Yeah. All Democrats Really Want is the Chance to Talk for a Long Time
Republican Leader Offers Compromise on Judges - Yahoo! News:
Not to be outdone by the Democrats attempt at a compromise over the judicial appointment impasse, Senator Frist today suggested what he called a compromise.
"Frist, the Senate majority leader, said he would 'guarantee' up to 100 hours to debate any nominee to the appeals courts or U.S. Supreme Court. But Frist also said he would require that they all get a confirmation vote, meaning filibusters against these candidates would be banned.
'It may not be a perfect proposal for either side, but it's the right proposal for America,' said Frist as he stood in the Senate."
Well that should just about settle it. Because Democrats aren't trying to block anyone. They just want a chance to talk for a REALLY long time and those nasty Republicans want them to keep it brief.
My question is, "do Frist and his staff think that the people are really that dumb that they think this is about the length of discussion rather than who actually gets appointed to the bench?" With polls indicating people are opposed to a change in Senate rules, the only explanation for why this would be presented as a compromise is that some think this might confuse the issue enough to cut Republicans some political slack. Arlen Specter, Mike DeWine, Susan Collins can all go home and say, "Well gee, we offered to let the Democrats talk for 100 hours but they said no, they wanted to talk forever."
Although Americans' level of civic education is low, thankfully, enough people have seen Mr Smith goes to Washington and are aware of the filibuster that they understand it is a tactic used to stop legislation rather than to merely discuss it for a REALLY long time. How this represents a compromise is anyone's guess. But I guess that's Frist's story and he's stickin' to it.
Not to be outdone by the Democrats attempt at a compromise over the judicial appointment impasse, Senator Frist today suggested what he called a compromise.
"Frist, the Senate majority leader, said he would 'guarantee' up to 100 hours to debate any nominee to the appeals courts or U.S. Supreme Court. But Frist also said he would require that they all get a confirmation vote, meaning filibusters against these candidates would be banned.
'It may not be a perfect proposal for either side, but it's the right proposal for America,' said Frist as he stood in the Senate."
Well that should just about settle it. Because Democrats aren't trying to block anyone. They just want a chance to talk for a REALLY long time and those nasty Republicans want them to keep it brief.
My question is, "do Frist and his staff think that the people are really that dumb that they think this is about the length of discussion rather than who actually gets appointed to the bench?" With polls indicating people are opposed to a change in Senate rules, the only explanation for why this would be presented as a compromise is that some think this might confuse the issue enough to cut Republicans some political slack. Arlen Specter, Mike DeWine, Susan Collins can all go home and say, "Well gee, we offered to let the Democrats talk for 100 hours but they said no, they wanted to talk forever."
Although Americans' level of civic education is low, thankfully, enough people have seen Mr Smith goes to Washington and are aware of the filibuster that they understand it is a tactic used to stop legislation rather than to merely discuss it for a REALLY long time. How this represents a compromise is anyone's guess. But I guess that's Frist's story and he's stickin' to it.
posted by EPE | Link:4/28/2005 10:15:00 PM
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