The Party of No

[mercury14]

Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct! Doesn't matter that Obama keeps winning elections and the Senate keeps getting more Democratic. Senate GOP leadership is going go against the will of the people and quintuple the waiting time on judicial nominations even though they agree with the nominees.

Senate Confirms Robert B******ch to the United States Court of Appeals
Jennifer Palmieri
February 25, 2013
06:14 PM EST

This evening the Senate confirmed Robert B******ch to the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Oklahoma. Judge B******ch waited 263 days for a Senate floor vote, only to be approved overwhelmingly, by a vote of 93-0. Not only was Judge B******ch supported by the two Republican Senators from Oklahoma, he was recommended to the White House for this judgeship by Senator Coburn in October 2011. Yet, early last summer, Senate Republicans blocked Judge B******ch from even getting an up or down vote – the first successful filibuster of a judicial nominee who had bipartisan support in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In short, Republicans recommended Robert B******ch for this important position, endorsed him publicly, supported him nearly unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee, then blocked him from getting a vote – and now, after almost a year of pointless delay, joined in unanimously confirming him. Even Senator Coburn, himself a participant in this partisan chicanery, called this “stupid.”

Unfortunately this is not a unique case. On February 13, the Senate confirmed William Kayatta for the First Circuit from Maine. His nomination languished for 300 days, yet he was easily confirmed with 88 Senators supporting him. And next up is Richard Taranto for the Federal Circuit, whose nomination has been pending for 333 days.

To put this obstruction in some perspective, the average wait time for President George W. Bush’s federal appellate judicial nominees, from Committee vote to confirmation, at this point in his presidency was 35 days. By contrast, the average wait time for President Obama’s federal appellate judicial nominees has been 147 days.

Today, there are 14 judicial nominees pending before the Senate, most of whom were approved by the Judiciary Committee unanimously and several of whom would fill judicial emergency seats. An additional 21 nominees are pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee. These 35, highly-qualified nominees signify the President’s unprecedented commitment to a judiciary that reflects the nation it serves: 17 are women; 6 are African American; 6 are Hispanic; 4 are Asian American; and 5 are openly gay.

The Senate should move to confirm all of the judicial nominees pending before it. These nominees deserve immediate consideration by the full Senate, and the interest of justice demands it.

 

[mercury14]

And Lit thinks the name Bach a rach is a dirty word for some reason...

 

[kotori]

And Lit thinks the name Bach a rach is a dirty word for some reason...

I blame Bert.

 

[Liar]

'The party of no' is not a winning meme for Democrats. It gives the impression there's something that it's legit to say no to. 'No means no' and all that.

 

[Byron In Exile]

Any party called "The party of no" has my vote.

 

[Byron In Exile]

"We are the Congressmen who say... No!"

 

[hogjack]

The Party of Yes with Your Money and Your Money is in charge, ain't they?

 

[mercury14]

Any party called "The party of no" has my vote.

They're saying no to judicial nominees they're in favor of though. Is that leadership - saying no to people and things you actually approve of?

 

[hogjack]

They're saying no to judicial nominees they're in favor of though. Is that leadership?

Expecting "leadership" from President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell is like expecting a dog to grab a baton to lead an orchestra.

Incompetence reigns supreme in power-hungry Washington, D.C. where the only purpose is for individuals to maintain their status and secure their corporate board appointments after they leave (see Al Gore for the template).

 

[mercury14]

Expecting "leadership" from President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell is like expecting a dog to grab a baton to lead an orchestra.

Incompetence reigns supreme in power-hungry Washington, D.C. where the only purpose is for individuals to maintain their status and secure their corporate board appointments after they leave (see Al Gore for the template).

It's not really leadership to allow votes on judges you want to vote yea on. But it's the opposite of leadership to fuck up the country by blocking those judges.

 

[dan_c00000]

Expecting "leadership" from President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell is like expecting a dog to grab a baton to lead an orchestra.

Incompetence reigns supreme in power-hungry Washington, D.C. where the only purpose is for individuals to maintain their status and secure their corporate board appointments after they leave (see Al Gore for the template).

If you think Al Gore is bad you should check out who's behind the tea party, the American Enterprise Institute, the Heartland Institute, and of course the Cato think tank. That's just a short list and doesn't include individual wing-nutsl like self-proclaimed "historian" David Barton.

 

[hogjack]

If you think Al Gore is bad ...

Al Gore is not bad. Gore is part of a phony political party [Democrats] but the man is generating enormous income for his family (and whatever elite "escorts" cost these days). Good for him!

Gore's net worth has grown substantially by getting on the Apple Co. board (sweet $35 million in stock alone plus $50K a year for a few days work annually), selling books, selling the crappy cable channel ($100 million into his pocket), his investment management business and doing speaking engagements [easy money!]. When he left the VP office he was just a simple millionaire worth around $2 million.

Now he's a true "capitalist pig" with at least $300 million...worth more than Mitt Romney. His investment company ain't doing pro bono work and many staffers lost their jobs when he sold the cable company [shocking!].

The Democrat Party outcry against Al Gore, capitalist: silence

 

[Ishmael]

Son of a gun, seems that there's a little more to the story than Merc the derp wanted us to know.

Back then, despite strong support by both Republican senators from his home state of Oklahoma, Republicans successfully turned away B******ch's confirmation, which needed 60 votes to overcome the GOP filibuster. He got 56.

Republicans were holding firm on a loosely defined Senate tradition of backing off from filling circuit court seats in the waning months of a president's term, dubbed "The Thurmond Rule." Republicans repeatedly referred to it as the "Leahy/Thurmond Rule" to connect it with Leahy, the rule's most frequent user, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Legal Times

Ishmael

 

[mercury14]

Ish - the nominees we're referring to here had to wait 263 days, 300 days, and 333 days. Tell me more about your loosely defined definition of "waning months".

 

[Liar]

They're saying no to judicial nominees they're in favor of though. Is that leadership - saying no to people and things you actually approve of?

You're confusing politics with governing. They get to brag how they stopped King Okenya's radical Marxist Sharia.

 

[WeedSmoke420]

interesting..

 

[koalabear]

*views thread*

 

[WeedSmoke420]

*views thread*

you always got good smilies..

 

[KingOrfeo]

And Lit thinks the name Bach a rach is a dirty word for some reason...

Interesting. Can't find any listing in the Urban Dictionary, other than one for a songwriter named Burt.

 

[koalabear]

you always got good smilies..

 

[dan_c00000]

Al Gore is not bad. Gore is part of a phony political party [Democrats] but the man is generating enormous income for his family (and whatever elite "escorts" cost these days). Good for him!

Gore's net worth has grown substantially by getting on the Apple Co. board (sweet $35 million in stock alone plus $50K a year for a few days work annually), selling books, selling the crappy cable channel ($100 million into his pocket), his investment management business and doing speaking engagements [easy money!]. When he left the VP office he was just a simple millionaire worth around $2 million.

Now he's a true "capitalist pig" with at least $300 million...worth more than Mitt Romney. His investment company ain't doing pro bono work and many staffers lost their jobs when he sold the cable company [shocking!].

The Democrat Party outcry against Al Gore, capitalist: silence

How come you're not outcrying the abuse of the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson? Adelson's networth alone makes Gore's look like a pile of pennies.

 

[knot_sweet]

"We are the Congressmen who say... No!"

We would like...a shrubbery

 

[Colonel Hogan]

It's not really leadership to allow votes on judges you want to vote yea on. But it's the opposite of leadership to fuck up the country by blocking those judges.

This is fucking hilarious. The country is going to be "fucked up" by 35 vacant federal judgeships? Some people might suggest that the country has been harmed more by decisions that judges have actually rendered.

Exaggerate much?

And then there's this:

To compound the problem, Obama's team was slow getting started in 2009. The White House focused on winning approval for its first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. But Obama made only 43 nominations to the lower courts in his first year, less than half the rate of Bush, who made 89 nominations.

The slow start combined with the GOP's go-slow approach to reduce Obama's impact.

When the 112th Congress adjourned last week, the Senate had approved 175 of Obama's judges. By comparison, Bush had 206 judges approved in his first term, and President Clinton had 204 judges confirmed during his first four years.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/05/nation/la-na-obama-judges-20130106

Interesting how Obama's number of first year nominations appear to account for the difference in first term confirmation totals from two former administrations.

Let's see, Republican obstructionism through the filibuster rules that Senate Democrats invented and passed. Yeah, that's gotta sting having your own obstructionist tool used against you. Not unlike Obama's sponsorship of the sequester bill a few years ago.

Sounds like business as usual in Washington. Which means it is only outrageous when the opposition is doing it.

 

[zipman]

Ish - the nominees we're referring to here had to wait 263 days, 300 days, and 333 days. Tell me more about your loosely defined definition of "waning months".

Ish's brain is as limp as his dick.

It's pretty clear this is about pure obstructionism as opposed to ideological differences.

 

[Byron In Exile]

They're saying no to judicial nominees they're in favor of though. Is that leadership - saying no to people and things you actually approve of?

Expecting "leadership" from President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. Mitch McConnell is like expecting a dog to grab a baton to lead an orchestra.

Incompetence reigns supreme in power-hungry Washington, D.C. where the only purpose is for individuals to maintain their status and secure their corporate board appointments after they leave (see Al Gore for the template).

I really was going to respond to your question, but by then, Hogjack had posted, and his was better, so I wandered away.

Even so, I ought to say something. Is it leadership? I believe it is, of a sort. I would call it, "Leadership via the scenic route."