We are Reaching A Boiling Point
Hat-tip to Captain’s Quarters for catching this out of the Post-Gazette this morning.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ (Yes, we have the same quote, but it is the important quote.)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05140/507782.stm
This morning, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will take an official step to proceed toward a vote on Owen's nomination, starting the clock ticking toward a showdown over whether Democrats will retain their right to block judicial nominees with the filibuster.
Shortly after the Senate convenes this morning, Frist, R-Tenn., will file a cloture petition, which requires the approval of 60 of 100 senators, to end debate on Owen's nomination. Last session, Democrats blocked Owen and nine other appellate court nominees. He has renominated seven of them this year.
Under Senate rules that petition must "ripen" for two days while the Senate is in session -- today and Monday -- before a vote.
If five Democrats do not join with the Senate's 55 Republicans to give Frist the 60 votes he needs to proceed to an up-or-down vote for Owen, Frist plans to carry through his threat to lower the threshold needed to cut off judicial filibusters from 60 to 51. That vote -- known alternately as the 'nuclear' or 'constitutional' option -- is likely to occur on Tuesday.
It is about time. We are moving on this, and Frist cannot afford to back down now. The "slow plod" of the Senate has been calculated from the beginning. And there is a reason why this petition is being made now. Tuesday, when this cloture move will finish ripening, Cheney will be in the Senate to handle his duty as President of the Senate. Frist has the votes. He knows he does.
And it really does not matter what fools like McCain is trying to do behind the scenes. There is a report coming out of Washington that Sen. Graham might lean towards McCain’s side; not in the negotiations, but is voting against the party. That is unconfirmed at this point, but honestly, I am sick of traitors to the party stabbing everyone else in the back in an effort to get their names splashed across pages of perfidious print.
This vote, more than anything, will reveal who is and who is not on the side of the party. And there is no excuse for it. They should be there—for their party and for the president—when they are called upon. If they do not wish to do that, then leave. Pull a Jeffords and jump. Get out of our party, and take your moderates with you. You are not needed and neither are they.
I want the party back that I believed in. I want the party that Reagan revitalized, and Newt made stronger. Is there room for moderation within the party? Is there room for compromise? Yes. There always is room for a little compromise. But that is not how Democrats do it in this day and age. It is all or nothing, according to them. Look at how the Democrats negotiate.
"Drop your judges, or we will shut down the Senate."
Is that really negotiation? It does not sound like it to me. It sounds like bullying. They sound like the bully on the playground that just pushed the little kid over. And they are about to get the surprise of their lives, because that little kid is getting back up, and when he swings, he is going to hurt that bully. The GOP is the little kid that—I hope—is tired of being pushed around by the bully Democrats. We have the majority, and frankly, it is our way or the highway until the Democrats can win back the majority.
And let us say, hypothetically, that the Constitutional Option does not go through. That it fails. And let us further say that the GOP will lose six seats from the Senate in the 2006 mid-terms. Does anyone think that with the GOP in the minority that the Democrats will allow them to pull what they themselves have pulled for four years? If you believe that, then you are John McCain, and you still believe that the Democrats keep their word. In short, you are a moron.
For all those within the GOP base that are still screaming for Frist to just pull the trigger, he already has. He did so the moment he brought Priscilla Owens to the floor, and now I know why he did it. Owens has her points of contention, just like Brown and Pryor do, but she is the easiest one to activate the option with. Had it been Brown, the level of vitriol that would have exploded in the Senate would have distracted the GOP from their goal, and would have caused the democrats to dig in so deep that we might not have had the opportunity for the cloture vote.
But regardless, calm down and wait. We have waited this long, and now it is on the move. This could not have been done in a single day. It has to be calculated. There are steps in this, and in the end, the GOP will win. The RINOs will be fully exposed, and the Democrats will be finished. Why? Because Reid will have one of two options: Put your money where your moth is, and shut down the Senate, or go back to the sandbox and pout with the rest of the children.
The Bunny ;)
Hat-tip to Captain’s Quarters for catching this out of the Post-Gazette this morning.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/ (Yes, we have the same quote, but it is the important quote.)
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05140/507782.stm
This morning, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will take an official step to proceed toward a vote on Owen's nomination, starting the clock ticking toward a showdown over whether Democrats will retain their right to block judicial nominees with the filibuster.
Shortly after the Senate convenes this morning, Frist, R-Tenn., will file a cloture petition, which requires the approval of 60 of 100 senators, to end debate on Owen's nomination. Last session, Democrats blocked Owen and nine other appellate court nominees. He has renominated seven of them this year.
Under Senate rules that petition must "ripen" for two days while the Senate is in session -- today and Monday -- before a vote.
If five Democrats do not join with the Senate's 55 Republicans to give Frist the 60 votes he needs to proceed to an up-or-down vote for Owen, Frist plans to carry through his threat to lower the threshold needed to cut off judicial filibusters from 60 to 51. That vote -- known alternately as the 'nuclear' or 'constitutional' option -- is likely to occur on Tuesday.
It is about time. We are moving on this, and Frist cannot afford to back down now. The "slow plod" of the Senate has been calculated from the beginning. And there is a reason why this petition is being made now. Tuesday, when this cloture move will finish ripening, Cheney will be in the Senate to handle his duty as President of the Senate. Frist has the votes. He knows he does.
And it really does not matter what fools like McCain is trying to do behind the scenes. There is a report coming out of Washington that Sen. Graham might lean towards McCain’s side; not in the negotiations, but is voting against the party. That is unconfirmed at this point, but honestly, I am sick of traitors to the party stabbing everyone else in the back in an effort to get their names splashed across pages of perfidious print.
This vote, more than anything, will reveal who is and who is not on the side of the party. And there is no excuse for it. They should be there—for their party and for the president—when they are called upon. If they do not wish to do that, then leave. Pull a Jeffords and jump. Get out of our party, and take your moderates with you. You are not needed and neither are they.
I want the party back that I believed in. I want the party that Reagan revitalized, and Newt made stronger. Is there room for moderation within the party? Is there room for compromise? Yes. There always is room for a little compromise. But that is not how Democrats do it in this day and age. It is all or nothing, according to them. Look at how the Democrats negotiate.
"Drop your judges, or we will shut down the Senate."
Is that really negotiation? It does not sound like it to me. It sounds like bullying. They sound like the bully on the playground that just pushed the little kid over. And they are about to get the surprise of their lives, because that little kid is getting back up, and when he swings, he is going to hurt that bully. The GOP is the little kid that—I hope—is tired of being pushed around by the bully Democrats. We have the majority, and frankly, it is our way or the highway until the Democrats can win back the majority.
And let us say, hypothetically, that the Constitutional Option does not go through. That it fails. And let us further say that the GOP will lose six seats from the Senate in the 2006 mid-terms. Does anyone think that with the GOP in the minority that the Democrats will allow them to pull what they themselves have pulled for four years? If you believe that, then you are John McCain, and you still believe that the Democrats keep their word. In short, you are a moron.
For all those within the GOP base that are still screaming for Frist to just pull the trigger, he already has. He did so the moment he brought Priscilla Owens to the floor, and now I know why he did it. Owens has her points of contention, just like Brown and Pryor do, but she is the easiest one to activate the option with. Had it been Brown, the level of vitriol that would have exploded in the Senate would have distracted the GOP from their goal, and would have caused the democrats to dig in so deep that we might not have had the opportunity for the cloture vote.
But regardless, calm down and wait. We have waited this long, and now it is on the move. This could not have been done in a single day. It has to be calculated. There are steps in this, and in the end, the GOP will win. The RINOs will be fully exposed, and the Democrats will be finished. Why? Because Reid will have one of two options: Put your money where your moth is, and shut down the Senate, or go back to the sandbox and pout with the rest of the children.
The Bunny ;)
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 9:17 AM
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