Democrats Warned Not To Block Judges (Mitch McConnell) - Seattle PI

[WillyT]

Democrats warned not to block judges

By LAURIE KELLMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

<snip>

WASHINGTON -- The Senate's next Republican leader issued a veiled threat to block action on legislation if Democrats refuse to allow confirmation votes on President Bush's troubled judicial nominations.

Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become minority leader Jan. 4, told the conservative Federalist Society Friday not to feel bad about the Senate election results because Republicans will hold 49 seats in a body that requires 60 votes to end a filibuster and bring legislation or presidential nominees to a final vote.

If the "Democrats want our cooperation, they'll give the president's judicial nominees an up-or-down vote," McConnell said.

Vice President Dick Cheney told the same group Friday that Republicans' loss of Congress in last week's election won't dissuade Bush from continuing to nominate strict-constructionist judges to the federal bench.

<snip>

Link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Judges_Filibusters.html

Anybody still wanna give these fucks an olive branch???

:mad::shrug::mad:

[Buddyblazon]

1. I'm so sick of the mother fuckers.......

hypocrites....the fucking lot of them.

[Cha]

2. Not me..when they pick mitch

mcconnell you know they want knives in backs.

Who wants a bunch of zealotwing judges left when the chimpleton is gone?

[buddysmellgood]

3. Off to the basement with them.

[stevedeshazer]

35. They can caucus in Storage Room B as far as I care.

[meldroc]

43. Since they're down there,

Maybe the GOP can take care of the cockroach problem. Just have them grab some cans of pesticide...

[133724]

46. Please solve the cockroach porblem without DeLay!!!!! n/t

[Mythsaje]

50. The GOPers can't take care of the cockroach problem...

Professional courtesy.

[madokie]

67. Plus they are the cockroaches, the whoe 'lott' of them

[Hippo_Tron]

64. What do you mean, the GOP IS the cockroach problem

:evilgrin:

[Donnachaidh]

4. Their boat is sinking and yet they still act like arrogant putzes

Do they REALLY think that obstructing the democratic process will win for them in 'o8?

Out of touch. Completely.

We need to keep the heat ON for the next 2 years. Shine a big old spotlight on this arrogance.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Tough talk from Minority Mitch. Seen the election results, asshole?

No? I thought so.

[pdxmom]

6. Save the story and beat them over the head with it when they try to

do this. The people of this country have spoken and said loud and clear that they're sick of the bullying creeps that they've thrown out of office. The people made it very clear that they aren't going to tolerate the Repukes' "stay the course" mindset. They won't buy it, just like they didn't buy it from the Repukes back in the 90's.

I say start calling their bluff.

[erinmblair]

7. Glad he's NOT the Majority anymore!

Ha. Ha. Serves you right to be the Minority. I hope you'll stay in that Minority for good! What an ass! :mad:

[helderheid]

8. FUCK them.

And it looks like they did manage to steal 3,000,000 votes in 2006

[LittleClarkie]

10. Thank you, no.

God knows where they've been.

[helderheid]

38. good point. We've already been fucked by them.

[LittleClarkie]

9. Republicans, the party of No. Don't they have any ideas?

Isn't that what they said about us? How quickly the shoe is on the other foot.

[Lasher]

44. It won't come up for a vote unless a majority of the majority first approves

Remember that one? Oh but wait, here's another fine Republican invention: The Nuclear Option. Can we borrow your notes from when you threatened us with that before, Mitch? Still like the idea? I'm warming up to it.

[jayfish]

11. Hey Mitch!

Fuck you!

Jay

[Ian David]

12. Oh, he's warning us?

I dare you to block our judicial nominations! I'll bite your bloody legs off!

[lonestarnot]

20. bwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaa!

:rofl: OMG series!

[WillyT]

28. LOL !!! - Priceless !!!

:bounce::yourock::bounce:

[madmusic]

55. Freakin' A!

:rofl:

[Old and In the Way]

13. Fuck him.

Mitch....we are coming after you....

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. ROTFLMAO!!!

"If the Democrats want our cooperation?????" He has GOT TO BE KIDDING, right???:rofl::rofl::rofl:

After the last 4 freakin' years of hearings held in basements, lights turned off on Committee members, the repukes calling the police on Dem Congress critters, repukes turning off the microphones so our Dems couldn't be heard, repukes REFUSING a "point of order" during committee meetings, refusing to let Dems have any amendments on the floor for debate, threatening to use THE "NUCLEAR OPTION" and the repukes changing bills at 3:00 A.M. and handing them to our Dems at 8:00 A.M. and holding a vote at 8:30 A.M. without giving the Dems time to read 1000 page bill....AND HE HAS THE FUCKING NERVE to threaten that they won't cooperate????
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

That is Too-Damn-Funny.

[Ian David]

21. You forgot a few things

Calling "emergency" bill votes during major Democratic fundraisers, calling press conferences to announce months-olds "evidence" during major Democratic political announcements, and... the list goes on.

[Lasher]

51. Give it a rest, Mitch. You won't even be in the room when the decisions are made.

"Why are you saying this? You're not even going to be in the room when the decisions are made." Republican Senator Pete Domenici during a 2001 Budget Committee meeting, to Democratic Senators who were debating what a final result should be.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12055360/cover_story_time_to_go_inside_the_worst_congress_ever

Oh and Mitch: You lost.

Get over it!!!

[madmusic]

56. But how much of the public knows that?

The dumb ones, not DUers.

[KitSileya]

70. I knew they forced Conyers to hold hearings in basements

and expanded the time for discussion of bills forcing people to sleeplessness, but all those other things? Wow, what dirty, cowardly, mean tactics. Do you have sources for these, so that I can use them in arguments concerning this current wave of 'bipartisanship' the idiot in the Oval Office is spouting?

[in_cog_ni_to]

76. Here are some snips and links. The Boston.com link is EXCELLENT ...

<snip>FURTHER UPDATE: After the microphones were turned off by a Republican staffer (but still captured on the C-SPAN video), one of the witnesses whose testimony was abrubtly ended, was James Zogby of the Arab American Institute. Here's what he said:

"I just saw something...totally inappropriate. No mic on and no record being kept. But I think as we are lecturing foreign governments about the conduct of their behavior with regard to opposition -- when I see the behavior I saw here today as an American -- I'm really troubled about what kind of lesson this is going to teach to other countries in the world about how they ought to conduct an open society that allows for an opposition with rights. I'm sorry, I'm very offended."

Consider it now on the record now, Mr. Zogby. Thank you for speaking up.

FURTHER FURTHER UPDATE: My interview on the TONY TRUPIANO SHOW wherein I was able to give more details from my interview with the Democratic Staffer just before going on air is now online here .

LATE AFTERNOON UPDATE: AP covers Sensenbrenner's hissy in a not bad article. A couple of new points added:


The Republican chairman walked off with the gavel, leaving Democrats shouting into turned-off microphones at a raucous hearing Friday on the Patriot Act.
...
Tempers flared when Rep. Mike Pence (news, bio, voting record), R-Ind., accused Amnesty International of endangering the lives of Americans in uniform by referring to the prison at Guantanamo Bay as a "gulag." Sensenbrenner didn't allow the Amnesty representative, Chip Pitts, to respond until Nadler raised a "point of decency." <snip>

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/06/319204.shtml

THIS is an EXCELLENT article on all the crap the repukes have pulled.
<snip>
Once the energy proposal went to the Hill, Democrats were not permitted entry into the closed-door talks to write the complicated bill. Senator Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican who was one of the bill's leading negotiators, said the exclusive conference process was the only way to get a bill written, given all of the regional and ideological disagreements.

On a Saturday, when Congress was not in session, the conference committee released the more than 1,000-page bill on its website, sending lawmakers scrambling to read the document. The House was presented with the bill for a full vote the following Tuesday, leaving little time for a close examination by House members.

"I don't recall ever having one entire piece of a conference left out of a conference meeting," said Anna Aurilio of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group. "Leadership is leadership, and they're always going to try to seize power, but this is the worst I've seen in 11 years. There's this trend of trying to keep people in the dark."

House Democrats were also excluded from conference committee talks on the Medicare prescription drug bill, talks to which only two sympathetic Senate Democrats were invited. When House Democrats tried to crash the meeting, they were rejected.

On another occasion, Ways and Means Committee ranking Democrat Charles Rangel of New York, furious that a pension bill was about to be propelled through the tax-writing panel without sufficient time for study, used a parliamentary rule to delay the vote, then escorted his fellow Democrats to a House library to discuss strategy. Republicans called the Capitol Police and had the Democrats ousted, claiming they had not reserved the room.<snip>

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/10/03/back_room_dealing_a_capitol_trend?pg=full

[KitSileya]

80. Thanks!

It always helps to be able to point to sources when you confront people about these things. I posted in my livejournal about this, i.e., how the repukes want bipartisanship to be that the Dems do what they're told.

[in_cog_ni_to]

81. You're welcome! Their desire for "bipartisanship" is LAUGHABLE!

They deserve NONE and will get what they deserve, I hope.:)

[KitSileya]

82. I hope the dems stand firm too.

And point out the hypocricy in the media (of the media) whenever they have the chance. The firm statements that have been issued since the elections are very encouraging ("Don't waste your time", the ethics laws, etc) It should be pointed out often and loudly whenever the repukes block the dems in the next two years. If Bush vetoes or uses signing statements, if the repukes keep messing with the everyday workings of the House the public should be told.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. Was there really anybody who wanted to here???

:hi:

[Aviation Pro]

16. Two words Bitch.....

Fuck and you.

[Bitwit1234]

17. If MSM really reported the NEWS

They would report about this. They would tell how the republicans warned the democrats not to try to filbuster any of their laws because they would use the nuclear option. BUT THEY ARE GOING TO USE THE FILBUSTER TO STOP THE DEMOCRATS FROM DOING ANYTHING. this should be pounded and pounded but the media won't, we have to get it out there.

[SoCalDem]

18. Okay, Mitch.. We'll just wait until January to "interview" them

and THEN give them an up or down vote :)

[yourout]

19. Does the term Pocket fillibuster mean anything to them?

We can just keep them from leaving committee and going to the floor I belive.

[ToeBot]

60. It should, it was Orrin Hatch's favorite tactic for most of Clinton's term of office. nt

[DBoon]

22. I know where they can put the olive branch...

nt

[hwmnbn]

23. It's like this, Mitch......

Sit down and shut up.

[Ecumenist]

24. These cheeky Sons of bitches are delusional...

Somebody needs to break their size 13 feet off in their @sses so high that everytime one of those repubgant-cans opens their mouths, the gallery sees a full set of toes.

[stepnw1f]

25. lol... I Call Your Bluff

how's them apples?

[ourbluenation]

26. BWAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHA BWAHA HA HAAAAAAAA!

[Warren Stupidity]

27. So we give in and they fillibuster legislation or let Bush veto it.

And then we are stuck anyhow. Will our brilliant leaders figure out that this is a losing proposition if they play along at all?

Block the damn judges and let the repugnants obstruct and veto to their heart's content. Let them vote down minimum wage, medicare prescription plan d reform, tuition tax credits, and on and on and on.

Oh, by the way, their precious billionaire tax cuts all expire without action, too bad about that.

Bipartisan? They haven't been since '94 and have no intention of ever being so again. It is all take and no give with them.

[Canuckistanian]

42. Oh, yeah, the Paris Hilton tax cuts will expire, won't they?

Too bad, so sad. America mourns it's po' rich folk...

[annabanana]

74. You nailed it.

They will not promise not to screw things up.. they will imply that they will not screw things up if we go along...

Then they will screw things up. And laugh and say "how stupid were YOU to believe us?"

I'm tired of being the Charlie Brown party, facing Lucy and the football.

[bowens43]

29. Fuck these ass holes.

It's time to kick neo-con ass. The very first time they filibuster ,it's time togo nuclear.

[in_cog_ni_to]

31. YUP! There's NO MORE Gang of 14! Time to go Nuclear on their asses!

The Gang of 14 EXPIRES when the 110th Congress is sworn in.:rofl:

[williesgirl]

30. So, he's delusional too! Fuck him and the horse he rode in on. recommended

[AnnieBW]

32. Note To Mitch:

You're not in the majority anymore. Get over it!

Love and kisses,

The DNC

[yurbud]

33. sharpen the end of the olive branch, and make sure no olives left on it

so they won't have anything to eat while they figure out how to remove the branch from their lung.

[yurbud]

34. remember the much threatened "nuclear option" held over the Democrats' heads?

I don't think Dems should use nuclear option, but they should aggressively point out hypocrisy of GOP threat of filibuster and threat of doing away with it if Democrats used it.

[populistdriven]

37. nope - they deserve the threat of nuclear - throw it in their face as much as they did to us

[yurbud]

72. Do it in a slightly backhanded but still obvious way to show respect for Democratic process

and distinguish Dems from them.

The bottom line is, none of the rules matter to the GOP, only winning at all costs.

[Octafish]

36. Hand that man an anchor.

A big anchor.



With lots of chain.

[Kerrytravelers]

39. Oh, how cute. They're still saying "up or down vote."

Gee, it kinda makes me tingly when they talk tough.

[texpatriot2004]

40. OR WHAT? nm

[Canuckistanian]

41. Ooooo, we're shaking in our boots, Mitch

What are you going to do if we DO challenge, LIKE WE'VE ALWAYS HAD A RIGHT TO DO?

[Subdivisions]

45. Hey McConKnucklehead, KISS MY ASS!

[hfojvt]

47. why not give them an up or down vote?

Can't we vote down the bad ones 51-49? We should vote down any judge who is not a centrist, or left of center.

[Lasher]

53. Because we only have a one vote majority in the Senate

And trying to get Democrats to stick together on a vote is like herding cats.

And mostly because we don't have to. Oh, you can expect to hear that "up or down vote" crap over and over again. I certainly hope Democrats are ready to counter that an up or down vote was not so sacred when Republicans controlled the agenda.

[in_cog_ni_to]

79. The repukes pocket filibustered over 60 of Clinton's judicial nominees....KARMA'S a bitch.

<snip>Republicans used the filibuster and other procedural delays to deny judicial nominees an up-or-down vote. So denying a judicial nominee an up-or-down vote is nothing new. It has been done over and over and over again. I speak as a member of the Judiciary Committee for 12 years, and I have seen it done over and over and over again.

So why suddenly is an up-or-down vote now the be all and end all?

Last administration, Republicans used the practice of blue slips or an anonymous hold, which I have just described, to allow a single Senator -- not 41 Senators, but 1 -- to prevent a nomination from receiving a vote in the Judiciary Committee, a 60-vote cloture vote on the floor, or an up-or-down vote on the floor of the Senate. This was a filibuster of one, and it can still take place within the Judiciary Committee.

The fact is, more than 60 judicial nominees suffered this fate during the last administration. In other words, over 60 Clinton judges were filibustered successfully by one Senator, often anonymous, often in secret, no debate as to why. It was an effective blackball.<snip>

http://feinstein.senate.gov/05speeches/cr-nuclear-option0518.htm

[prolesunited]

48. Sure. Hold your breath until you turn blue

And block all of the people's business from getting done. We'll see what the voters do in 08. We'll win even BIGGER majorities in the House and Senate and the presidency to boot!

Message to the GOP: The voters finally see through your shit and they will make you pay. But, by all means, keep it up.

[Polemicist]

49. Is McConnell just a bit reality challenged?

He's talking like he is still in the majority party.

Earth to Mitch McConnell. You are now the minority party. The majority party, the Democrats will have no problem allowing an up or down vote on any conservative extremists Bush chooses to nominate. We will very quickly have a vote to kick their asses to the curb.

McConnell, you dumbass, we got the most votes now, not you.

[tritsofme]

68. Make sure you talk to guys like Ben Nelson first.

Maybe he'll be different since he's safe for the next 6 years, but he's made quite a hobby out of voting for Bush nominees.

[Codeblue]

52. Never have

I guess I agree with bipartisan legislation sometimes because it seems like the right thing to do.

However, I pretty much have always felt that staying as far away from those scumbags as possible is the best route to take. Don't cooperate with them on a damn thing. Even if it may be something we want, fuck them. I don't want their approval.

Hey, if they don't want to act on Democratic legislation as long as no Fascist judges are being confirmed, well I guess we'll have two years where NOTHING happens in Congress. Better than having a bunch of Federalists sitting on the bench.

[Lasher]

54. Republicans think cooperation is when Democrats do what they want

They have no other understanding of the concept. Cooperating with them is like the chickens inviting the fox to come over for dinner. But now we have the farmer and his shotgun to make sure they are not allowed to sit at the table.

[madmusic]

57. So McCackle and Cheezy want the people to know what the Federalist Society is.

I agree 100%. The people should know, and no votes until they do know sometime next year.

[madmusic]

58. K&R, btw

[fooj]

59. The same "troubled" judicial nominations that couldn't make it through

when the Repubs CONTROLLED BOTH House and Senate?

IF the Dems want our cooperation? What a little prick. These guys don't know when to STFU, do they?

[Marr]

61. "Warned"... haha- I like that. That's cute.

Now sit back down, Mitch.

[Skidmore]

62. They obviously didn't learn the lessons of the election...that

the issues of extreme social conservatism are not paramount to the majority of Americans. If you stripped away all the labels, Americans are farther to the left that these people will acknowledge so they continue to pander to an extremist group. The best way to counteract these old diehard racists and mysogynists is to move to traditional populist positions on bread and butter issues and to take some action to end this war.

[Warren DeMontague]

63. Up or Down. How about 51 to 49, shithead?

How do you like them apples?

[BlueCollar]

65. "Anybody still wanna give these fucks an olive branch???"

Anybody actually propose this?

[madokie]

66. not a chance would I, while we have them down hold em down, I say

you can't just cut their heads off they just grow another one

[Bluebear]

69. "Up or down vote" . . .Dandy........*****DOWN****

Now shut up, Mitch.

[yurbud]

73. we should borrow this for withdrawal from Iraq, impeachment, repeal of Patriot Act....

and repeal of as much as possible of everything Bush has done.

[malaise]

71. Hey Mitch

Your party lost the elections. Get over it!

[WillyT]

75. Kick !!!

:kick:

[left of center]

77. he should be carefull what he wishes for

McConnell should be carefull what he wishes for. While I would hate to see more Scalia types on that court, their presence would potentially usher in a Renaissance for the Democratic party.

[Ioo]

78. They Will Never Make it to the Floor, That is what Repigs did

Just because Bush appoints them means nothing. The Dems will do to them what the Repigs did for Clinton, Never-Ever Ever bring them to a hearing. Forget up or down vote, thing ever see the light of day.

We control the doc.