nominee who comes before the Senate has the obligation to be forthcoming with information about his position, with information about his record," said Daschle, D-S.D. "Until he does, we don't believe that it is in the Senate's best interest to allow this confirmation to go forward."

Bush immediately condemned the Democrats for blocking Estrada's confirmation by using Senate parliamentary rules that allow the minority to effectively reject a measure or nominee with just 41 votes. The Senate has 51 Republicans, 48 Democrats and one independent.

"Miguel Estrada is highly qualified, extremely intelligent," the president said. "He has the votes necessary to be confirmed. Yet a handful of Democrats in the Senate are playing politics with his nomination, and it's shameful politics."

Republicans promised to keep senators in Washington, if necessary, into a 10-day vacation scheduled to begin Saturday.

"If they want to stay through the weekend, we'll stay through the weekend," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

A filibuster would be the climax of a two-year battle between Republicans and Democrats over the future of the nation's courts, and the first real test of Republicans' power in Washington now that they control the House, the Senate and the White House.

The only thing blocking the beginning of a filibuster was an ongoing defense of Estrada brought to the Senate floor Tuesday by a series of Republicans.

Since Estrada's nomination in May 2001, Republicans have accused Democrats of treating him unfairly because he is a conservative Hispanic, who, if confirmed, would be the first Latino picked by a president in either party to get a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Estrada is a member of the law firm that represented Bush in his successful Supreme Court fight for the presidency. He came to the United States from Honduras as a teenager and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1986. He has practiced constitutional law and argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court.

During Estrada's five-hour confirmation hearing last year, Democrats repeatedly contended that he lacked judicial experience. Along with Estrada's refusal to answer questions about specific cases, including those on abortion rights, that provided little to review, Democrats complained.

Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y., on Jan. 30 called Estrada "a far-right stealth nominee, a sphinxlike candidate who will drive the nation's second most-important court out of the mainstream."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Estrada answered every question the Democrats had. "The truth is he didn't answer questions in a way that could be used against him," he said.

The Justice Department (news - web sites)'s solicitor general's office, where Estrada used to work, refused to release copies of memos and opinions he produced when he worked there. All the living solicitors general for presidents in both parties agreed with that position in a letter last June.

Daschle said Democrats will not allow a vote on the nomination until the White House makes Estrada answer their questions and releases the memos. "Until that information is provided, we will not be in the position to allow this vote to come to the floor," said Daschle.

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The minority leader said Democrats are afraid that every Bush nominee will stonewall their questions if they let Estrada through. "We can expect every single nominee to come forward with the same stonewalling attitude, with the same approach that they don't have to provide us information," Daschle said. "Well, we're not going to do that."

"We will filibuster, we will continue to debate this issue and we will make a decision as to what's next after we get this information," he added. "We have enough votes to sustain our position."

Not every Democrat is on board. "I don't think that Estrada threatens the democracy of the United States," said Sen. John Breaux (news, bio, voting record), D-La. "I think the best position is to vote against him if you don't agree with him. It's awfully hard, I think, to justify a filibuster."

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[upchuck]

I posted several times last fall that the Nov, 2002 election was all about the judges, pure and simple.

So we won. The RATS know how incredibly important this is. Judges serve for life. One, maybe two SCOTUS judgeships may open up during Dubya's term in office. The RATS know this, obviously.

They're gonna fight like crazy to keep conservative, constitution-believing judges off the bench.

This is very much a "bet-the-farm" issue. No way they want to loose.

But loose they will. Because they are way to the left of the average American.

I hope Frist insists they filibuster the old way, reading from telephone books, sleeping on cots in their offices. They'll be the laughing stock of Capitol Hill.

[azGOPgal]

Thanks for the ping. The Dims will do anything to try to keep the Republicans from leading this country in the right direction.

A quote straight from the article:
Democrats complained.

When do the Dims not complain? Anytime they speak, I hear nothing but whine whine whine. They are sounding like a bunch of babies.

[Torie]

So what happens if we go to the good old days, and have round the clock sessions, and the filibusterer had to go to the bathroom, and has no backup mouth? Can the presiding officer bang the gavel, and declare the debate over? That was what I was wondering today. It would be nice if two Dems needed to be on duty at all times, round the clock, and the GOP went back to the good old days on this one. The irresponsible use of the filibuster is a cancer, particularly when it comes to executive appointments absent the most compelling and unusual circumstances. It puts undue pressure on our system of checks and balances. JMO.

[Sideshow Bob]

Estrada is a member of the law firm that represented Bush in his successful Supreme Court fight for the presidency.

Just once I'd like to see this sentence in a newspaper restructured to read:

....Estrada is a member of the law firm that represented President Bush before the Supreme Court during Al Gore's unsuccessful attempt to usurp the presidency..."

[LdSentinal]

Ernest Hollings (D) has been silent on this issue. I assume he will not vote for cloture. This guy is just begging to be defeated in 04' -- if he runs, of course.

[ambrose]

True, true... in the past 20 years or so, the filibuster has been transformed from a device allowing for unlimited DEBATE into basically a an unwritten rule requiring super majorities to pass anything. Thus, after failing to invoke cloture just one time, the practice these days is to drop the nominee/bill, and move on to the next thing like it was defeated. I think this time, the Republicans are going to force the Rats to debate for days, even weeks...

[nicmarlo]

Estrada is a member of the law firm that represented Bush in his successful Supreme Court fight for the presidency.

I didn't know this, either......more than interesting, eh, Mo? I think it's retaliation, that's what I think all this is.

[MeekOneGOP]

Estrada is a member of the law firm that represented Bush in his successful Supreme Court fight for the presidency.

I didn't know this, either......more than interesting, eh, Mo? I think it's retaliation, that's what I think all this is.

I didn't either. That explains a lot of this, I think. The SORE LOSERS !!

During Estrada's five-hour confirmation hearing last year, Democrats repeatedly contended that he lacked judicial experience. Along with Estrada's refusal to answer questions about specific cases, including those on abortion rights, that provided little to review, Democrats complained.

So what's the problem ?! He said he would UPHOLD the law ! Oh, dumb question. THAT'S the problem !

---

I'm a Dirty 'RAT !

[MeekOneGOP]

Orrin Hatch is on C-Span2 right now. He says Estrada answered EVERY question they asked him. They didn't like the answers they got. He's a conservative. And that's the problem. And he's HISPANIC, and he is being treated DIFFERENTLY by the 'RATS than HUNDREDS of other nominees in the past.

Meek: Can you say " 'RAT RACISTS????"

During Estrada's five-hour confirmation hearing last year, Democrats repeatedly contended that he lacked judicial experience. Along with Estrada's refusal to answer questions about specific cases, including those on abortion rights, that provided little to review, Democrats complained.

---

Regarding Racial Hypocrisy...

Byrd said in part, "I think we try to have good will. My old mom told me, `Robert, you can't go to heaven if you hate anybody.' We practice that. There are white ni**ers. I've seen a lot of white ni**ers in my time. I'm going to use that word."

See this Michelle Malkin article about Robert Byrd from March 7, 2001

Former KKK Clansman,
Senator Robert Byrd……

---

Hillary's own racial/ethnic slur !.....

BOOK CHARGES: HILLARY CALLED AIDE JEW BA**ARD

DRUDGE REPORT
FRIDAY JULY 14, 2000 12:00:00 ET

**World Exclusive**
**Contains Graphic Description**

Hillary Clinton has angered Jewish voters in New York and nationally with her controversial support of a Palestinian State, and her startling embrace of Yasser Arafat s wife.

Questions remain, and the debate intensifies, as to whether she can win the crucial Jewish vote in New York as she wages a neck-and-neck battle with Congressman Rick Lazio, who has made the Jewish question a campaign issue.

Now, as the race comes down to the wire, a new book is set to explore the first lady s feelings about Jews and anti-Semitic sentiments held by certain Rodham family members.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060193921/drudgereport>Biographer Jerry Oppenheimer s new book STATE OF A UNION: INSIDE THE COMPLEX MARRIAGE OF BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON will not be released by HARPERCOLLINS until Tuesday, but the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal:

In one particularly shocking passage in the book, Oppenheimer quotes a campaign official who describes an angry attack by Hillary in which she screams at him, "You fu**ing Jew ba**ard!"

---

My apologies for the language, even though I did ** it out. I had to show the blatant hypocrisy, in light of the recent Trent Lott debacle.

[MeekOneGOP]

Okay. I'm off my soapbox, done with my rant now. Breakfast time !

[hchutch]

Don't worry about the language - I heard that stuff when I was on the playground at school...

What's the big deal?

[hchutch]

About the language that is...

I swear, I'd like to see Frist take a gavel, turn it sideways, and shove it up Tommy Dasshole's butt!

[MeekOneGOP]

Re #51-52: LOL ! And when he's done, go for hillary's and robert byrds !!

[chnsmok]

Here we go http://www.c-span.org/watch/

[jwalsh07]

Normally I would say you are absoltuely right and you should get Frist and Daschle on the line and explain it to them in those terms.

But my partisanship prevents me from doing that because this is such a loser for the democrat party. To keep NARAL happy, they have decided to trade the moderate Hispanic vote. Incredible.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the link...

[chnsmok]

Reid up now. What a sleeze. Going to be a long day.

[nicmarlo]

Orrin Hatch is on C-Span2 right now. He says Estrada answered EVERY question they asked him. They didn't like the answers they got. He's a conservative. And that's the problem. And he's HISPANIC, and he is being treated DIFFERENTLY by the 'RATS than HUNDREDS of other nominees in the past.

Thanks for your post, meekie; Hatch said all this last night, too; I didn't know about what Hitlery said....amazing, and she and Bird get away with explicit language like that but Lott's words get twisted from nothing into something worse than what Hitlery or Bird have done or said. Disgusting.

[MeekOneGOP]

Sheesh ! If the 'RATS keep this up, I hope Frist makes them give up their 'vacation' they're supposed to have starting this Saturday...

[holdmuhbeer]

This is an incredible win-win situation for the Repubs. They can surely use this to demonize the demonrats and take a play straight from the demonrats playbook