Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Thursday that President Bush and Republican senators are trying to "rewrite the Constitution and reinvent reality" in their push to confirm controversial judicial nominees. "The Senate is not a rubber stamp for the executive branch," Reid said. "Rather, we're the one institution where the minority has a voice and the ability to check the power of the majority. Today, in the face of President Bush's power grab, that's more important than ever." Republicans are threatening to eliminate the Democrats' ability to use filibusters to block Bush's judicial picks, beginning with federal appeals...

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), whose state also will be visited by Bush this week, said she hoped Senate Democrats would act in unison to prevent the diversion of Social Security taxes to private investment accounts. "It's critical for what we stand for," Lincoln said. Reid told reporters he had received personal commitments from all Senate Democrats to oppose private accounts in Social Security. He added that one or two members might try "to keep their powder dry" by not declaring their opposition publicly at this point. The one Senate Democrat who remained uncommitted on the issue was Ben Nelson of...