Please, please, please tell me the Senate Dems are NOT caving in? Please?

[in_cog_ni_to]

I hope this hasn't been posted. I didn't see it here so thought I would get some opinions. What's this going to do? Who are these judges that Reid is willing to confirm? Richard Griffin and David McKeague???


Senate Leaders Work on Judicial Nomination Deal


WASHINGTON (April 25) - In private talks with Majority Leader Bill Frist, the Senate's top Democrat has indicated a willingness to allow confirmation of two of President Bush's seven controversial appeals court nominees, but only as part of a broader compromise requiring Republicans to abandon threats to ban judicial filibusters, officials said Monday.

At the same time he floats the possibility of clearing two nominees to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for approval, officials said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wants a third appointee to the same circuit to be replaced by an alternative who is preferred by Michigan's two Democratic senators.<snip>

<snip>Officials said as part of an overall deal, Reid has indicated he is willing to allow the confirmation of Richard Griffin and David McKeague, both of whom Bush has twice nominated for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. At the same time, the Democratic leader wants the nomination of Henry Saad scuttled. Democrats succeeded in blocking all three men from coming to a vote in 2004 in a struggle that turned on issues of senatorial prerogatives as well as ideology.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., has led the opposition to all three men. In remarks on the Senate floor in 2004, he noted that Republicans had refused even to hold hearings on two nominees that former President Bill Clinton made to the 6th Circuit.<snip>

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050423024709990005

Be sure to read the second to the last paragraph. Bush is the LIAR we all know he is.

[LittleClarkie]

1. I don't think it's caving so much as it's how things are done

I think it's Frist who's caving, if you ask me.

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. Have you heard anything about those 2 judges?

If Bush likes them, they can't be good. :( I HOPE Frist caves.

[LittleClarkie]

4. If Frist really thought he could pull the nuclear option

he wouldn't even be deal making. His people aren't going to be happy. They want it all, I reckon. Even a partial victory isn't going to be good enough for them.

Seriously, even after all that crud this Sunday, I think Frist just blinked. All that tough talk and then he wimps out and starts negotiating.

[mike_c]

6. since the GOP has already gotten 95 percent of the judicial...

...nominees that Bush sent to the Senate, it hardly looks like the GOP is caving on anything.

[sandnsea]

2. That's always been the deal

That's all Levin & Stabenow ever wanted, a Dem confirmation to offset the Pubs and keep that court balanced. This is nothing new and would be a HUGE win for the Dems. HUGE.

[LittleClarkie]

5. Thanks for the explanation

Unlike Rush today, who was trying to spin this the other way, I agree with you. Big win for the Dems.

[mmonk]

7. As long as any deal

doesn't include rubber stamping nominees to the supreme ct (which was the whole reason to try and trigger a filibuster and subsequent nuclear option). They want to change the laws of this country, constitutional interpretation, and to erode or strike previous precedents.

[in_cog_ni_to]

8. Mike Malloy just mentioned this story.

He is as curious as I am and he AIN'T very happy about the "deal." "Harry Reid is cutting a deal with the NAZIS???!!!" OMG...are you listening to Mike? Is he ever PISSED!

[DELUSIONAL]

9. Yes and he is hitting the nail on the head!

Reid is NOT a democrat -- he is just NOT!

Thank GODDESS for Mike Malloy.

It makes me sick the way people at DU get so excited at the "show" Reid puts on from time to time -- and then he votes for the bad guys.

Reid is as phony as a $3 bill.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. Harry had me when he stood up and said the Dems would walk out

of the Senate to stop the Nuclear Option. He has had some awesome news conferences bashing the repukes over this issue and that is why reading this article was so disconcerting. He seemed so resolute in what he said. :( I could have sworn he was going to stick to his guns on this.

If we lose the Supreme Court to RW judges, we women are SCREWED.

[FreedomAngel82]

12. What happened to that idea?

I'm just so confused at all this. Now either Reid really is caving in and going to make a deal with Frist or he's up to something. *sigh* I don't know how to read this one.

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. It's times like these

that I wish I were a fly on their walls. :( You never know what's going on in their minds. The Dems have disappointed me so much in the last 4+ years that I have a hard time getting my hopes up for ANYTHING. I honestly would not be surprised if the Dems didn't walk out over the Nuclear Option. EXTREMELY disappointed, but not surprised.

[DELUSIONAL]

20. With Reid as minority leader -- we women ARE screwed

but he keeps fooling the democrats.

[sandnsea]

17. He isn't informed then

That's exactly what those particular judgeships are for. Negotiation. Levin & Stabenow will release the blue slips if they keep the 6th balanced and not put through the other extreme judges. It's a good deal, if we can get it.

http://www.detnews.com/2003/politics/0307/24/politics-222798.htm

[Pithy Cherub]

10. Dems win at least twice on this.

1 - Frist can't get a majority to kill filibuster rule. :cry:
2 - Frist is damaged in the base's eyes and seen as ineffective thereby making his goal for 2008 soooooo much harder to reach.:nopity:

Reid also seems like the power broker in this and not Frist. :rofl:

[sandnsea]

18. Dems aren't the obstructionists

Triple win.

[Lone Pawn]

14. This is best for both parties.

We win: We get to keep the filibuster, and Frist has to change his tone from "We're gonna take away all the power you have left!" to "Um...just let these two through, okay?" We still get to block judges, whereas otherwise Bush gets Every Single Judge through.

They win: They don't have to endure the Democratic retaliation, and they get a few more judges.

We both win: The Democrats don't have to retaliate, which would be electorally disastrous for either the Dems or the Reps, depending on who spins this better.

[regnaD kciN]

15. Keep one thing in mind...

This is, I suspect, the high-water mark for Republicans. In all likelihood, they will lose seats in the midterms, as Bush's 9/11 mystique seems to have finally run out. Probably not enough to lose their entire majority, but one that will make any defections harder to counter.

That is why it is suddenly vital for the G.O.P. to "act now!" on so many issues that will have long-term consequences, such as eliminating Social Security or the judicial filibuster. They know this is probably their best, if not last, chance to set these matters in stone, so that a future more-Democrat-friendly Congress can't change them.

If we can get through a deal that will prevent a change on the filibuster rules in time for any Supreme Court appointments, this is a winner for us.

[raysr]

16. Rove says

no deal.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3544438

[Lone Pawn]

19. And since when is it Rove's call?

He expects House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, to keep his job despite ethics questions. DeLay took trips that may have been paid for by a lobbyist. House rules forbid such trips.

"He's going to continue to be an effective and strong leader," Rove said. If the ethics committee would take up the matter, he said, it would "be quickly resolved" and clear his name. The ethics panel is not currently functioning because of a dispute over its rules.

So he has dictated that The Almighty Rove will not accept this plan, and that Tom DeLay will keep his job. Also, we will go back in time, and Trent Lott will retroactively keep his job. As will have Gingrich.

[sendero]

21. Before I start screaming..

... "sellout", "cave-in" and other assorted terms of derision, I'd like to know something about these two judges. Are they the least problematic of the 7? If so, I don't think this is that bad a compromise. Are they in the middle? Then I'm not real happy.

If they are the worst of the 7 this compromise sucks and is basically a capitulation.