Posted on 05/09/2005 11:41:43 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist plans for Texas Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Owen to be the judicial nomination on which he uses the "nuclear option" against Democratic filibusters later this month, according to Republicans familiar with his plans.
Justice Owen, first nominated to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals four years ago yesterday, has often been seen as the most likely nominee to be pushed though. And when Mr. Frist, Tennessee Republican, made his final offer to Democrats last month to avoid a showdown, he mentioned only one nominee: Justice Owen.
The Republican sources, both on and off Capitol Hill, say the choice of Justice Owen for the precedent-setting vote is based in part on the political calculation that she is a sure winner and, as one source said, "a great face" for this issue.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Until Dr. Frist pulls the trigger, the RNC, NRSC, or any other national Republican organization will not get one dime from me.
Or me.
This will deeply sadden Harry Reid.
Now, there is a plan. Future donations to the RNC depend on getting these judges confirmed. Failure is NOT an option on this issue.
Me either, and I have told that to the RNC and several other Republican organizations.
Call me old fashioned... but I'd like Frist to force an actual 24/7 filibuster before "pulling the trigger."
Cancel the lobbyist junkets, the golf games, even weekends with the family. Live on the Senate floor 24/7 until the Rats capitulate.
That is how the filibuster is supposed to work.
I went out of my way to call and tell them the same thing yesterday, when the rumors of a Lott deal, first surfaced. Until Frist stands up to the Dems, "not one thin dime....!"
Or me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. I'll believe it when I see it and not a second before.
And once again, here's a little help for you.
Personally, I am getting real tired of "later this month", etc., etc., etc.
This thing has been dragging on way too long.
Eh, Harry Reid will just go to a high school classroom and call Frist a loser.
I'm also an old fashioned kind of guy.
But Bill Frist hasn't got the power to force an old fashioned filibuster. The Senate rules were changed a long time ago, were adopted more or less intact at the beginning of this session, and can't now be changed except on a 60-40 vote to do so.
Too bad. Now we have filibuster lite, for good or ill. Seems like ill to me since it allows minority obstructionism as no real political cost.
The reason why we can pull off the "consstitutional option" is that it doesn't actually change any rule of the Senate. It is simply a ruling by the presiding officer that the filibuster rules don't apply to advise and consent to judicial appointments. Once made, the ruling stands unless overridden by a majority vote.
It's definitely the way to get this done.
This can't be used until the Democrats try a filibuster.
As soon as the advise and consent motion for one of these judges is brought to the floor, the action will begin. Until then, there isn't any debsate, there isn't any threatened filibuster, and ther isn't any ruling from the Presiding Officer.
Don't worry, the feathers will fly soon enough.
Reminder bump for tommorrow when a coherent enail is more likely! ;-)
Oh, so if the obstructionist Democrats (with the help of a couple of Republican renegades) manage to scuttle the "nuclear" option, you'll punish the Democrats by not donating to the RNC. Obviously they don't teach logic in our schools anymore. There was this ancient Jewish philosopher who said, "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face".
I agree! I want to turn on C-SPAN2 at 3:52 in the morning and see Sen. Byrd reading from his old KKK handbook on the floor of the Senate. If we have to endure C-SPAN and C-SPAN2 on our cable systems, let's get some entertainment value out of it!
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