Bush to Double Down on Judicial Nominations...

President Bush resubmitted a slate of 20 judicial picks whose nominations were scuttled in the past by obstructionist Democrats. In the last Congress when the GOP had a bare 51 seat majority in the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist had to stand by and watch as 40 plus Democrat Senators, whose strings were being pulled by various single-issue special interest lobbyists, thwarted a simple up or down vote for each of these well-qualified individuals by banding together for filibusters. The procedure - normally only used for legislation - requires a "supermajority" of 60 Senators to end such protracted debate and allow a confirmation vote.

The only problem with the nominees in question is that some powerful special interest group found something "objectionable" on their end and they used their influence (and $$) to block them. Rather than allow a confirmation vote where a simple majority (51 votes) can confirm, as is provided for in the U.S. Constitution, Democrat efforts raised the bar to an unprecedented level through the filibuster.

The time for niceties is over, as trying to reach across the aisle has clearly failed. The Washington Times reports:

Diplomacy is not likely to work, said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, who told reporters last month that if Mr. Bush renominates the same judges, the Democrats will block them again.

But now the GOP controlled Senate is going to fix their wagon and change these archaic Senate rules to allow for the yeah or nay vote in the full Senate that these folks deserve.

Over the coming months, expect to see these 20 nominations come to a full vote and easily confirmed by the majority. Judges who will do what the founders intended and not create new wholesale legislation from the bench, which is the responsibility of the Congress and the State Legislatures.

UPDATE:
We have a list of all the judges, courtesty of RedState.org

Posted by: Gary at 10:01 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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