Sunday, March 20, 2005
Filibuster
George Will has weighed in with his opinion regarding the Democrat filibuster of Bush judicial nominees (Spotlight: RCP)
So how does Will think this ought to be handled?
The Senate's institutional paralysis over judicial confirmations is a political problem for which there is a political solution: 60 Republican senators. The president believes that Democrat obstruction of judicial nominees contributed to Republican gains in 2002 and 2004. In 2006, 17 of the Democrats' seats and that of Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, their collaborator, are up, five of them in states the president carried in 2004.
Fine, but what if senate Republicans only reach 59, or even lose some seats but remain in the majority, what then? Well I guess we'd just grin a bear it huh. At least until the Democrats take the presidency and the majority in the senate partly due to disgust by conservatives over the inaction of their party. At that point the Democrats will, without hesitation, move to do what many Republicans are now too sanctimonious to do, end filibustering of a president's judicial nominees.
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So how does Will think this ought to be handled?
The Senate's institutional paralysis over judicial confirmations is a political problem for which there is a political solution: 60 Republican senators. The president believes that Democrat obstruction of judicial nominees contributed to Republican gains in 2002 and 2004. In 2006, 17 of the Democrats' seats and that of Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, their collaborator, are up, five of them in states the president carried in 2004.
Fine, but what if senate Republicans only reach 59, or even lose some seats but remain in the majority, what then? Well I guess we'd just grin a bear it huh. At least until the Democrats take the presidency and the majority in the senate partly due to disgust by conservatives over the inaction of their party. At that point the Democrats will, without hesitation, move to do what many Republicans are now too sanctimonious to do, end filibustering of a president's judicial nominees.
# posted by Joe Florida @ 6:04 AM 
