Frist Going Nuclear Next Week

[losdiablosgato]

Press Releases

STATEMENT FROM THE OFFICE OF THE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER


US Senator William H. Frist, M.D.
May 13th, 2005 - Upon completion of action on the pending highway bill, the Senate will begin debate on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations. As is the regular order, the Leader will move to act on judge nominations sent to the full Senate by the Judiciary Committee in the past several weeks. Priscilla Owen, to serve as a judge for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Janice Rogers Brown, to serve as a judge for the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, will be the nominees of focus.


The Majority Leader will continue to discuss an appropriate resolution of the need for fair up or down votes with the Minority Leader. If they can not find a way for the Senate to decide on fair up or down votes on judicial nominations, the Majority Leader will seek a ruling from the Presiding Officer regarding the appropriate length of time for debate on such nominees. After the ruling, he will ensure that every Senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up or down votes on judicial nominees; or, to enshrine a new veto by filibuster that both denies all Senators the opportunity to advise and consent and fundamentally disturbs the separation of powers between the branches.


There will be a full and vigorous Senate floor debate that is too important for parliamentary tactics to speed it up or slow it down until all members who wish have had their say. All members are encouraged to ensure that rhetoric in this debate follows the rules, and best traditions, of the Senate.


It is time for 100 Senators to decide the issue of fair up or down votes for judicial nominees after over two years of unprecedented obstructionism. The Minority has made public threats that much of the Senate’s work will be shut down. Such threats are unfortunate.


The Majority Leader has proposed his Fairness Rule: up to 100 hours of debate, and then an up or down vote on circuit and Supreme Court nominations. Further, the Fairness Rule would eliminate the opportunity for blockade of such nominees at the Judiciary Committee. And finally, it will make no changes to the legislative filibuster.


If Senators believe a nominee is qualified, they should have the opportunity to vote for her. If they believe she is unqualified, they should have the opportunity to vote against her.


Members must decide if their legacy to the Senate is to eliminate the filibuster’s barrier to the Constitutional responsibility of all Senators to advise and consent with fair, up or down votes.


http://frist.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=1937

[Inland]

1. Let's vote! Reid is ready! nt

[AndyTiedye]

58. I Wouldn't Bet the Farm on That

The timing of the the base closing announcement is interesting.
Do any of the wavering Repubs have bases that are on the list,
or that were taken off the list before it went public?

Will Lieberman sell us out to save Groton? :scared:


Make no mistake about it. If we lose this, it's all over.
We will never win another election, because every election
will be rigged. Any disputes will be resolved in their favor anyway.
The fundies and the robber barons will have won.

[jazzjunkysue]

63. Um, yeah. All of them. It's pretty straightforward: Blackmail.

[AuntiBush]

66. Boy... thought same thing.

About those base closings. All on the east coast. Like, upper north area. You know. Blue state area. Arn't some in CA as well?

Gulp. Ok. Have faith. NY Senator represents 19 million people.
Whereas 2 OK Senators represent say (i.e.) 1.2 million.

We're the majority. We have to start thinking clearly on this. We are not the minority.

[AndyTiedye]

68. I Didn't Even Think About Snowe and Collins and the Bath Shipyard!

That's gotta be the biggest employer in their whole state!
No way can they stand up to a threat to close it down,
and no way the Dems can survive without their help.

I am sorry, but I think it's over.

[Walt Starr]

2. Let's get READY TO RUMBLE!!!

Take him down, Reid!

[LSparkle]

3. A reaction to Bobby Byrd's speech perhaps?

[trotsky]

4. The fact that these people can say this shit with a straight face,

being the party that blocked dozens of Clinton nominees with a simple "blue slip" procedure... ARRRGGHH!!

[Straight Shooter]

5. If this is so important, why didn't they do this during Clinton's tenure?

Or during bush's first *cough* occupation of the Oval Office?

This is clear and convincing evidence that Frist intends for the Repubs to rule with no ethics and an iron fist.

Bring it on! I want to see some donkeys kick some elephant a**.

[eleny]

6. All the more incentive for us to work for Dem candidates

And to get voter verified paper ballots. Yee-Haw!!!! Head 'em up - move 'em out!

[UCLA Dem]

7. And his presidential aspirations will go with him in this "nuclear" blast.

[mmonk]

8. But his legacy will live on

on the bench.

[Massachusetts]

9. Frist(sy) = milque toast

[ewagner]

10. He got all the talking points in

Everything they've been pusin\hing for the last two weeks was in there.....except the "sharecropper's daughter" remark....I expect we'll hear that until we :puke: during the next week or so....

Reid should pre-empt him and force a vote.....

[mmonk]

11. Filibuster the debate

on using the nuclear option.

[Gothmog]

13. the filibuster is not available for procedural votes

The nuclear option is a procedural trick (it is not authorized in the Senate rules) that is not subject to a filibuster.

[mmonk]

29. But unlimited debate

can proceed the nuclear option. The constitution provides for unlimited debate.

[UCLA Dem]

25. Awesome. Thats a great idea!

:evilgrin:

[Gothmog]

12. Give them hell Harry

I am glad that we have Harry Reid in our corner compared to Tom Daschle. This is going to be an exciting week.

[tex-wyo-dem]

14. Hell, yeah, we're ready!

Reid has outmaneuvered Frist at every turn and Frist is taking a huge gamble here; I can't see how this is anything but a lose/lose for him being that he has Oval Office aspirations and Reid has skillfully shown him to be absolutely uncompromising and extremist.

What do y'all think, will the nuclear option pass? If it does, commence with the shutdown!

[GOPFighter]

41. I think it will succeed

The GOP is putting all their eggs in this basket. The pressure to cave will be UNBELIEVABLE!!! Frist wouldn't go this route unless he was sure of a victory. A loss on this vote would be devastating to the Repukes.

[BadNews]

42. I don't think it will materialize.

Reid will not call for a filibuster, and the nominees will mostly pass on a party line vote. Both Owens and Brown will be appointed. Reid will save the filibuster for the Supreme Court nominations.

[against all enemies]

15. What makes you think the American people don't support Frist?

This country is so stupid, up is down and black is white. Just because Frist is wrong doesn't mean the general public won't back him on this. They are experts in trashing judges and the courts, and they will make this about the courts not the Senate. Most people don't even know how many Senators there are, never mind give a shit about the Senate's power in the Constitution.

[Chicago Democrat]

24. those people dont vote

buck up!

[against all enemies]

26. I think they do vote. President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Frist,

Speaker of the House Hasert, all Republicans. The Republicans own all three branches and you say idiots don't vote? Proof is in the pudding.

[MGKrebs]

31. So what do you say? We take a pass on this one too?

[against all enemies]

35. No, fight the fight but be realistic about the outcome. The "bring it on"

type comments only invite disappointment. We're sitting on the beach, don't ask for a tidal wave.

[BadNews]

36. You have to fight it. Just don't expect John Q to understand or care....

much less be on our side.

[delhurgo]

37. I think there should have been more of an attempt

at compromise by Reid. I may even have ended up suggesting that he let these appellate judges get approved, because if the nuclear option works now, then it (the filibuster) won't be an option for the Supreme Court.

We may look back at this as a huge mistake when an extremist anti-choice, anti-sep of church/state, anti-free speech... judge is nominated to the Supreme Court and only needs 50 votes instead of 60 to be approved. Thats when we'll wish that we had the filibuster we're using now.

It all depends on whether the nuclear option works though or not. But if it does, Frist will have played things just right.

[AndyTiedye]

69. Bend Over or Get Run Over. Those are the Choices

Running up the white flag on all the other judges would do nothing
to prevent Frist from invoking the nuclear option when the time
comes to ram through a John Ashcroft as a Supreme Court "Justice".
If anything, it would make it harder for us to make the
case to stop him, after letting all those others go through.

We won't win, but we've got nothing to lose by putting up a fight
in the Senate. At least the foreign press will report it, so some
people overseas will realize that the mad cowboys don't speak for
all of us.

[shanti]

40. apparently

you've never heard of DIEBOLD!

[AndyTiedye]

57. Voting Machinez Vote For Them

[regnaD kciN]

59. The polls, for one thing...

Opinion polls have consistently shown opposition to Frist's measure, by margins of between 2:1 and 3:1.

[peacetalksforall]

16. There is only one weekend to educate people...

He says 'unprecedented obstructionism' -

Does anyone have the statistics - Clinton - Marionette?

They need to be blasted all over the country this weekend.

Every other one of his lie=phrasing should have a ready and simple lie rebuttal in numbers or contrasts.

Their lies have to be DESTROYED - this weekedn. The Senators will repeat it, but the time to start is this afternoon.

#1 Does anyone have the numbers?

The next issue is filibuster history and constitutionality - does anyone have the phrasing used by Byrd of any of the others?

[Skarbrowe]

17. Maybe I have this wrong, but isn't the point of pushing the nuclear option

to get into position to only need 51 votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee? Aren't they only pretending to care about these "10" appellate court judges getting an up or down vote? If they convince the public, or even if they don't, because public opinion doesn't seem to matter to these people, that the Democrats are obstructing or slowing down the business of government, aren't they just positioning themselves to being able to stack the court with possibly FOUR extreme right conservative Supreme Court nominees?

What happens in this country if Bush is allowed to put men or women who rule by the Christian bible on the highest court in our land?

Abortion is once again illegal.
Christianity and creationism are taught in all public schools.
Gays and Lesbians are not allowed to teach or possibly to exist.
Free Speech is obliterated.
Free Press becomes an anachronism.
All citizens will carry strict ID cards.
Biometric banking, traveling and drivers licenses.

What else?

[losdiablosgato]

19. We have to win in 2008

The supreme court is that important. All 9 of the sitting justices are sick and or old. I do not thing any of them will be on the bench in 2012. If we do not win in 2008 the RW will pick the most conservative supreme court in history. Keep in mind the Roe V Wade is hanging on by a slim 5 to 4 majority in favor of it. One or two of the right judges and it is over.

[UCLA Dem]

27. Its so scary! But I know we'll all do everything we can to stop it.

[Massacure]

38. 2006 is more important.

[Roland99]

18. Bring it on!

[mtnester]

20. I pray that Frist is standing downwind during the nuclear option

so the shit blows back in his face.

[KamaAina]

21. The "Fairness Rule"? How very Orwellian.

This from the party that gutted the "Fairness Doctrine". :puke:

the Majority Leader will seek a ruling from the Presiding Officer regarding the appropriate length of time for debate on such nominees

The "Presiding Officer" is actually President Cheney (R-PNAC). Gee, wonder what that ruling will be? 45 seconds?

to enshrine a new veto by filibuster that both denies all Senators the opportunity to advise and consent and fundamentally disturbs the separation of powers between the branches.

!Caca de toro! "All Senators" already have the opportunity to advise and consent. They can have a "fair up or down vote" to invoke cloture. Oh, right, it's not "fair" unless the repukes have the numbers to win it. :sarcasm:

As for the separation of powers between the branches, that's exactly what we're fighting to preseve: an independent judiciary, not one stuffed full of mindless Bushbots (I know, that goes without saying :-) ). What it amounts to is that large portions of the repuke/PNAC agenda are so blatantly unconstitutional that only a kangaroo court packed with Federalist rubber stamps could pssibly allow it. :banghead:

[Chicago Democrat]

22. PLEASE DO IT.... Fristie-boy....

I cant wait until we have endless quorum calls and real fun times from now on...




NO FEAR






ANYTHING THAT THEY CAN DO CAN BE UNDONE IN GOOD TIME

[MasonJar]

23. I hope that he blows himself up.

[mmonk]

28. For some of us,

it's waiting to see if we are forced away from our homes. My state has no specific legal protections for the disabled, only ADA. When these people take the bench and the bush supreme court nominee(s) are added, ADA will be on a death watch. It means we will be uprooted. They are really screwing with people's lives.

[MGKrebs]

30. I encourage all Dem activists to organize!

This is one of those moments when our Dem Senators need to hear from us. Their will and perseverance may be directly related to how strong our support can be demonstrated. We KNOW the other side is massively mobilized on this.

Please consider organizing a group get together this weekend or Monday evening to HAND WRITE letters to be faxed to Senators. I'll try and post a list of Senatorial fax numbers in this thread later unless somebody beats me to it.

Dear Senator ______,

We urge you to preserve the last remnant of representation for the 49% of the nation who do identify themselves with the majority party...

or something like that.

[renaissanceguy]

32. Bring on the revolution!!!

FUCK YOU, FRIST, AND YOUR FUNDIE BUDDIES.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/588704

[stevedeshazer]

33. F*cking liar

"After the ruling, he will ensure that every Senator has the opportunity to decide whether to restore the 214-year practice of fair up or down votes on judicial nominees..."
=========================================================================

"Of Course You Realize This Means War"



:grr:

[renaissanceguy]

34. I only hope the American public

doesn't roll over and ignore it.

Then again, I'm sure we'll have a huge battle with the corporate media, too. Cuz you know who's side they're on.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/588704

[elias49]

39. up or down vote, up or down vote

Did you notice that this Frist mantra used "up or down vote" six times in 7 short paragraphs? Up or down vote....blah, blah, blah.

Reminds me of a * speech: "....weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction"
If you say the same thing often enough, it becomes the fundemental issue in the debate. The fact that the Repugs are wrong, becomes irrelavant. The Repugs are wrong, but they press on, wrong or not.
The Senate IS a deliberative body, fashioned to allow the opinion of the minority to be heard, so I suppose that although the Repugs are wrong on this, they have the right - as the minority block on this issue - to announce their wrongness to the world.
We're all wrong now and then, Frist. I don't mind if you're wrong about this issue.

[Lochloosa]

43. Sen. Frist vows vote on two Bush judicial nominees next week

Breaking news....MSNBC News

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7844274/

Edit: Headline changed

[wakeme2008]

44. Probably the worst two so that he can go NUCLEAR... nt

[quiet.american]

45. Bill "Haman" Frist --

-- I've never seen someone so eager to barrel forward full on towards their own political destruction.

[Walt Starr]

46. Actually, he'll probably stand a damned good chance of winning the

Republican nomination for president. Better than nearly any other potential candidate because the Religiously Insane LOVE Bill Frist.

Fortunately, that will mean he probably will stand no chance whatsoever in the general election.

[tridim]

47. The repuke nominee will win in 2008 with the help of Diebold, et al.

What's the status on the v.v. paper trails? You'd think they would have had time to fix it by now. I'm guessing they'll drag their feet until late 2007 and then say they didn't have time to install the printers.

[Walt Starr]

48. Sorry, I don't buy into the voter fraud stuff

I consider it an excuse for our candidate failing.

[UCLA Dem]

51. I think its a combination of both.

[tridim]

54. So all the fraud in Ohio last year was fake IYO?

[Walt Starr]

55. I never saw fraud to a high level

that would have made any difference in the outcome in Ohio.

[forgethell]

52. Unless we run

Hillary. She is not loved on the right.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

53. That is indeed the sweetest hope of American RWers.

Don't you agree?

[forgethell]

73. Yes, I do. n/t

[LSparkle]

49. He's living in an echo chamber

and doesn't realize that there are a lot of people who AREN'T religious nutcases and won't be happy seeing the Senate rules nuked ... I agree with Byrd -- this isn't going to lead to the kind of legacy Fristian is looking for.

[serryjw]

67. Americans won't remember tomorrow

you are giving them way to much credit. The same citizens that believed the swift boat liars and didn't think Kerry was a war hero.

[UCLA Dem]

50. We'll just see about that. Lets go Fristy.

[nwliberalkiwi]

56. A Shot In The Dark

Although I don't advocate violence, I just wonder when somebody is going to take out one of these Fundies!

[Dr Fate]

64. You mean like when the fundies threaten judges?

I think you have things mixed up, chief.

[lovuian]

60. This is going to shut down the Government Its War!!!

Republicans are truly evil!!!

[GetTheRightVote]

61. The Dems must stand strong together to win it, but they can & will

:kick:

[pie]

71. This has me shaking in my boots

If they push this thru,
Democracy as we know it may be over.
These fuckers play hard ball all the time.

[sarcasmo]

62. I sure hope they run this idiot for President in 08. We should be able to

defeat this far right Fascist.

[drduffy]

65. comin down to a fight

folks, this is a battle in the fight to thwart the creation of facsist America, the oligarchy, the theocracy. Ultimately, it may come down to the streets. Are you ready? You'd better be.

[MGKrebs]

70. Dem Sen Fax list

As Ted Kennedy said:
THE NUCLEAR OPTION
"As the world’s greatest deliberative body, we respect the power of persuasion, whether it is Senators persuading other Senators, or Senators persuading the House, or the President. We have never allowed a bare Senate majority to silence the minority" - Senator Edward Kennedy


Akaka, Daniel (D - HI)
Fax: [phone]

Baucus, Max (D - MT)
[phone]

Bayh, Evan (D - IN)
(202)-228-1377 (?)

Biden, Joseph (D - DE)
Fax: [phone]

Bingaman, Jeff (D - NM)
[phone]

Boxer, Barbara (D - CA)
?

Byrd, Robert (D - WV)
304-343-7144

Cantwell, Maria (D - WA)
202-228-0514

Carper, Thomas- (D - DE)
202-228-2190

Clinton, Hillary- (D - NY)
[phone]

Conrad, Kent- (D - ND)
[phone]

Corzine, Jon- (D - NJ)
[phone]

Dayton, Mark- (D - MN)
202-228-2186


Dodd, Christopher- (D - CT)
[phone]

Dorgan, Byron- (D - ND)
202-224-1193

Durbin, Richard- (D - IL)
[phone]

Feingold, Russell- (D - WI)
?

Feinstein, Dianne- (D - CA)
[phone]

Harkin, Tom- (D - IA)
[phone]

Inouye, Daniel- (D - HI)
202-224-6747

Jeffords, James- (I - VT)
?

Johnson, Tim- (D - SD)
[phone]

Kennedy, Edward- (D - MA)
202/224-2417

Kerry, John- (D - MA)
[phone]

Kohl, Herb- (D - WI)
[phone]

Landrieu, Mary- (D - LA)
[phone]

Lautenberg, Frank- (D - NJ)
[phone]

Leahy, Patrick- (D - VT)
?

Levin, Carl- (D - MI)
Fax [phone]

Lieberman, Joseph- (D - CT)
[phone]

Lincoln, Blanche- (D - AR)
[phone]

Murkowski, Lisa- (R - AK)
202-224-5301

Murray, Patty- (D - WA)
[phone]

Nelson, Bill- (D - FL)
202-228-2183

Nelson, Ben- (D - NE)
[phone]

Obama, Barack- (D - IL)
[phone]


Pryor, Mark- (D - AR)
[phone]

Reed, Jack- (D - RI)
[phone]

Reid, Harry- (D - NV)
202-224-7327

Rockefeller, John- (D - WV)
[phone](?)

Salazar, Ken- (D - CO)
202-228-5036

Sarbanes, Paul- (D - MD)
[phone]

Schumer, Charles- (D - NY)
202-228-3027

Stabenow, Debbie- (D - MI)
?

Wyden, Ron- (D - OR)

[batsauce]

72. The only way to stop this sort of thing...

is to win by clear majoritys.

So:
1. in our local areas, we need to verify that voting is on the up and up.
2.we mobilize the vote.

Remember, when they are the minority again, they will be mirroring everything we are doing right now, and justifying it by saying we stated it.

They have the votes right now, so before it all ends, they are going to have some impact on the judiciary. Thats how democracy works. We make democracy work by getting out the honest vote.

I think if this country can survive a civil war, a depression, and the VietNam war, we can get things right again if we build the democratic majority back up.

[lonestarnot]

74. Heard last night that that fucking Liberman may vote to confirm Bolton...

I'm so tired of his ass...why doesn't he just do like his dualing banjo buddy and switch parties?