Received by email from Barbara Boxer. Two gems in two days! :yourock:
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A poisonous right wing infection has gotten hold of the Senate Republicans. They've got a narrow Senate majority that's not enough to get their extremist judges on the courts. So they're scheming to change the fundamental Senate rules, silence Democrats, and get their judges approved. It's an assault on the Constitution and the whole system of checks and balances that makes our democracy work.
This unprecedented scheme will reach a crisis in the coming days. The focal point may be William Myers, a nominee rejected last year who's been nominated again. He'll be the test vote on this far-out power grab.
I'll say no on William Myers -- and no to the poisonous abuse of power Republicans are trying to foist on the Senate. My colleague, Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts, is helping to lead the battle against William Myers' confirmation. Senator Kennedy's website is hosting a petition against Myers' confirmation –- a petition I am pleased to support.
Please take a moment to join me in this effort and sign Senator Kennedy's petition:
www.tedkennedy.com/NoMyers
The vast, vast majority of President Bush's nominees -- over 95 percent -- have been confirmed by the Senate for the federal courts. But the Senate refused to confirm a handful of them who are too extreme to swallow - the worst of the worst, the very bottom of the right-wing barrel.
Bush has nominated Myers for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals -- the largest federal court of appeals, and a potential stepping stone to the Supreme Court. It also has jurisdiction over vast expanses of public land and priceless natural resources -- which makes a person like Myers especially unfit to serve.
He's spent his career trying to dismantle the legal protections our courts exist to protect. As a lobbyist for mining interests, he was handpicked by President Bush to regulate that industry. His only experience has been manipulating laws and regulations for corporate gain, against the public interest.
Myers and the other rejected nominees make up a band of corporate facilitators and right-wing crusaders who don't deserve lifetime power to shape laws that govern us. We have to say no:
www.tedkennedy.com/NoMyers
On the merits, there is simply no case for why William Myers should be confirmed.
Fortunately, the Constitution and two hundred years of Senate history give a minority of Senators like Democrats are today the right to say no to irresponsible nominees like Myers.
But Republican leaders won't take the Constitution for an answer. They want to change the basic long-standing Senate rules, silence the minority, and force Myers to the federal court for life.
We need your help. If we all stand together, if we stand with my good friend Ted Kennedy, we can stop this madness. Please - say no to Myers now:
www.tedkennedy.com/NoMyers
Say No To William Myers
William Myers was rejected as a judicial nominee last year, but President Bush has nominated him again. Republican Senate leaders are scheming to win this time – and win at any cost. They intend to seize absolute power by changing the rules to limit the rights of Democrats to be heard.
Myers has spent his career trying to dismantle the protections our courts exist to preserve. He was a former lobbyist for the mining, grazing and cattle industries and a Bush Administration bureaucrat. His only experience has been manipulating laws and regulations for corporate gain, against the public interest. He’s unqualified to sit on the largest federal appellate court in the country.
My voice can't be silenced. I say no on William Myers – and no to the reckless abuse of power the GOP is trying to impose on the Senate.
Signed, (you!)
In Friendship,
Barbara Boxer
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